Originally posted by Amaranthar

I voted "alternate reality" because that most closely entails all that I want. But many of the other options are part of that.

Basically, I want the fantasy of a world that's "magical", and I want depth in a worldly sense. "Living" in a fantasy world, but not just living, I want excitement, lore, and that feeling of ancient danger and mystery. 

same.

Originally posted by Slampig
You forgot the most important reason for playing ANY game...FUN, remember that?

Fun goes without saying when playing a game but you can select other if you wish. Almost all play MMO's for fun but there's  aspects of the game that makes it fun. This poll is to see what mechanics within a game that people look for to make it a fun experience.

Rhino.

The poll is missing "shoot fireballs out of my eyes while dual wielding Gatling guns" option.

A simple "to kick ass" would suffice. Seriously, playing a powerful character is just fun.

Several of the listed options and a couple that aren't on the list.  I got into MMOs for a couple reasons.  One, for the fun of it and two, because the game almost always is a different experience from day to day.

Then there are the community, exploration, etc.

Well... It used to be that I enjoyed the server wide communities that MMOs had but that has pretty much died in the post-WoW era so I don't find myself playing MMOs much anymore. Now you hardly talk to anyone except people you know or people in whatever guild you happen to belong to. Even in Guilds these days about 2/3rds of the guild never speak in most games. I remember in EQ talking to almost everyone I met along the way. Now if you talk to some random player you'll be extremely lucky to get a response at all. Community used to be why I played but the communities that these games used to encourage have all but died off years ago. It's kinda sad really.

Edit: Community interaction is really the only thing on your poll that is better suited to the MMO genre. Well... that and Raiding which I loath. Everything else is done much better in single player or limited multi-player games and always will be.

Bren

Entertainment that involves other individuals from all over the world collectively coming together to achieve goals in a game... I like games.

Originally posted by Icewhite

Afraid this isn't appropriate to the "choose one" polling method.

I'd pick at least six, and maybe all of them.

Would be a nice 1-10 scale poll, if this website offered that option.

Actually, that would be a very good feature. Polls seem to be popular here, and I've seen quite a few that would benefit from that option.

Myself, just as in the first reply, if I had to pick one, I'd have to put the "alternate reality" at the top. It sounds a bit cheesy when you word it like that, I guess; what I mean is just immersion, a richly realized gameworld. I'd also probably put exploration in there with it, as to me the two are often pretty closely related.

Then comes community interaction, depth of options and character progression, all carry pretty much the same weight with me, and all are hugely important.

Originally posted by rojo6934

Community interaction

Depth of content, objectives, options

Character progression/development

Exploring

there are others but these are some of the main ones.

 I cant pick just one either....Your list is about spot on for me too.

Originally posted by Theocritus

Originally posted by rojo6934

Community interaction

Depth of content, objectives, options

Character progression/development

Exploring

there are others but these are some of the main ones.

 I cant pick just one either....Your list is about spot on for me too.

Picking one is difficult but usually there is one main mechanic/system/feature that draws us towards playing. Thanks for all the great replies so far.

Rhino

Good fun combat, unique settings, good progression, and well scripted content.

And before anyone asks, no .. these criteria are not MMO specifics, and can apply to other games.

Originally posted by Amaranthar

I voted "alternate reality" because that most closely entails all that I want. But many of the other options are part of that.

Basically, I want the fantasy of a world that's "magical", and I want depth in a worldly sense. "Living" in a fantasy world, but not just living, I want excitement, lore, and that feeling of ancient danger and mystery. 

ya i voted that too...I really want a game that can draw me in like that.

I'm with Icewhite, the "choose only one" is n/a on this subject, there's no One reason to rul... play them mmo's :)

In my case, even if I strip down the "lesser" ones like crafting and economy, character development, explore and roleplay (which isn't on the list btw), there are still the content depth and community left... And both are on the same level for me.

I can't possibly choose only one, as there are several factors that come into play.

#1. World PvP - I will not play a game that is polluted with dedicated pvp areas or instanced pvp.

#2. Freedom and real exploration - I will not a play a game where the world sizes are only a few hundred meters off the main path, e.g., surrounded by invisible walls or mountains.

#3. I will not play a game that is purely story driven, e.g., SWTOR. Story is fine, but don't make me, as well as a million others, to be this special little snowflake in the universe.

Basically world and content are really very much the same. The world contains the content. To me, content is what sort of game systems are in place as well as the environment. Storylines are just one type of content that can be available. Getting lost in a virtual world is getting lost in the available content, therefore I chose content over world. If the game has poorly conceived content, it stands to reason that the world is not immersive.

Just my two cents.