I like both PvE and PvP.

I prefer sandbox skill setup but can deal with classes.

I prefer game where most experience is earned from hunting not questing.

I am a soloer mostly but I don't want it to be easy. I prefer a game designed around grouping so that soloing is challenging.

I want a complex harvesting/crafting system which can be tedious and grinding. I just want it to be hard to max out so that I am one of the few master crafters. There is no point in being one of the many.

I hate instancing. I prefer as little instancing as possible because as a soloer I will feel all alone and I don't want to feel alone. I just want to mostly play alone with activity around me. It's ok if you don't understand. You don't need to.

I won't play SOE games. If you have integrity you understand.

I won't play any games with any form of microtransaction whither it be item shops or velvet rope additional content/benefits. If you appreciate game integrity you understand.

Good luck mate, if you do find one, tell me.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I won't play SOE games. If you have integrity you understand.

I won't play any games with any form of microtransaction whither it be item shops or velvet rope additional content/benefits. If you appreciate game integrity you understand.  

A shame. "Integrity" just killed the few choices you had left. Let us know if you find this game, because I would really like to know as well

 darkfall

The game you're looking for exists and is called A Tale in the Desert.

You can very much make a name for yourself, to the degree that a large fraction of the playerbase will know who you are.  Indeed, there are some players that are reasonably well-known even years after they quit the game, though those usually aren't for crafting prowess.  In the third telling, Zomboe never advanced past level 0 (an average new player reaches level 1 in under an hour), but everyone knew, if you want a shovel or hatchet, go buy one from Zomboe, because he's the best at crafting them.

The game is very much designed around crafting, and probably has the deepest, most complicated crafting system in existence.  You won't be able to craft everything well simply because you won't have the time to learn how to craft everything well.  There aren't any artificial character restrictions such as having to choose a  particular crafting profession.

The game takes the idea of a sandbox to about as much of an extreme as you can.  It's not just a sandbox in the sense that you think of sandboxes, but it's in a desert, with sand all over the place.  There are no fixed classes in the usual sense of classes.  The only real permanent choice is to make a male or female character, but that makes very little difference.  The main difference is that if you wish to do an in-game marriage (which you don't have to), it has to be with someone of the opposite sex.

A lot of things are kind of intended to be done in groups, but mostly can be soloed.  If you need some particular building, it may be rather expensive to build one yourself, but if several people in a guild work together, each can contribute a lot less to build it, and then use the structure when the rest of the guild isn't.  A relative handful of things intrinsically require a group; as materials go, you can trade for them.

The game has no instancing whatsoever.  There aren't various copies of the game world, or even of small portions of it.  Housing is in the open world and not instanced.  There aren't even separate servers to split the playerbase.

It's not made by SOE.  It's made by a small independent company called eGenesis.

There are no microtransactions.  The payment plan is $14/month for a subscription.  There is a free trial of 24 hours of play time (which only counts time logged in), though it's kind of capped at 30 days of real-life time, as if you haven't used it all by then and haven't paid by then, other people can salvage your camp.

But be warned.  The game is really weird.  It's not what you think it is.  Whether the game is PvP or PvE is rather debatable, and there isn't a clear delineation of this is PvP and that is PvE, as in most other games.

Oh, and there is no combat.

Have you tried Dofus? I played that years ago and very much enjoyed the crafting and economy. Almost every item is crafted, from gear to consumables, and almost every drop is used in some recipe. You can level your crafter independant of your character level (unless that has changed now). It's a turn-based combat system, and is built with Flash (so is technically a browser game?) but it's very well done. I saw a pie chart recently that put it in the top 10 MMOs in terms of player numbers.  It's not a sandbox game tho.

the 2 that are usually mention are ryzom and tale in the desert, but have never tried them myself though

other than that bounty bay may meet your requirements apart from not having an IM/cash shop and i only mention it as the cash shop only seemed to have no'must haves' shuch as clothes, pets and shortcuts last time i checked

Originally posted by hinkhouse

Have you tried Dofus? I played that years ago and very much enjoyed the crafting and economy. Almost every item is crafted, from gear to consumables, and almost every drop is used in some recipe. You can level your crafter independant of your character level (unless that has changed now). It's a turn-based combat system, and is built with Flash (so is technically a browser game?) but it's very well done. I saw a pie chart recently that put it in the top 10 MMOs in terms of player numbers.  It's not a sandbox game tho.

I hate top down view so Dofus is out. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I want either first person, 3rd person over the shoulder, or side view.

Originally posted by Karahandras

the 2 that are usually mention are ryzom and tale in the desert, but have never tried them myself though

other than that bounty bay may meet your requirements apart from not having an IM/cash shop and i only mention it as the cash shop only seemed to have no'must haves' shuch as clothes, pets and shortcuts last time i checked

The Bounty Bay item shop has all kinds of stuff that give advantages so Bounty Bay is out.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

Originally posted by Karahandras

the 2 that are usually mention are ryzom and tale in the desert, but have never tried them myself though

other than that bounty bay may meet your requirements apart from not having an IM/cash shop and i only mention it as the cash shop only seemed to have no'must haves' shuch as clothes, pets and shortcuts last time i checked

The Bounty Bay item shop has all kinds of stuff that give advantages so Bounty Bay is out.

fair enough(i think they've added some items to the cash shop since last time i played tbh)

found out saga of ryzom is free atm btw

Both Ryzom and Istaria would fit my needs except they both have tiny playerbases and their servers are 5 year old established communities. It goes without saying that crafting in a MMOG is pointless if you don't have a customer base to trade with.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

Both Ryzom and Istaria would fit my needs except they both have tiny playerbases and their servers are 5 year old established communities. It goes without saying that crafting in a MMOG is pointless if you don't have a customer base to trade with.

if you haven't already played it what about Eve online?

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

Both Ryzom and Istaria would fit my needs except they both have tiny playerbases and their servers are 5 year old established communities. It goes without saying that crafting in a MMOG is pointless if you don't have a customer base to trade with.

A Tale in the Desert has been out for a while, but reset everything about two months ago.

I will suggest something slightly different from what people are used to play:

Dofus.

-Turn-Based (probably the reason why so many people don't like it)
-"Deep" Crafting system. (It is based on grind and they are a lot of crafter/harvester job)
-Soloable, though fights are much slower and harder (as it takes certain amount of strategy to win)
-Dated 2D Graphics (anime style)
-Not Skill-based (the game Wakfu by the same creator is Skill-Based though)
-Pay To Play with a FREE ZONE. It allows you to try most aspect of the game (craft, story, PvE, etc) for free in a limited area. The montly fees are of $8 per months and price drops depending on how many months you buy. Membership allows you to have access to the full area, get a pet, chose a alignement (Good or Evil), No Crafting level cap (it caps at 30 for non-member, 100 for members).
-It is easy to make a name in this game too.
-Community is average. You can find a lot of mature players but the opposite is also true. There's also a few groups of Role-Players spread around the servers.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I like both PvE and PvP.

I prefer sandbox skill setup but can deal with classes.

I prefer game where most experience is earned from hunting not questing.

I am a soloer mostly but I don't want it to be easy. I prefer a game designed around grouping so that soloing is challenging.

I want a complex harvesting/crafting system which can be tedious and grinding. I just want it to be hard to max out so that I am one of the few master crafters. There is no point in being one of the many.

I hate instancing. I prefer as little instancing as possible because as a soloer I will feel all alone and I don't want to feel alone. I just want to mostly play alone with activity around me. It's ok if you don't understand. You don't need to.

I won't play SOE games. If you have integrity you understand.

I won't play any games with any form of microtransaction whither it be item shops or velvet rope additional content/benefits. If you appreciate game integrity you understand.

I think you just described Real Life. Except for the SOE part. I'm not sure, they may be involved in this one too.

I'm in the same boat however.  I've gone back to Eve to try it out, though, there is so much to take in that it is difficult to get into it.

http://www.darkfallonline.com/

Honestly, and this is only from the information I have been able to gather, Earthrise looks like the best game for the OP.  Everything I have read about the game makes me think of SWG pre-hologrind but set in post-apocalyptic setting rather than far future scifi or swords and sorcery.

Unfortunately what you're asking for {and since you've eliminated all the games that still have that chance} are from the days of old and I doubt you'll ever see again.

There are too many masses of casual players in the MMOs now and if they don't have the same opportunity as the hardcore-elitists they complain and they always get their way.  Everyone in every MMO has the same opportunity now to become a high end crafter and adventurer with little time or challenge.  Sure the top end stuff in some MMOs can be a bitch to get materials for but its still accessable to all and with a bit of luck and small amounts of time everyone can get to them.

I do recall the old days of EQ, AC and if ya wanted a particular item you asked the server who could make such and it was usually only 1 or 2 players that could.  Good times, but those days are over....

Saga of Ryzom is the closest atm you'll get to what you're asking and even though the community is 5 yrs old, keep in mind that is was shut down for almost 2 years while it switched hands and many players restarted as well as new blood so there is still that chance for what you seek there!

Originally posted by MadnessRealm

-"Deep" Crafting system. (It is based on grind

But you contradict yourself.

I highly suggest EVE-Online