Freedom. PVP. Unpredictability. Danger. Challenge...

Well theres a few.

Making my epeen as big as humanly possible.

Not really, the real reason for me has to be player affirmation.  When a funny moment happens, you can't share it in a single player game, but in a mmorpg it is possible to share that experience with others.  When many people perceive the same event, that event is in fact much more meaningful than just one person witness it alone.  it can be about anything whether it is good or bad.

A good and balanced PvP, based on players skills

yeahhh! grouping with other players in the game is very exciting while battling those strong bosses - making new friends and sharing your experience of mmo to them - and yes i agree, amazing pvp, less grinding, enjoyable soundtrack, and an interesting storyline win my vote - i hate reading those long storyline when they can condense it to half the length!

People.

Phat lootz, hunting phat lootz for lesser players, interacting with many people, large open land spaces with much to do in them, player cities, player driven economies, automated merchants and shops, politics, etc etc.  Basically, everything wow isn't with the exception of wow's spectacular gameplay.  Thus, this genre is basically dead to me since it's nothing more than dumbed down wow clones anymore.

Their greatest draw for me, is also their greatest downfall;  you can't ever 'win' at an MMO.  There's no end.  There's always some new shiny carrot dangling on the horizon. 

Single player games, I typically beat in less than a week, give or take.  Or get bored with, once I learn to recognize the patterns of the AI.  Real people add an unpredictable element to a game that is hard to shake once you get caught up in it, especially when I'm trying to kill them.  :)

I want to kill things and take their stuff so I can use their stuff to make me better at killing things and taking their stuff.

Sorry for the crappy, roundabout answer. But there's no individual part of an MMO that I particularly like. It's how all the pieces fit together. The traditional MMO has crappy combat, simplistic crafting, no real story, a horrible grind, stupid AI, and sub-par PvP, but I still play them. There's just something fun about running into another player randomly, getting into a clunky, pointless, and predictable fight with them over some objective that doesn't really matter, and then going to kill 15 wolves for that axe that does 1.7 more DPS. I can't really explain it, but can you imagine how great an MMO would be if it did all of the individual parts well.

I like MMO's because if they are done correctly they are like a second life (yes I like my RL just fine) but its always fun to get home from a long day at work and say "time to go to the fun world" and zone off into the land of whatever, doing diffrent adventures and what-not...

And I just got married and my wife is really looking forward to FFXIV so i'm like (!!!!) sweet....

Originally posted by neosapience

PvP is the main reason I play online games. I won't touch an MMO that doesn't have it. After that, I'd say that immersion is a big factor for me. Ambiance, realism, npc interaction, etc... all have to feel right. Also, character customization is a huge factor (and I'm not just talking about looks).

 

Things I absolutely hate are grinding and gear based, cookie-cutter game mechanics. I can pretty much work around anything else.

I agree! Playing with others and immersion are my favorite things as well. There is no other place in RL or online where you can meet a complete stranger for who knows where who will hang out with you, join you in battle/quest or just help you and walk off without asking for anything in return. I also love the fact that is completely ongoing and neverending.