I think a Coop/MMORPG in the ES style would be good, it would just need to be innovative and unique. In fact ANY MMORPG which posesses these qualities would gain a large following. The problem with online RPGs in general is the quest/monster systems. They all seem to handle these in the same 'mass quest giving' ways - players 1 through 100,000 all get the same 'Kill 10 centipedes' quest from the same NPC. It's wrong. The radiant AI system in Oblivion sounds like the perfect kind of system to make a MMORPG work. A reactive environment of NPCs that all have needs/wants/routines which they follow. NPCs could approach you instead of the other way round - or at least give some indication that they need a favour instead of standing glued to the spot waiting for someone to click on them. Imagine that an NPC (say a blacksmith) needs money - he knows he has a blacksmithing skill and knows that weapons are worth good money so he is looking to build some swords to sell. He needs certain materials but he is too busy with hunting for food/farming to be able to get them - so you approach him and see if he has any 'quests' for you. He tells you he needs some ore and he will give you x gold or a sword maybe if you get it for him. So you spend a while mining while hes doing the usual routine and come back with the goods - then he goes to make the swords and when hes finished he gives you one, or some gold. This NPC will then try to sell swords to other characters to make cash to use for something else (maybe building a better kiln or anvil to make better metal for better swords). His smithing skill would be greater and he would make more money. If the NPC dies then tough luck - new NPCs are born from characters that hitch up together. This needent be too complex, just make some NPCs decide to 'get together' and its sorted ;p You could apply this quest to bear skins - hunting a bear for someone could be fun - absolutely anything the NPCs need. You might be asked just to fetch a pail of water - maybe some monsters could attack a settlement looking for food themselves (also being driven by the radiant AI) and kidnap/kill another NPCs kin. Then you would have the task of finding these raiders and avenging a death - even better if you happened to be in the village at the time you could have saved peoples lives by battling off the attackers! I also think there should be less emphasis on 'levels' in MMORPGs, and also a uniqueness to special items like magic rings. Instead of having an infinite number of 'ring of destruction' just make one. That way if you want it, then you have to find it and take it from someone. I can see a few problems with people logging off after posessing a power item and not playing again, but some systems could be in place to monitor this and maybe have an NPC 'break into their house and steal the item'. It would just be nice to feel a little special in these games instead of just 'player 500000 who is only level 25'. Imagine having an invisibility ring that allows you to cast a spell that only the best mages can cast (and not always successfully). People would envy you, and hunt you - but only those who knew. Lord of the Rings comes to mind ... your name would be known all over the land and you might find hundreds of people looking to kill and rob you! Thats the price of owning such an item! Just some ideas anyway - I just want a truly fun experience instead of this 'constant grind' gameplay. Morrowind pretty much provides this for me, but I'd really like a multiplayer element - I think Oblivion will be REALLY good. Another game of the year for sure. I realise this would take a lot of programming and introducing bugs into a system like this would be easily done - servers might also be strained with a small number of players - but make it less MMORPG and more like a CoopRPG and this wouldnt be too much of an issue.
