Even given the limitations that Raph describes, however, I think there are more tricks like this that would help. Another, hinted at in some of the above replies, would be quest NPCs who recur constantly in the progressive life of the character. How about for every WoW character above level 20, you get an "archenemy", an NPC who appears every once in a while to try and mess with you. Rather like ambushes in COH. Or have more characters like Hesingway who pop up at three or four points in the character's questing life, and remember what's gone before. Part of the reason that the NPCs are just mechanical XP-granting machines is that you know you will NEVER see them again UNTIL you have another character that is progressing past that point.

Great idea. Or one who ganks you four or five times while you're in his zone or area. Then imagine that ten levels later, he's the boss at the end of an instance. You'd be extra motivated to kill him (at least the first time). A little bit off topic, but IMHO the real issue here is that players have no effect on their worlds. You can visit any of the shards in any of the popular MMO's and they are essentially the same, you can go talk to NPC_01 on any of them and he will ask you for the exact same 10 kills/items/etc. If you play a class on one shard your skills and abilities are exactly the same as the guy next to you playing that same class and very close to the guy on the other side playing a similar class.

Now if that NPC decided that well the 23815798289 bear hides that he had in his warehouse was enough, and decided that perhaps the dear population was now getting out of hand, or that he needed more firewood to cure the hides, or more stone to build a larger storehouse, or the local goblins took issue with his call to eradicate the bears then while it was really all similar quests, it would at least feel like a player's actions had an effect. If the footings of a new storehouse showed up, new fires with skins tanning over them were erected and goblins started to raid and destroy these new structures, the player would feel more engaged.

I think instead of asking what bosses or major characters you have emotional ties to or hate, you should ask what lesser characters create this effect. Case in point, Murocs. People get really worked up over Murlocs. People seem to love to hate them - or love to love them. Here's a fan made Murloc RPG. Personally I find them the most amusing of all the monsters in WoW and love that "mgggrrrggglle" sound. In fact all of their sounds just crack me up - even their dramatic death animation. And sometimes the emotional reaction isn't necessarily the one expected. I was playing LoTRO the other day and was being attacked by those "evil birds that aren't nice unlike eagles" (hendrevail) and it made me sad to kill them. Why? I have a pet Conure who's the greatest little "bird buddy" and every time I'd see those hendrevail flutter their wings and peep with their dying breath, it made me think of my little bird buddy.

Unique NPCs (as in only one...you kill them, they don't come back) could change this. This would probably work best as an event, but devs could throw unique NPCs in from time to time. Users would appreciate that they are a having an experience unique to themselves (or shared with a small raid group), even though most users wouldn't be able to participate. Still, it would be a easy and nice way to "spice" up the quest content. Weighted companion cube. That's how you make emotional attachments in games. Seriously though? Recurring NPCs. You guys remember Goldeneye, for N64?

A perfect game for everybody who loves MMORPG s. Right now u can only reach level 20, which is perfect for a person who wasn’t playing right from the start. :) Graphically very nice and yes, free is appealing, but in the end you play the game they want you to play and not the game you might want to play. A little too much forced storyline play to level and the "Instant warrior" max character for PVP only minimizes the challenge/accomplishment of building a character from scratch. It s pretty, but it lacks character free will IMO. Out of the MMORPGs I have played. Nothing compares to the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot. I recommend it over any other game out there. Its RvR, not just PvP. Wich means whole realms battle each other for territory. Yes there is PvP as well. And plenty of PvE. It’s not free, but it’s worth it.

As an RPG Fan I picked this game up right away the day it came out. As soon as it was installed it blew me away. Even though it isn’t an actual MMO I still highly recomend it to any rpg fan. I’m an ex-EQ junkie and I love mmorpgs. This game, however, takes the genre to a new lvl. If you like hanging with your online pals and lvling and doing quests this game is great for that.If you enjoy PvP games this game is more or less designed for that. On the other hand, if you like RPGs without grouping with ppl this game is great because you can get henchmen who are NPCs in the game to join your group to complete quests and help you to lvl and just go to cities and towns to chat and trade items with other players. The main reason I enjoy the game is the fact that when you leave a city and venture out, the game world is your own private area.

Sure WoW is good but when you have a Guild war which is just as good and with no monthly payments, MMORPGS really have something to worry bout. Quite disappointing. Have been in the beta weekends, but not my type of game - not fast paced enough, too much emphasis on gathering materials and trading. Having played it I no longer want the preorder. I played the beta in December I R0X0rD I am going to buy this game no doubts. I think that P2P MMORPGs definitely have something to worry about. I really enjoyed the awesome graphics and item trading this past weekend. I am currently a weekend beta tester and enjoy this game very much. It has stunning graphics and wonderful gameplay, also on top of that you can build, make, and paint your armor, weapons, and clothing.....

You can’t go anywhere in the MMO metaverse these days without someone making you a very very special offer. I first noticed this when Anarchy Online special offer banners began to flash at me. Anarchy was three years old yesterday and in celebration want you, yes you, to join them for a measly 9.99 (pick your currency) and free game time till September. Dark Age of Camelot has gone even further. They have a special offer URL: Come back to Camelot - though their offer is restricted to wayward souls that lost their DaoC way and possibly started to flirt with other, maybe younger, maybe better looking MMOs. The offer is really only for 14 days free, but there is a prize draw where you can win the real Excalibur. OK, not really, the prize is actuallly a NVidia GeForce.