They're already off on the wrong foot if they're trying to topple WoW's subscription numbers. Blizzard's are masters of polish and the genre sat for so long and let them just keep on shining. They're not going to defeat it, so they need to just carve out a niche for themselves like EVE has.
A slow but steadily increasing subscriber base is more than what most developers could ask for. Blizzard caught a fluke at the right time and ran with it.
If these companies think that Blizzard is just sitting around with their thumb in the nether regions then they've got another thing coming. WoW's success can only spur them into creating another monolithic MMO. They're sitting back and taking notes because they don't have a thing in the world to worry about because they know all of these clones can't do it as good as they can.
Differentiate your product from the norm and maintain a loyal fanbase would be my advice from a consumer standpoint.
Any recipe that calls for "awesome 3d graphics" is in serious need of a rethink. Unless of course that is "awesome 3d graphics" and yet still runs on Intel graphics.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
For me personally, lotro already beat wow a long time ago. If you're talking about subscription numbers, I have to say I dont care at all. When it comes to the games I like, the only opinion that matters is my own. So yeah, it already happened. Lotro has beaten wow. Game over.
Yep!
I quit WoW because its really boring and it has no end game and its really not a good social game.
I'm playing LorRO now and if I was not playing that I would play EQ2... and the reason being both these games have more stuff to do end game and more social content and things to do in the game.
All WoW has is the stand in town que for heroics or run ICC.
The PVP/Arena in WoW is very bad and unbalanced and really boring to be honest.
Oh and if more MMO's would get a card game like VG or even Freerealms that would be great, cause I just love playing in the tournaments in Freerealms! And it was one the good things VG did right.
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE Waiting on: Lost Ark Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
I don't think anyone will ever beat WoW, they just have way to many players.Not even Blizz next MMO will beat WoW, IMO. They managed to capture the Asian market and that half the reason why its so big. Another thing that helped was the pre existing fanbase and bringin in new players that never played a MMO before.
While I know FFXIV will not come close to reaching WoW's subs, SE is one of the few devs that aren't making a WoW clone and I think they could break a million with it. There already is a 500k playerbase and I've read a lot of people are going to try it out that never played XI. Devs need to learn to grab their niche and not worry about this beast called WoW. Just because a game is sitting a fraction of WoW's subs doesn't mean its a bad game nor does it mean its not successful.
I quit WoW because its really boring and it has no end game and its really not a good social game.
I'm playing LorRO now and if I was not playing that I would play EQ2... and the reason being both these games have more stuff to do end game and more social content and things to do in the game.
All WoW has is the stand in town que for heroics or run ICC.
Settle my curiosity...what does LOTRO and EQ2 have to do? Really, that's the thing I always find perplexing, people are willing to bash, but they never tell me what it is they're doing.
I quit WoW because its really boring and it has no end game and its really not a good social game.
I'm playing LorRO now and if I was not playing that I would play EQ2... and the reason being both these games have more stuff to do end game and more social content and things to do in the game.
All WoW has is the stand in town que for heroics or run ICC.
Settle my curiosity...what does LOTRO and EQ2 have to do? Really, that's the thing I always find perplexing, people are willing to bash, but they never tell me what it is they're doing.
The land and dungeons in LotRO are much better and more epic. EQ2 is almost there with this, but not as good but still better than WoW. Wow has a very smooth and fun mechanics for boss fights and thats it.
EQ2 and LotRO both have nice crafting systems and player housing.
LotRO has instrument playing and very nice taverns and towns, EQ2 towns are not as nice but still better than WoW and EQ2 player housing is the best of any MMO out.
Both LotRO and EQ2 have guild halls and much better classes I like the way the mechanics work for both.
Also with EQ2's AA's and LotRO LI's this gives you alot more to do and work for.
Also WoW has the worst looking armory and characters.
Everyone looks like a clone, and its so boring and terrible to be in such a big game as WoW and everyone look the same way. Blizz has done nothing to fix this while ever other MMO out has addressed this problem.
And last but not least Blizz has ruined every class in the game and is taking it a step futher with the coming expansion.
Blizz should've learned they cant balance classes around PvP/Arena and stopped ruining classes and skills because of it.
At the very least it would been better if they added PvP/Arena only skills and left the PVE aspect of it alone.
I could list more maybe but I have a raid to do in LotRO so I'm out here....
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE Waiting on: Lost Ark Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
Settle my curiosity...what does LOTRO and EQ2 have to do? Really, that's the thing I always find perplexing, people are willing to bash, but they never tell me what it is they're doing.
The land and dungeons in LotRO are much better and more epic. EQ2 is almost there with this, but not as good but still better than WoW. Wow has a very smooth and fun mechanics for boss fights and thats it.
EQ2 and LotRO both have nice crafting systems and player housing.
LotRO has instrument playing and very nice taverns and towns, EQ2 towns are not as nice but still better than WoW and EQ2 player housing is the best of any MMO out.
Both LotRO and EQ2 have guild halls and much better classes I like the way the mechanics work for both.
Also with EQ2's AA's and LotRO LI's this gives you alot more to do and work for.
Some of your examples seem strange to me, they aren't exactly good answers to my questions of what more you have to do, or explain why there's more social content. The thing you do in LOTRO...is better dungeons??? Same with crafting. You could at least explain how they're better. And no, more epic is not a good explanation.
Nor is saying "X is better classes" or that you like how the mechanics work really a good answer to what I asked, because that isn't more things to do, or any of that. It's not even good feedback because...I don't know why you think they are. Just that you think they are. It's really just a repeat of the same reason I asked my question in the first place.
Same goes with saying the towns and taverns are nice. Exactly how are they nice? How would my enjoyment of the game be improved?
So we're left with a few things. Player Housing/Guild Halls. Well, speaking for myself, player housing I could give less than half a crap about, so you needn't try to sell me on that. Same with guild halls. But if you did want to sell it to somebody, you'd say what they do well and why you enjoy it. Playing Music in Game. Again, not exactly a selling point with me. If I want to play music using a synthesizer...well, I wouldn't do it in side an MMO. But at least I'll concede it is something you could offer to somebody in an MMO.
Then we have LI's and AA's. But you didn't tell me what they are, or how I get them. Or how they differ from what WOW has to offer.
Also WoW has the worst looking armory and characters.
Everyone looks like a clone, and its so boring and terrible to be in such a big game as WoW and everyone look the same way. Blizz has done nothing to fix this while ever other MMO out has addressed this problem.
And last but not least Blizz has ruined every class in the game and is taking it a step futher with the coming expansion.
Blizz should've learned they cant balance classes around PvP/Arena and stopped ruining classes and skills because of it.
At the very least it would been better if they added PvP/Arena only skills and left the PVE aspect of it alone.
And this is all the typical "WOW sucks" which isn't what I wanted, because well..it doesn't tell me why your example game is better. I wouldn't even concede you're accurate in your assessments, but well, that's another argument which would just distract from what I'd like addressed, which is reasons to play these other games.
I don't know about anybody else, but all I see in the aboe is how you hate WOW, which makes me less inclined to respect your opinions, because that's just not a good way to sell me on your preferred games. I would much rather have you tell me something you like than something you hate. Especially when you don't justify your hate. Like "ruined every class in the game" which just...condemns without supporting.
I could list more maybe but I have a raid to do in LotRO so I'm out here....
So yeah...when you get done, please give me a reply that doesn't mention WOW, at least not to condemn it blindly, at least give a reason why it's better. Preferably one that amounts to more than you offered above. But really, if you can do it without mentioning WOW, so much the better.
I have what I call a holy trinity of requirements for new mmos to compete against wow (for mass market appeal). 1) They must be polished and they must run on most computers. 2) They must be filled with content, and the average player should not hit "max level" until 4-5 months after starting the game. 3) There must be something novel about the game. For example, a great story-driven leveling process, more and better content, better gameplay elements (yes I know this is generic), etc.
I can use this holy trinity in analyzing some of our more recent AAA releases, and judge where in my opinion the game failed.
1) WAR - mostly polished, light on content, pvp novelty (quickly copied by wow. remember true competitive advantage is not replicable).
2) AOC - mostly polished, light on content, not much novelty
3) STO - mostly polished, very light on content, does have some novelty
4) DFO - not well polished, light on content, however novel with player looting and pvp focus but perhaps too niche
These mmos, being I believe the more visable mmo releases of the last four years, all failed to compete with wow in at least one of my three requirements. Is there more to it, absolutely. These three requirements are not much more than a litmus test. However, they seem to indicate with a relatively high degree of accuracy the reasons why mmos fail to compete against wow. After all, if it costs you the same money a month to drive a BMW as it does to drive a generic car, which will you pick? The point is that these devs cannot compete with wow simply because they create a product of lower quality and little to no customer value over wow.
goodness how often do we have to go through the same questions regarding WOW? I believe WOW is an outlier, a very rare occurrence of a game that hit at the exactly right time to fill a huge void in the mmo landscape. I dont believe even the star wars mmo will be as big, because there are so many mmo's out there now. But i can always be wrong.
That is exactly right. WoW hit at a time when lots of people were getting fast computers and fast Internet connections and were looking for a game to play online. It was in the right place at the right time. Those two events that made WoW popular will never come again, therefore looking for something to beat WoW is a bit silly. WoW will eventually go the way of the dinosaur and probably, most of the people who are currently playing it will stop playing MMOs altogether. They're not doing it because they're gamers, but because they found a game they liked at the time and when it's gone, it's gone.
1. Playable by most computer systems, don't make something for future computers that do not exist yet (hello vanguard).
2. The game must be smooth without hitches, crashes, zoning, and lag in controls.
3. Content, content, content. There must be content not only for the first half of the game, it needs to have raid content, endgame content, crafting content, all ready to go. Most new MMO's released in the past few years have had content for the first 25-30 levels. Then once you get over the midway, you start to realize there was a lack of content polish for later levels. People will always level faster than developers imagine in their heads. You can no longer get away with a lack of content & content polish.
4. Fluff matters. Be it pets, mounts, player housing, fun side games, ingame scheduled events, etc.. fluff really matters.
5. Endgame content consist of raids, some sort of farming doable by single groups such as token farming for gear, and PvP. You lack any of them, you won't be able to compete with WoW.
6. Accessibility. People want to jump in and play the game anytime they want to, without having to spend too much time waiting on other people. People want to play content no matter their playstyle, be it solo, group, raid, or pvp. People want accessibility to content. General mass do not care how much time you have to play, how elite you are, or how skilled you are, they want access to the content and not be blocked artificially by old methods such as keying/flagging or progression where you could get stuck somewhere.
To be fair, WoW didn't have it all during the first 2 years. But the question is what does a themepark MMO have to do to beat WoW, the WoW we have now. Gamers won't be as forgiving with new games, so they do expect new games to have it all unfortunately. It's tough to compete with a company that kind of offers a bit of everything for everybody.
I like the card game in Vanguard, but to be honest I think SoE has hit on a really nice thing with the card game in Freerealms the free browser mmo they have out... that card game and the way the tournaments and stuff work is great and I be damn I would love to see more stuff done like this in todays mmo's!
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE Waiting on: Lost Ark Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
Guess you never played LotRO or EQ2 and saw first hand how the player housing and guild halls make the game more social?
And well the crafting system, taverns and the musical instruments are more the same.
Um, do you realize that the whole reason I asked you to support your reasons why it was a good thing was pre-supposed on a person who had NEVER played the game?
Saying "you never played" it as a way to wave off any burden upon yourself...just makes me think you entirely missed the point of my questions.
Was it that unclear to you? You are supposed to assume the person has no experience with these things. Perhaps I should have left more of my subjective preferences off, I tried not to give any of my experiences because I didn't want the discussion to devolve into a pointless argument, I was really hoping to prod you to a better salesmanship instead of that.
But yes, never played the games is the point. Now why do I want the player housing/guildhalls/crafting/taverns/musical instruments/nicer cities/whatever else you said that I'm forgetting by now? Remember, I want you to try to take it from the perspective of you talking to somebody who has no experience with the games, though you can assume a basic familiarity with gaming concepts.
I like the card game in Vanguard, but to be honest I think SoE has hit on a really nice thing with the card game in Freerealms the free browser mmo they have out... that card game and the way the tournaments and stuff work is great and I be damn I would love to see more stuff done like this in todays mmo's!
WHat does a theme park MMORPG have to do to beat WoW?
Give out epic armor/weapons as beginning gear, start you 5 levels from cap, give you a mount off the bat, 10,000 gold to start, be heavily instanced...successfully declassifying it as an MMO, make all classes gods against any mob in-game, have stat boards like an FPS so the leet dudes can chest thump, and be easy enough for an amoeba to play.
In other words...be more "instant gratificaton" friendly and console RPG-like than WoW already is.
Comments
They're already off on the wrong foot if they're trying to topple WoW's subscription numbers. Blizzard's are masters of polish and the genre sat for so long and let them just keep on shining. They're not going to defeat it, so they need to just carve out a niche for themselves like EVE has.
A slow but steadily increasing subscriber base is more than what most developers could ask for. Blizzard caught a fluke at the right time and ran with it.
If these companies think that Blizzard is just sitting around with their thumb in the nether regions then they've got another thing coming. WoW's success can only spur them into creating another monolithic MMO. They're sitting back and taking notes because they don't have a thing in the world to worry about because they know all of these clones can't do it as good as they can.
Differentiate your product from the norm and maintain a loyal fanbase would be my advice from a consumer standpoint.
Any recipe that calls for "awesome 3d graphics" is in serious need of a rethink. Unless of course that is "awesome 3d graphics" and yet still runs on Intel graphics.
Forever looking for employment. Life is rather dull without it.
It has to not be a themepark
You can't use the tools if you don't know they exist...
http://www.ic3.gov - Internet Crime Complaint Center - Report cyber crimes to the FBI.
http://www.spamcop.net - SpamCop.net - Report spam and scam emails.
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/ - Network Solutions WHOIS - Investigate and reveal suspcious websites.
Yep!
I quit WoW because its really boring and it has no end game and its really not a good social game.
I'm playing LorRO now and if I was not playing that I would play EQ2... and the reason being both these games have more stuff to do end game and more social content and things to do in the game.
All WoW has is the stand in town que for heroics or run ICC.
The PVP/Arena in WoW is very bad and unbalanced and really boring to be honest.
Oh and if more MMO's would get a card game like VG or even Freerealms that would be great, cause I just love playing in the tournaments in Freerealms! And it was one the good things VG did right.
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD
Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE
Waiting on: Lost Ark
Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
I don't think anyone will ever beat WoW, they just have way to many players.Not even Blizz next MMO will beat WoW, IMO. They managed to capture the Asian market and that half the reason why its so big. Another thing that helped was the pre existing fanbase and bringin in new players that never played a MMO before.
While I know FFXIV will not come close to reaching WoW's subs, SE is one of the few devs that aren't making a WoW clone and I think they could break a million with it. There already is a 500k playerbase and I've read a lot of people are going to try it out that never played XI. Devs need to learn to grab their niche and not worry about this beast called WoW. Just because a game is sitting a fraction of WoW's subs doesn't mean its a bad game nor does it mean its not successful.
Settle my curiosity...what does LOTRO and EQ2 have to do? Really, that's the thing I always find perplexing, people are willing to bash, but they never tell me what it is they're doing.
The land and dungeons in LotRO are much better and more epic. EQ2 is almost there with this, but not as good but still better than WoW. Wow has a very smooth and fun mechanics for boss fights and thats it.
EQ2 and LotRO both have nice crafting systems and player housing.
LotRO has instrument playing and very nice taverns and towns, EQ2 towns are not as nice but still better than WoW and EQ2 player housing is the best of any MMO out.
Both LotRO and EQ2 have guild halls and much better classes I like the way the mechanics work for both.
Also with EQ2's AA's and LotRO LI's this gives you alot more to do and work for.
Also WoW has the worst looking armory and characters.
Everyone looks like a clone, and its so boring and terrible to be in such a big game as WoW and everyone look the same way. Blizz has done nothing to fix this while ever other MMO out has addressed this problem.
And last but not least Blizz has ruined every class in the game and is taking it a step futher with the coming expansion.
Blizz should've learned they cant balance classes around PvP/Arena and stopped ruining classes and skills because of it.
At the very least it would been better if they added PvP/Arena only skills and left the PVE aspect of it alone.
I could list more maybe but I have a raid to do in LotRO so I'm out here....
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD
Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE
Waiting on: Lost Ark
Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
Some of your examples seem strange to me, they aren't exactly good answers to my questions of what more you have to do, or explain why there's more social content. The thing you do in LOTRO...is better dungeons??? Same with crafting. You could at least explain how they're better. And no, more epic is not a good explanation.
Nor is saying "X is better classes" or that you like how the mechanics work really a good answer to what I asked, because that isn't more things to do, or any of that. It's not even good feedback because...I don't know why you think they are. Just that you think they are. It's really just a repeat of the same reason I asked my question in the first place.
Same goes with saying the towns and taverns are nice. Exactly how are they nice? How would my enjoyment of the game be improved?
So we're left with a few things. Player Housing/Guild Halls. Well, speaking for myself, player housing I could give less than half a crap about, so you needn't try to sell me on that. Same with guild halls. But if you did want to sell it to somebody, you'd say what they do well and why you enjoy it. Playing Music in Game. Again, not exactly a selling point with me. If I want to play music using a synthesizer...well, I wouldn't do it in side an MMO. But at least I'll concede it is something you could offer to somebody in an MMO.
Then we have LI's and AA's. But you didn't tell me what they are, or how I get them. Or how they differ from what WOW has to offer.
And this is all the typical "WOW sucks" which isn't what I wanted, because well..it doesn't tell me why your example game is better. I wouldn't even concede you're accurate in your assessments, but well, that's another argument which would just distract from what I'd like addressed, which is reasons to play these other games.
I don't know about anybody else, but all I see in the aboe is how you hate WOW, which makes me less inclined to respect your opinions, because that's just not a good way to sell me on your preferred games. I would much rather have you tell me something you like than something you hate. Especially when you don't justify your hate. Like "ruined every class in the game" which just...condemns without supporting.
So yeah...when you get done, please give me a reply that doesn't mention WOW, at least not to condemn it blindly, at least give a reason why it's better. Preferably one that amounts to more than you offered above. But really, if you can do it without mentioning WOW, so much the better.
Guess you never played LotRO or EQ2 and saw first hand how the player housing and guild halls make the game more social?
And well the crafting system, taverns and the musical instruments are more the same.
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD
Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE
Waiting on: Lost Ark
Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
I have what I call a holy trinity of requirements for new mmos to compete against wow (for mass market appeal). 1) They must be polished and they must run on most computers. 2) They must be filled with content, and the average player should not hit "max level" until 4-5 months after starting the game. 3) There must be something novel about the game. For example, a great story-driven leveling process, more and better content, better gameplay elements (yes I know this is generic), etc.
I can use this holy trinity in analyzing some of our more recent AAA releases, and judge where in my opinion the game failed.
1) WAR - mostly polished, light on content, pvp novelty (quickly copied by wow. remember true competitive advantage is not replicable).
2) AOC - mostly polished, light on content, not much novelty
3) STO - mostly polished, very light on content, does have some novelty
4) DFO - not well polished, light on content, however novel with player looting and pvp focus but perhaps too niche
These mmos, being I believe the more visable mmo releases of the last four years, all failed to compete with wow in at least one of my three requirements. Is there more to it, absolutely. These three requirements are not much more than a litmus test. However, they seem to indicate with a relatively high degree of accuracy the reasons why mmos fail to compete against wow. After all, if it costs you the same money a month to drive a BMW as it does to drive a generic car, which will you pick? The point is that these devs cannot compete with wow simply because they create a product of lower quality and little to no customer value over wow.
That is exactly right. WoW hit at a time when lots of people were getting fast computers and fast Internet connections and were looking for a game to play online. It was in the right place at the right time. Those two events that made WoW popular will never come again, therefore looking for something to beat WoW is a bit silly. WoW will eventually go the way of the dinosaur and probably, most of the people who are currently playing it will stop playing MMOs altogether. They're not doing it because they're gamers, but because they found a game they liked at the time and when it's gone, it's gone.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
1. Playable by most computer systems, don't make something for future computers that do not exist yet (hello vanguard).
2. The game must be smooth without hitches, crashes, zoning, and lag in controls.
3. Content, content, content. There must be content not only for the first half of the game, it needs to have raid content, endgame content, crafting content, all ready to go. Most new MMO's released in the past few years have had content for the first 25-30 levels. Then once you get over the midway, you start to realize there was a lack of content polish for later levels. People will always level faster than developers imagine in their heads. You can no longer get away with a lack of content & content polish.
4. Fluff matters. Be it pets, mounts, player housing, fun side games, ingame scheduled events, etc.. fluff really matters.
5. Endgame content consist of raids, some sort of farming doable by single groups such as token farming for gear, and PvP. You lack any of them, you won't be able to compete with WoW.
6. Accessibility. People want to jump in and play the game anytime they want to, without having to spend too much time waiting on other people. People want to play content no matter their playstyle, be it solo, group, raid, or pvp. People want accessibility to content. General mass do not care how much time you have to play, how elite you are, or how skilled you are, they want access to the content and not be blocked artificially by old methods such as keying/flagging or progression where you could get stuck somewhere.
To be fair, WoW didn't have it all during the first 2 years. But the question is what does a themepark MMO have to do to beat WoW, the WoW we have now. Gamers won't be as forgiving with new games, so they do expect new games to have it all unfortunately. It's tough to compete with a company that kind of offers a bit of everything for everybody.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
I like the card game in Vanguard, but to be honest I think SoE has hit on a really nice thing with the card game in Freerealms the free browser mmo they have out... that card game and the way the tournaments and stuff work is great and I be damn I would love to see more stuff done like this in todays mmo's!
Played: MCO - EQ/EQ2 - WoW - VG - WAR - AoC - LoTRO - DDO - GW/GW2 - Eve - Rift - FE - TSW - TSO - WS - ESO - AA - BD
Playing: Sims 3 & 4, Diablo3 and PoE
Waiting on: Lost Ark
Who's going to make a Cyberpunk MMO?
Um, do you realize that the whole reason I asked you to support your reasons why it was a good thing was pre-supposed on a person who had NEVER played the game?
Saying "you never played" it as a way to wave off any burden upon yourself...just makes me think you entirely missed the point of my questions.
Was it that unclear to you? You are supposed to assume the person has no experience with these things. Perhaps I should have left more of my subjective preferences off, I tried not to give any of my experiences because I didn't want the discussion to devolve into a pointless argument, I was really hoping to prod you to a better salesmanship instead of that.
But yes, never played the games is the point. Now why do I want the player housing/guildhalls/crafting/taverns/musical instruments/nicer cities/whatever else you said that I'm forgetting by now? Remember, I want you to try to take it from the perspective of you talking to somebody who has no experience with the games, though you can assume a basic familiarity with gaming concepts.
Traditional or trading-card style?
Hedonismbot: Your latest performance was as delectable as dipping my bottom over and over into a bath of the silkiest oils and creams.
Give out epic armor/weapons as beginning gear, start you 5 levels from cap, give you a mount off the bat, 10,000 gold to start, be heavily instanced...successfully declassifying it as an MMO, make all classes gods against any mob in-game, have stat boards like an FPS so the leet dudes can chest thump, and be easy enough for an amoeba to play.
In other words...be more "instant gratificaton" friendly and console RPG-like than WoW already is.
Make something casual friendly and polished that you can play on your phone.
WoW is the most popular PC MMO there ever will be.