Old mmo had all I wanted. Why no new ones?

While looking back on my gaming history, I still think of UO (and sometimes Tibia) as the mmo's with the best potential. Is there really no new games like these? For the past few years it has been grinding and nothing else.. Sure, I enjoy it to some extent, BUT, I am seriously worried about the development of future mmo's.

Treat this post both as a whine and a recommendation for someone that dares trying out an old game.

This is what I LOVE with old games such as Tibia or UO:

1. The feeling of really EXPLORING a new world. Seriously, secret passages, dungeons, abandoned houses, the almost endless amount of places I can remember from these, there is so much variety in these worlds. Gee, luck to the person who find a treasure map. If he is not a treasure hunter himself, then he has to find someone who is, to be able to locate the treasure. It could be ANYWHERE.

2. To be seriously SCARED of taking a wrong step. To die is to lose whatever you carry with you. You really fear the worst PKer of the server, or running into a dragon in a cave. But it makes the game so exciting! You can call it hardcore too if you want. You will run when you see a red name running towards you, unless you are a strong warrior yourself. Luckilly these PKers wont survive long in the towns, because of the city guards. Why not be a pirate or robber yourself? Wait behind a bush or ambush another ship. It is a matter of trust in these games as well, can you trust that blacksmith who is offering to improve your weapon real cheap? His character reputation is questionable.

3. No levels or grinding - instead having a large range of skills you train by use. This is possible with a huge and complex world. You could work entirely as a carpenter, or blacksmith, or a treasure hunter, instead of just killing monsters all days long.

4. Interaction with EVERYTHING. You throw the hat on the ground, and it is there for others to take. You can turn out a street light. You can use barrels or chairs to climb up a large rock. You can skin the animals you hunt. You can bake HP-restoring bread in the oven, but don't forget to wet the flour first, or to make the flour in the mill with your harvested wheat. Or you could earn a living by selling the fish you got from your last fishing trip.

5. Endless amount of looks. Make clothes, dye them any color you want, make armor different colors using different metals,  or dye your hair or get a haircut.

6. Build your own house. The bigger, the richer you are, of course. And you can use it as storage, clan base, a shop, whatever you want. Or why not plant and breed rare flowers if you fancy that.

7. HAVING THE CHOICE of how your gaming should be like. You can grind in these games too if you insist. You probably have more places doing so as well, than in most mmo's.

To sum it up: The time you put in these games, in my opinion, actually GIVES YOU something for it. And you have a lovely time doing it.

New games: Simply grinding is boring if it is not hard, if it is only to get to a new level, if you HAVE to do it. I do enjoy PVP or raiding or bosskilling tho, but in most games it is all too linear, you just "pretend" you have a choice. There's always the right type of stat- and skillbuilds, there is always a wrong way to do things, there' s always a best grinding place. Jeez, make a game where you let people think and decide for themselves instead of finding out they did wrong? I know a mmo where not one class put statpoints in constitution, because it is considered a waste of points. Then when a player who did finds out, he is recommended by all the other players to remake it. And he almost always does. How stupid and a waste of time isn't that? Why do you have to be required to read endless statguides on a forum when you should be ingame having fun playing?

What does a WoW-player have after a few years of playing? He has his his gear, and his skills, just like when he started out playing (but better ones). Most games are limited to just this. You can still not interact with anything, and you can't leave any trace in the world.

I don't think that there will ever be a mmo that I will play for more than 2~6 months. As soon as the grinding starts to get noticeable, and the game run out of new content or things to explore or do, I lose my patience.

All respect to UO, to still have 50 or so classes that I have not yet tried, and places I have not explored yet. Too bad it is outdated. Give us more games like UO/Tibia please!