Progress the last few years has stalled. With the success of WoW you have so many games trying to copy the success along with games being more suited towards casual gamers. i.e. just pick it up and play for only 30-60 mins. With all that there has been so few companies that seem to be willing to try something new to grow and adapt the genre (good or bad). Guild Wars 2 seems to be the most recent that's trying something, with being able to acutally dodge attacks with out it being more of an FPS style MMO (Darkfall). There may be a few others but for the most part everyone seems too afraid to fail with something new which ironically leads most of these games to failing or not lasting beyond a year or two at the most or they switch to F2P

I'm not sure if you understand fully or are just so against this system that you're intentionally ignoring the things brought up. Gear in these types of games is EASY to come by if you go out and get some wood and ore boom you can make a dozen swords. So if you lose one or two you have extra in your bank waiting for you. It's not like you were farming Hardmodes or what have you for weeks hoping for a lucky drop for your boots of the amazing jedi dodginess. Gear in these games don't tend to give such a huge advantage in PvP. Someone can be completely geared to the teeth but if the other player can out play them they're going to lose. So you don't come back weaker each time you die you can either chalk it up as a loss and go about your day or re gear from the extras in your bank and go get revenge. These games typically have weight limits in your inventory, so depending on the gear you have and what the other person has maybe they just take your sword or gold you've picked up or your spell components but the rest of your stuff is still there. Otherwise they risk being overburdened and unable to escape if someone else attacks them. I've died and lost my stuff I re geared at my bank and happened to go back kill the guy that took my stuff so I got it back plus some of his stuff. Also these games typically are geared towards large scale PvP guild vs guild vying for control over a town or castle of some kind. You die, most people typically don't have time to loot your stuff since you have to open the person's bag and move stuff over one at a time which isn't smart during a battle. If you don't like that type of PvP that's fine the community that does like the adrenaline rush you get from the possibility of winning or losing items or their guild castle, understands that especially in this day and age we are the minority. But don't sit there and call people that enjoy it bullies or dishonorable when based off your arguments you're making it out to be promoting dishonorable play. Just like any game there's good and bad people. In those games unless someone is in a really powerful guild most people treat each other with a modicum of respect because being a tool will get you killed or start a guild war which your guild may not be ready for. Just like in WoW esque style games you've got people that try to ninja or abuse the master loot system and you have no recourse but sit there and rage at it being unfair while they laugh knowing they are immune to any sort of repercussions. They have a different reward system than just grinding for gear and saying hey I'm #1. The environment gives you more of a reason to stay and work with a guild it has the capacity to constantly change with power shifts, and alliances. There's definitely more politics involved.

To be fair to WoW they did have one really good Arena. Don't remember the name but that Arena in Stranglethorn total FFA.

Having never played DAOC I don't know if it was open loot when you killed another player but I'm going off the assumption that it is. This generation of gamers seems more drawn towards "amusement park" games as opposed to sandbox style gameplay. Also there seems to be a huge misconception amongst these players that open loot = I die then I lose all my gear that I've spent weeks or months grinding the same instance(s) for in a few seconds. In Darkfall (again assuming it's similar in other sandbox style PvP) most of the weapons and armor are crafted and are fairly easy to obtain so you constantly have spare sets and if you lose your gear it doesn't take much for a guildie to craft you more, or craft it yourself. That desire/excitement over actual loss/reward be it being killed and losing your stuff/keep/castle is balanced out by the excitement of killing someone finding an amazing piece of gear or winning a new castle for your guild to set up shop in. Almost every fight gets the blood pumping because the outcome is never guaranteed. These games do tend to let people be asses but not entirely unchecked due to the political nature and being able to kill anone. i.e. Some guy is running his mouth off boom axe to the head. Same guy is griefing another guild's members well maybe that guild is larger than he realizes or has enough allies that they destroy everything his guild has. Now that guy's guild knows it's cause of him misbehaving that put them in that situation. These games imo probably have people at least having a little more restraint because there are some consequences that can happen as opposed to just mindless flaming in General chat. Granted that doesn't carry over in to the wanton slaughter of new players by bored people. And while there is enjoyment in games such as TOR, WOW, etc most of the PvP is just another gear grind. The most common thing I've seen is once someone has full battlemaster/warlord/arena gear, is unless they just PvP for the heck of it a lot of them tend to make alts and just PvP on the lower tiers. There's nothing for them to protect or to accomplish until the next "season".

I played Darkfall briefly but I absolutely loved it and the sandbox element; the ease to craft weapons and armor to counter the open looting. Also being in a guild ownign a castle working to strengthen it and upgrade it. Getting in to fights to stop raids or attempts to take it from you. Lineage 2 for me as well. Aside from it being a Korean grind fest I felt the Castle and town control added a huge element to staying with a Guild. It gave you something to strive for and to protect as a group/team. I wish they had similar things in just about every game. That risk vs reward and gain/loss system adds more meaning to PvP (for me at least) than just grinding for gear. And from everything I've heard from people that have played DAOC or Shadowbane I think I would have loved those games too, wish I had of gotten in on those at the time they were big.

Ah ok

My favorite part is threatening to unsub...... The game has been out what a month? Are there problems and bugs? Yes of course. But immediately going OMG IMA QUIT!! is a little silly. I imagine you've played plenty of MMOs before and should be familar with there always being ups and downs. Be it in PvP, class imbalances, or end game PvE. Most people weather the storm or post actual ideas/fixes until the developers get around to fixing what's broken. Also while you probably weren't saying it to get attention most people on the internet don't care if you quit, especially over a hypothetical situation.

actually he did fall and then after his memory was wiped he re-established his connection with the light side of the force (according to canon).

/signed Seriously? The most disturbing thing about this (to me) is that not only did someone make this and think it was cool or maybe rushed to meet a deadline but the fact that there's another person that saw this and signed off on it.

Look for a guild that can run things easily and then there's usually more flexibility on what they'll take into a FP. People tend to be more comfortable trying new things when they can do an instance blind folded that way if you're not pulling your weight they can still finish it and it's not a "waste of time" because the new guy wants to go against the grain.

the tactalneck!