The Daily Grind: What's the one feature you can't live without?

Fishing, not as basic as Fate/Torchlight and not as soul destroying as FFXI but a nice mix. Something like WoW but with a little more substance (other than cooking mats)

Well, for me, soloability (yes, in an MMO) and story are pretty crucial.

I like the option of grouping occasionally, but I don't want to be held back just because I can't find the right group at the right time.

As for story, sheesh, I have been playing Dragon Age the past week or two, and DA:O makes most MMOs pale in comparison on the story/immersion front.

Someday I'd like to see a game that is essentially as full and rich and riveting as DA:O but that has an (optional but entertaining) multiplayer component.

If SWTOR is anything like DA:O, I really think it may just be the perfect online game for me.

Character customization is my big one! I stick with CoX despite all of its flaws (and there are quite a few of them, don't get me wrong) because it has an amazing character creator. Don't ever discount the amount of fun just having a character you love to look at from level 1 can bring to a game. Champions tried to go the same route, but I honestly think it was a step back from CoX. I just never felt a connection to any of my characters, they all looked goofy as hell. The faces felt very "off" as well.

Other than that, I would say the team invite blocker. We asked for it for years in CoX and finally got it. Can't tell you how satisfying it can be to sit there and watch a griefer's invite spam be blocked in the status log while you enjoy your day unphased.

Game mechanics surrounding player interaction.

A decent system for finding/forming/joining groups. We are talking about MULTIPLAYER gaming, after all. Amazing to me that -- at this stage of the game -- new MMOs are still coming out with nothing more than just spamming "LFG" in general chat a bunch of times and then sorting thru the couple tells you get sent so you can send out some invites and maybe manage to get a small group together to adventure with. Developers need to make this one of the fundamental design decisions of their MMO, not an afterthought that gets relegated to just another chat channel.

Much like Fris13, I just started playing Fallen Earth a couple weeks ago or so ago and was so blown away, I bought the game on the 3rd day of my 15 day buddy pass (and I only played for 30 mins that 2nd day). Oh, yes, if curious. The rest of my Buddy pass was kept then my free month started lol. How rad is that?

Anyway, sorry for going off on a tangent, again, Much like Fris13, I realized what this game had that I haven't found in a long time, and i think I've narrowed it down.

- I want to play in a world where I feel like I'm "somewhere" not "in a zone in a game" if that makes any sense? I look back at places like Greater Faydark, Befallen, Noble's Causeway, The Plane of Mischief, etc from EQ as places I've been moreso than remembering them as Zones in an Old game I used to play.

I haven't really felt that sort of connection since, and this world in Fallen Earth makes me feel like I'm definitely "Somewhere"...and I want to see and explore more of wherever I am there..

I don't feel in a hurry to do anything to "get my levels to get to the end" like I do in most games. Now, I don't play every day anymore, no time for that, but I've put in a good amount of hours since I started, and I'm level 3. I've just been exploring, salvaging scrap, harvesting food and crafting like crazy. I'm 2 zipguns from being equipped 100% with stuff I've crafted. and I love it.

So i guess, if you add all of that up, I guess the feature I can't live without in an MMO is a bit of the Sandboxy feel.

I'm torn just one thing?!? I could say PvP but sometimes you don't feel like pvping and want to slay a dragon. I would say crafting but most MMO's I play never have the crafting I look for and still I play them. Well its gotta be what hooked me into EQ1=raiding.

I mean I played on the pvp servers RZ and SZ(the most towards the end) and even with epic PK fights nothing would keep me from my raid times. I mean nothing excites me and makes me forget I have work in 5 hours with no sleep like a raid boss and the chance for some loot. Maybe its the coordination involved or the strategies/ INTELLECT required; but an MMO, especially an MMO I'm going to pay for monthly, is going to have some awesome raid/end game content.