World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

It's this dynamic split of a developer's targeted demographic that makes the choice of adding housing to their game a difficult one. I think most teams want to have this option added at release, but in the end, it's something that always gets pushed off to the back burner. I don't believe I've ever met a player that will refuse to play a game that doesn't have housing, but if you are one, be sure to let me know. Until then, I'll say that developers should spend their time concentrating their efforts on other facets of their chosen project. 

Age of Conan actually does have color when you get out of the starter areas.

In any game players have ever been able to ride a mount in, we've heard the constant cry for mounted combat. For every time I've heard this complaint I've heard the technical reasons on why it hasn't been possible in the past. Notice how I said the past though? This last year, Age of Conan introduced their version of mounted combat and this week sees the release of another form of mounted combat in Darkfall. In the past, I've never cared that much about it, but with these two possibilities, who among us can honestly say we haven't dreamed of charging down an opponent on the back of a horse, dragon, or (from those crazy folks at Blizzard), a motorcycle. Alright, I think the motorcycle option is completely ridiculous, but you get my point.

Give a player more ways to kill a mob (or opponent) than they can imagine, and you'll have a happy gamer. Why do you think geeks go crazy over the variety of moves and abilities in games like Mortal Kombat? The more variety we have in terms of death and destruction, the happier we are. As another quick note to developers in regards to my statements in this paragraph, learn it, live it, love it. Do this, and we'll be beating down your doors with subscriptions. 

Ship to ship combat may seem the same as mounted combat, but there are too many variables to make this true. Controlling a ship by yourself and battling other players would be an unrivaled accomplishment at this point in time, but if you really want to get the froth flowing from the mouths of geeks, allow players to man a large ship like a galleon. Each person in the group could man a different station from lookout, to captain, to cannoneer. I'll agree that it's an ambitious idea, but the company that pulls it off (and pulls it off well) will be heralded as a revolutionary and hailed as kings among men. Some pirate MMOG's already exist - namely Pirates of the Burning Sea - but we don't hear too much about them anymore. I think this is because there are plenty of people like myself that simply couldn't care less about pirates. I can hear the boos now, but let's face facts - ninjas are, have been, and always will be cooler than pirates. So rather than focusing on a pirate game, give us ship to ship combat in large sandbox games like Vanguard. Do this, and you'll have a winner on your hands.