Oh my!! I enjoy the community when it is smaller and no cross server stuff…that way I get to know people.
It has to have a sense of danger for me. Getting killed by a normal mob once in awhile is fine.
It needs a good story…I have done those korean grinders where it is hard to figure out the story and I quickly tire of them
I also like good graphics but this not a game killer if the graphics are just ok
So, what makes a MMO great to you?
Fishing. If I enjoy the fishing, I enjoy the MMO.
( I’m serious by the way - it actually captures a wide range of subtle hard-to-quantify things about the game’s ambiance, player behavior/interaction in the world, freedom to do stuff vs pressure to do stuff, etc )
The ability to facilitate an RP community. Wow does it well in a lot of regards, in no small part because it allows addons so we can have RP profiles where we can share our descriptions and art easily.
Allowing people to be creative with their outfits while not punishing them for it by requiring separate outfits for RP and PVE. Putting a heavy emphasis on collecting gear and appearances is also pretty fantastic as it keeps content relevant longer.
Housing is also pretty great and one of those things blizzard tragically lacks, but alas if there was any one MMO that did it all what would I have to complain about?
Story and progression of power. Most people don’t care about the story but for me, in any game, it boils down to a few questions.
Why am I here?
Why should I care?
If the story is engaging, I’m going to want to power up so I can be a force to be reckoned with while I push toward a resolution.
If the story sucks, then the game is simply a gearing game that I’m not interested in.
An engaging story. A wide range of activities to partake it. A beautiful world.
WoW isn’t all of these all the time but it’s enough to keep me coming back for more.
And then there is the final factor. The people. With a good guild, the game is amazing. I really wish WoW would update their guild finder system because it’s garbage and, in my opinion, one of the most important parts of the game.
Fun engaging gameplay that doesn’t force me to interact with others, but still has some gameplay that requires grouping should I want it.
I love playing in an open living world, knowing that everyone around me is a real person and not just a scripted NPC. I just prefer to play solo.
First would be character immersion on top of the list. If there isn’t a race or class I can get into, I don’t last long. Ex, FFXIV, don’t like their races, so I quit.
Second would be the world building. Blizzard did this well in MoP with its originality, everything else has been lacking since imo. They did ok in WoD until they abandoned the project. Sigh… what it could have been…
Third would be combat mechanics. As much as I loved Wildstar, it’s combat mechanics were fun, but gave me carpal tunnel so I had to stop playing it. WoW is so streamlined and smooth that it’s hard to play other MMOs.
Strong community, dynamic class design, compelling lore, and the feeling that what I’m doing is significant for my character’s growth.
I have to say first that I don’t have a ton of experience with other games. I tried one or two of the superhero ones, which sadly all died off, and the Star Trek one and I think one other, but WoW has always been my number one and I’ve been a huge fan since BC.
I wish I was more into reading the lore and quests, but having played for so long, even when I try to immerse myself into the story, I get bored after awhile and just read the quest objective and move on, and that’s even with my mains.
Overall though, what brings me back is the different races and classes first over everything. If I’m in a grumpy mood I can play my undead, if I’m in an angry mood my warrior dwarf or mag’har orc, if I’m in a content or happy mood my panda, kulti’ran or z troll monks, etc etc. I have goals in mind for my alts, usually reaching a level, or which zones I want to get to that I enjoy questing in.
I love flying, LOVE it, and not just to get from point a to b, but to be in the sky, on a dragon, on a bird, on a flying horse. Mount riding, ground or in the air is a HUGE part of what I love about this game. I’ll never ride a dragon or a tiger(and live to tell about it) so mount riding in this game plays a huge role in my fun. Taming cool pets, using cool powers, melee fighting, getting in a monster’s face and taking it down, even knowing it will just repawn a minute later.
I guess really, all of the things I can’t do in life, with my family, my job and all of the day to day boring stuff.
WoW has flaws, many of which don’t affect my gameplay as I do it, so I’m pretty happy with this game. 
Worthwhile end game content is the number one thing needed for me. If it doesn’t have that, I won’t bother.
its been shown over and over again that when an MMO lacks worthwhile end game content, it fails. Sooner rather than later.
World bosses is the main thing for me i wish WoW had a tiered world boss system like in Rift Mmorpg They have a instance tiered version as well but sadly rift is barely played now not worth going over there.So there 2 raid paths chooses instance and non instance both haveing tier gear like just but not the same bosses just 2 ways you can raid instead and get rewarded.
Not sure I have ever played an MMO, but in my mmoRPGs I really like my D&D style realistic stats, skills, crafting and leveling. I want things like grinding weapon skills because that helps me see my “Hero’s Journey” to borrow a line from story telling. I want to see my character get better as he/she levels skills and levels overall.
Investment.
Be it storyline, visuals, classes, professions or any other hook, if the player has no reason to invest time into the game, they will grow apathetic.
There’s a reason WoW has been declining since WoD.
I guess I understand why you want to specify, but OP was obviously talking about MMORPGs lol. MMO is frequently used for short on these forums
Anyway, the two biggest things for me are the following:
I like getting lost in the world. It’s easier with Sandbox MMOs but unfortunately Themeparks have won the MMO war.
I wasn’t trying to be contrarian, but to me MMOs cover anything online that have a bunch of players. LoL, Diablo, Overwatch, Destiny are all MMOs. The vast majority of what those games offer would ruin WoW for me.
I focus on the RPG part as the MMO is a side piece that allow D&D players to play with others online.
Blizzard. Blizzard makes a great MMO.
I disagree.
Those are not MMOs.
12 people is not massive.
That would mean nearly every video game with multiplayer…ever created…is a MMO.
The story is just as important to me as the gameplay. If there’s no story then I get bored. Also, I need to feel like my questing is worth it’s while. Don’t give me a huge quest for no reward.
Yea… those aren’t MMOs other than MAYBE Destiny (I don’t remember what Desiny’s limit is for the open world but I still think it was kinda low…)
MMOs can have hundreds in the same zone and that’s what makes it an MMO.