Progression and MMOs

So many players believe progression is a key element in keeping them in the game, be it leveling up, acquiring better gear, or learning new skills. I believe while progression is something that is important in gaming, it could be done better than using the same 'ol formula. You know what I'm talking about if you played any current MMO that has a level cap, then upon reaching that cap you then proceed on with endgame progression, via raids, PvP battlegrounds, dailies, etc. It seems like ever since WoW came out, other companies try to use the framework of WoW and apply it to their own style, but at the end of the day, it ends being the same thing. I guess you can say this is what I have experienced in past MMOs. I think progression is good for single player games, but MMOs you need a bit more than just progressing to get "uber gear".

 Before I go on I do know that there are other MMOs that use other types of progression. Games like EVE, Darkfall and The Secret World uses skill based progression rather than using levels. Obviously WoW was the MMO I played the longest and had the most progression with, so I'll be speaking based on my experience with the MMOs I played. Now with WoW, their type of progression (raids, battlegrounds, dalies, dungeons,etc) is fine because it works for their game. Another good aspect of WoW is that it's very immersive. There was some days where I would just explore the world and ride my mount through the different zones. I had different motivations to exploring. Somedays I was bored and wanted to travel the world. Other days I would be leveling my herbalism which takes me to different zones in the game. Another awesome aspect that make MMOs...well...MMOs is the social aspect. One of the main point playing in a virtual world is playing with other players. The fact that I was guild leader at one point greatly added to my enjoyment (and frustration) of the game. Having that social element within a big world that's begging to be explored on top of progression (be it horizontal or vertical) makes for a successful MMO. Having it one-sided can quickly lose interest to me, and I'm sure other players as well.

One good example on one-sided game-play is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Although to me the graphics were good enough and some worlds massive, it seemed very empty and artificial. I didn't feel immersed at all, and even though I was in a guild (kinda. I was more solo than anything), the social aspect felt a little flat without speech bubbles when speaking to other people. Hell I didn't know half the time if someone was speaking to me. The game has excellent voice overs; the only issue is that there was too many voice overs. I never really got into my story later on the levels. It's when I hit 50, I didn't care anymore. The only thing to do at level cap was warzones, and flashpoints/operations. I slowly got bored of running the same warzones and flashpoints/operations did not interest me at all since I'm not big on instanced dungeons like I used to. I did not want to explore because as pretty as some planets were, they did not interest me to explore. Maybe because the worlds weren't seemless, but there wasn't anything that made me want to explore the whole world. All and all, SWTOR was an excellent single player rpg, but a very 'meh' MMO experience. One game that almost gets it right is The Secret World. My biggest issue (besides the animations) is that the world isnt seemless, but man, the world itself is immersive as hell. I enjoyed the horizontal progressing of leveling your skills, and the quests are fun and engaging and they kinda encourage you to explore the entire map to find other little missions and tidbits here and there. 

 I remember back in my rpg days, I always wanted to play in a world where I can go where I want and do what I want. Not really caring about what level I'm on, but just living and interacting in a virtual world. I have to be honest, but WoW was the MMO that gave that closest feeling with it's seamless world and plenty of other things to do besides raiding/battlegrounds. It seems like moving towards sandboxes is the way to go to find the MMO I've always wanted to play. Something that still has progression, but has much more...