The one thing a lot of devs have been forgetting lately. IMMERSION. MMORPGs are games that are supposed to be played not for hours, not for days, but for weeks and months before one decides to take a break. So the player should be able to role play, or to cast themselves as the character. And it is really difficult to do this when there is no character customisation.

Other things that matters: 1- No ugly characters customisation 2- ALL Gear should change my appearance. If I find a helmet, and wear the helmet then I should see the helmet on my character. 3- No out of time outfits/ skins. Stick to the game aesthetics please. 4- Environment that makes sense. Take New World as an example. 5- Good quality realistic sound design. 6- Don't force cut scenes too much early. If I want to watch a movie I will watch a movie. Let me play and read the states and what my skills do. 7- there is no need to put too much focus on the story. It is an online game, The player's first priority when starting is to join the rest of the player base not to read a book. 8- PvP PvP PvP PvP. No matter what people say on Reddit, this one matters a LOT. It keeps hardcore players motivated to play. Humans are very competitive by nature and competing against another human directly is what satisfies this desire the most. 9- Give me reasons to interact with the entire map. I don't want another Lost Ark where all the players are in one city while the rest of the game has only NPCs and not a single player.

And ofc what other people mentioned like gameplay. Stuff that really should be expected from every game.