Multiclass, really? Yawn.
Anyone remembers Ultima Online? No leveling, no classes. You can learn anything (~50 abilities) and only get better by doing it or visiting a trainer. Only cap is the limit of 150 per ability and 600 for all abilities together. You can learn new abilities and set which you want to "unlearn" when not using them, so over time you can become a completely different "class". I started as an archer and cook and later changed to a mage and scroll maker.
You cannot see how strong your opponent is before you attack him. No clicking on a portrait to see which level he is - as there are no levels. Doesn't this sound more like the real thing than having a level abough your head and someone is stronger than you only because he did something to increase this level, even if this had nothing to do with fighting?
Did you ever wonder why you cannot steal from other players even if you are an almighty rogue? In UO you can.
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Of course guards will kill you when they catch you in town and every player can kill you as well until some mins after you stole something. But this is how it should be.
UO had anything a good RPG should have, only quests were missing. But even without quests the game lasted for years although it was not hammer-on-some-keys-with-no-consequences-if-you-die.
Imagine losing anything you have with you when you die by an enemy player and then you see how your killer gets away with what was yours.
And even if you only die from a monster/animal, you have to find a healer, get resurrected and get back to where you died NAKED all within 15 mins (without a map) or anybody can grab your things and get away with them! You even cannot ask other players for the way when you are a ghost, because you only speak "ghostish". Only players with the ability to speak with the dead can understand you for a minute.
Forget about being able to make magic out of thin air because you have a full mana bar like in all modern MMOs! You have to seach for the right ingredients in the wilderness (different for each magic spell) or buy that stuff from other players - or if you are very lucky from an NPC merchant. When you are on an island and run out of ingredients for your teleport spell you are lost. No bring-me-to-my-inn stone you can click on.
I had very interesting encounters because of that when some enemies asked me wether I can make them a portal to a town and they gave me a complete armor as a reward.
THAT is role playing.
The easy-play MMOs from today are no role playing games, WoW started with that. They are nearer to Facebook than to a role playing game. You just need to remember a few keys to press and if you fail, nothing bad happens. You just stand up at the next cemetery.and run to where you died. And even that "inconvenience" is too much for a lot of players today and even back in Everquest1".
In UO there was no "power armor" you get when you replay a certain dungeon 200 times. And there were no superuber weapons. There were 4-5 kinds of armor and weapons, and the difference between winning and loosing a fight was the real skill of how to play, and not your gear and level.
Why is no company bold enough to create a real RPG like UO was, but with todays 3D graphics, sound and a quest system?
Regards
Thomas