Sometimes the internet is lonely

Sometimes the internet is a lonely place. After work, either playing World of Warcraft or reading and posting on other people's blogs, it fulfills whatever social needs are still left over after work. And sometimes, like today, it doesn't really fill that need and it just feels like a lonely place, which mostly it really is. If nobody I know is online, even though it's other people playing, it seems the same as a single-player game. Of course it's mostly because of my own choices to stay to myself most of the time. You can't have it both ways, if you are very popular, there are sometimes where it seems like everybody is bugging you and you can't get away. If you stay to yourself, there are some days like today. All of life seems to be that way; give and take. And of course there is the fact, at least I think it's a fact, that humans are hard-wired that way; I mean that nobody is wired to be happy all the time with the situation they are in. That's why I like to play orc instead of human, since orcs are wired for beer and cocaine. Just kidding ha-ha. I have been working very hard leveling up a warrior and now that I am at 83, it's like....I'm just about there, but instead of being excited, I feel like I'm about to fall flat on my face. Does that mean it's time to take some time off, or to fight through it? I think I'll fight through it.

Survival, freedom, and success

A human's, and any animal's first instinct is to survive. It takes precedence over all else. After that is the need to be free rather than be a slave. Especially important is freedom to come and go where you want. Only after a man or woman can survive and be free, do they then need to be successful. This is the problem where MMOs always fail. When they are new, the game is exciting and meaningful because you are trying to survive. Even the weakest creatures outside the inn or other safe area can kill you. Then you need to be free to travel, to go to other villages or cities, meet with other players, explore new lands. This also is very meaningful and acquiring some levels, basic equipment gains you that freedom. After that, some feel the need to be successful, to go into the dungeons and kill the most powerful monsters. But not everybody feels the need to do this very strongly.
For an MMO to always be highly entertaining, a player's survival and freedom must always be threatened. At the very least, there should always be somewhere that a player cannot travel to safely. There is a large percentage of players who will never feel a strong need to conquer monsters in dungeons to gain more power, that will allow them better chance of conquering even more monsters. A player's basic needs must also be challenged constantly. It is perfectly acceptable for this challenge to increase in difficulty. Just because it is "outdoors" should not necessarily mean trivial. Just like new dungeon content should get harder and harder, so should outdoor content. Perhaps a new quest hub should require players to pair up, or in threes, just to get to a new flight path/quest hub. Perhaps faction work also would be necessary. Don't just challenge the overachiever dungeoneers. Challenge questers and explorers. Challenge everybody, in many different ways.