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Better gear is always more flashy or obnoxious. Why is it that good gear always have to more and more over the top. Why do the looks and power of my gear have to be linked? Why should my appearance give away my power?

I think when BlackUhuru mentions graphics he means graphics instead of meaningful game mechanics.

Its one thing I see time and time again. Developers investing too much time in developing the looks of a game before they build a solid and timeless gameplay mechanic. At this point I still do not feel that anyone has nailed the gameplay mechanic for MMO's.

Graphics capability of game systems advance so fast it really should be left for last to ensure it is as current as it can be. While building a solid gameplay mechanic can be developed without fancy graphics and will not diminish, in its relevance over time, to the same degree as graphics do.

My only real beef with graphics is they they pick a style and maintain that style throughout the game and interface. Timeless and relevant graphics do not nee to be realistic, just look at shows like CloneWars. Flat shaded and angular can be just as striking photorealistic.

This is a problem that seems to be common in Theme Park Games. It's one of the reasons I have lost intrest on them . It has not been an issue in most of the sandbox games I have played though.

I think part of the issue is rooted in the fact that static spawns are primarily designed to support static quests and to maximise the amount of content in a theme park game, these have to me packed in to small areas to ensure there is enough space in the game world to support lots of these static quests, to ensure players don't get bored. In the end it becomes matter of content density.

Now in other games I have played which were sandbox based this is rarely an issue as these static quests either do not exists or are strategically placed so as to not over saturate an area with competing spawns. Since Pathfinder Online is being designed a a Sandbox with Theme Park elements I think this will be less of an issue.

One of my bigest dislikes about the current crop and past MMO's is related to yours, but may be directed more at the underlying mechanism. Static quests in general drive me crazy and kill any sense of immersion the game otherwise is able to generate. To put it the context of Pathfinder, think of the following scenario:

'I am wandering across the countryside and happen across a farm being harassed by kobolds. Now since I am a nice guy I rush over and dispatch the little yapping beasts. The farmer thanks me and asks if I would be willing to track down their lair and take care of them which I do.'

Now if I see another person later doing the same quest or find the farm under attack by the same kobolds again, any immersion that the quest just built.

I do not mind quests that can be repeated by myself or other players if there is a logical reason to repeat it such as resource gathering quests or if I failed to finish the quest, but any other static quests just break my interest in a game. I much prefer the little non-story quests to be dynamic like is used in in Skyrim. Their radiant story engine seems like a better solution then resting static quests.

If I killed the kobolds and the next guy can too, then the world is not persistant and dynamic, its static and just a theme park.