With the advent of other MMORPGS

[Burke]

How much if anything do they learn from world of warcraft ?
I do know several have adapted alternate play-styles based around the cookie cutter classes (Tank,healer,dps)
While no one's copying WoW some would argue that by blending the classes as some have done (jedi i'm looking at you)
It's a more "fun" playstyle. The point is with "monks" on the way (monks as i understand are a combo dps/healer)
Can we expect more mixes in future expansions?
I did note that the"hero" Classes have been dropped it seems.

[DiamondTear]

They don't copy enough. The UIs are a far cry from WoW's if you use addons and the support for addons is not there. The reason I stopped playing Rift before my sub ran out was the UI which had a bug with mouseover for months without it being recognized by the devs. And from what I hear the UI will be shitty in swtor too.

[Aurumai]

They don't copy enough.

This.

The main mistake I see most MMO developers make is imbalance in PvE and PvP. Every MMO I've ever heard of starts off strong and popular, but I'm sure that anyone could agree with me that any MMO is fun to begin with. I'm actually convinced that most of the pre-release hype for MMOs is simply because no one can be sure how the game will work later on in its development. Take Rift, for example. I haven't played it myself, but my understanding is that it's a very successful game. Good graphics, fun combat, in-depth talent system, and a lot of varying roles for each class. Every single one of my friends who dropped what they were doing to play Rift came back after about a month -- The PvP was so ridiculously imbalanced that they couldn't stand to play it until it was fixed. Not to say that WoW PvP is perfectly balanced, but it's balanced enough for there to be professional-level competition.

I'm not saying that an MMO's success hinges on decent PvP balance, but once you get past the leveling and questing, there absolutely HAS to be lasting appeal to keep people subscribed. That's not something you see in most of these MMOs.

[arx]

They also copy too much.

If you want to do a WoW clone that beats WoW, it'll have to be a better one. From my point of view, I've yet to see anything that promises even comparable hardcore endgame and UI flexibility. For less competitive people, you'll need to have more interesting things to do in the endgame. Endgame, endgame, endgame -- MMOs rely on sustainability, and all of the ones that have launched only seem to have what amounts to leveling content at launch. I don't mind an online Skyrim or KotOR, but that subscription is not going to last.

[Aurumai]

They also copy too much.

If you want to do a WoW clone that beats WoW, it'll have to be a better one. From my point of view, I've yet to see anything that promises even comparable hardcore endgame and UI flexibility. For less competitive people, you'll need to have more interesting things to do in the endgame. Endgame, endgame, endgame -- MMOs rely on sustainability, and all of the ones that have launched only seem to have what amounts to leveling content at launch. I don't mind an online Skyrim or KotOR, but that subscription is not going to last.

Remember when Aion came out? God, that was terrible. The thing that really annoys me about new MMOs is that I can't even enjoy the one I play because no one will shut up about them, whether they're being serious or just trolling. I don't get why everyone always gets so hyped up over a game because the BETA is fun -- It usually only takes a few weeks for the hype to die out and people will stop playing them so much.

[DiamondTear]

Maybe their end-games have no chance since there are other options. There really weren't when wow hit vanilla end game.