The true magic of an MMO is that it's just fun enough to give you a goal to play toward and just boring enough to force you to make friends. That's my final say.

The true enjoyment of playing an MMO is when you know there is a cool goal just beyond that boring quest that has you grinding up 300 tigers or some such. So you go into a field and stand for two hours grinding on tigers. And it's as boring as this conversation. Only you aren't alone. There are tens of other players in that same field grinding those same tigers all being bored and yet all looking for that shiny goal in the end.

Knowing you are in the same situation and that you are all sharing the same experience combines with internet anonymity to ensure all inhibitions you might have toward the notion of talking to random strangers vanish. All the things that ordinarily hold you back from socializing just go away because you know you are in no way worse or better off than anyone around you. So you start chatting even if you newer otherwise would. And hey, you actually have that shiny goal at the end to talk about.

Before you know it the two hours of grinding are over and you are actually sad to see them go. So you stick around to chat some more and help the other players grind up. And by the time you are done it's next morning and you have met new friends with whom to chase after the next shiny goal.

That is the purpose of MMO games and that is their magic. Any game that fails to provide that fails at being an MMO. [u]Because that is the one and only thing you can NOT get from any other genre.[/u] And that's just that.