Having slept on it...
I feel there would be a market for an MMO of this design, so I share it.
* Never, ever, require a group for anything. Especially not anything in the main story. If people WANT to group up? Pair with a friend, or bring in a dozen, great! Each PC replaces one NPC in the party until the dungeon/trial is finished, but - this is a big thing - if you are bringing ONE friend and the trial/dungeon wants FOUR people, then when you start, it's automatically you, your friend, and two NPCs, not two random human beings.
* Sure. Have content with great loot that needs like 10 people to go get, that's at the highest level the game has. But let people go in alone if they want to, too. Have 'trial runs' so they can learn the content without pissing people off. (No really. There's shit I never even bothered to try, because all the people seeking groups were all 'experienced players only please'. There needs to be a way to LEARN. And don't say 'learning party'. Learning parties need a lot of random people to need to learn the same content at the same time. I almost never see it happen.)
* Socialization should be free-range. That is, let people group for anything they want to group for. Any quest, any dungeon. Just don't require it. And let people auction off their gear, or sell it, and hang out in the town taverns to meet people that actually want to meet people. Let the friends be through, you know, the ways people make friends. (And yeah. Totally allow ANY GEAR to be auctioned or sold. DO NOT FORCE PEOPLE TO GO TO THE GODDAMN DUNGEON FOR THE GEAR. Seriously, people worked this out on MUDs in the 90s. It remains valid. LET MULTIPLE PLAY STYLES BE EFFECTIVE. Some of us need that elite gear just to not freaking die, okay?)
If any MMO gets invented that's like this, let me know. THAT, I might play. (Especially if there's still a way to report assholes.)
* Never, ever, require a group for anything. Especially not anything in the main story. If people WANT to group up? Pair with a friend, or bring in a dozen, great! Each PC replaces one NPC in the party until the dungeon/trial is finished, but - this is a big thing - if you are bringing ONE friend and the trial/dungeon wants FOUR people, then when you start, it's automatically you, your friend, and two NPCs, not two random human beings.
* Sure. Have content with great loot that needs like 10 people to go get, that's at the highest level the game has. But let people go in alone if they want to, too. Have 'trial runs' so they can learn the content without pissing people off. (No really. There's shit I never even bothered to try, because all the people seeking groups were all 'experienced players only please'. There needs to be a way to LEARN. And don't say 'learning party'. Learning parties need a lot of random people to need to learn the same content at the same time. I almost never see it happen.)
* Socialization should be free-range. That is, let people group for anything they want to group for. Any quest, any dungeon. Just don't require it. And let people auction off their gear, or sell it, and hang out in the town taverns to meet people that actually want to meet people. Let the friends be through, you know, the ways people make friends. (And yeah. Totally allow ANY GEAR to be auctioned or sold. DO NOT FORCE PEOPLE TO GO TO THE GODDAMN DUNGEON FOR THE GEAR. Seriously, people worked this out on MUDs in the 90s. It remains valid. LET MULTIPLE PLAY STYLES BE EFFECTIVE. Some of us need that elite gear just to not freaking die, okay?)
If any MMO gets invented that's like this, let me know. THAT, I might play. (Especially if there's still a way to report assholes.)