People still play DDO?
You're talking about Stormreach?
Wow, I thought that had gone the way of Tabula Rasa and Asheron's call...
When are they going to get around to doing a remake of Ultima Online? Original Ultima before they tried to soften it up for the mainstream audience was the best MMO ever, hands down. Thieves could actually be THIEVES, you know, just steal anyone's stuff! See a wild horse, you can tame it and ride it. Build your own home anywhere, grow crops, raise livestock... that game had it all. AND when you die, your stuff was up for grabs. Free Loot ruled.
Sure there were alot of player killers roaming round, and life came cheap at the end of a sword, but that just added to the excitement.
I loved it before they ruined it. Customization was insane, even being able to color and dye my own clothes and armor. No stupid mana pools, you had to have the reagents to cast spells which made for great strategy. I remember having like 20 dummy bags inside my backpack to fool thieves trying to rip me off. You could pick the locks and break into people's homes.
No other game has come close to that level of realism. Not one.