So, yeah, my problem with MMOs

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I think this is a really good deep dive into how the elitist raiding culture has spread, taken over, and even squeezed out the "casual" role playing culture. But I think the one point I disagree ultimately is that there isn't anything the developers can do about these emergent behaviors.

Because there is very much still a difference between real vs. virtual worlds. That barrier is that the virtual world literally has the tools to deny actions from the player base in a way that cannot be carried out in the real world.

An MMO doesn't have to cater to instrumental play. An MMO can actively disincentivize instrumental play. I'm reminded of the classless leveless MUDs of yesteryear which served as effectively souped up chat rooms that allowed you to do a little extra emoting and wander from room to room. Build things that interact, but not in a battle-based system. And they were extremely fun, because from the ground up, every piece of code was not about HP bar goes down, but rather how to make communication more vivid beyond Person A said this.

When combat isn't the center piece of the game mechanics, so many more avenues of non-instrumental based gameplay starts to open up.