Flashback there, played a ton of those.
To this day I argue the BEST MMO ever made was Ultima Online. Agreed, it's graphics and server lag sometimes were annoying. It just needed a 'new' game made in it's style.
It's economy was truly player made, not just grinded untradable gear. You could be a miner for hours and feel you did some fun and exploring, blacksmith your own gear reasonably, teleport to a dungeon quickly with another character, own a player house, guilds, etc. Also it's skills based character build was EXCELLENT. It didn't have the 'treadmill' or levelling games have now a days. You could custom make your character to spec in certain areas which was incredibly balanced. The thing they had to fix was the rampant abuse of PvP PK's out there, they always had the upper hand and surprise with too little repercussion. Then they finally released a PvE realm, that was much more my style. PvP in an MMO isn't my thing unless it's in special areas where everyone is seeking it.
It was sad when UO2 was cancelled, same with Wish. Both would have made for excellent games.
Modern MMO treadmills are why I quit. They are fun, spent a TON of time on WoW. But, carrot on a stick, and then just extend the stick again isn't fun. Some of us work for a living and can't just game. UO didn't follow that paradigm.