Well this one start it all for me, and left allot to expect from later MMO's
Asherons Call broke all the boundaries. Yu can play with thousands of players online at the same time, many of which were in the close vicinity. Was amazing, just like a community with massive land. The best thing I remember about this was the open area. You did not have to load to go to a new area unless it was a type of dungeon of sort. I could run from one area to another and it could take hours and hours. It made the game feel like a real world. The crafting was not as huge and this was one of the 1st games I recall with a hybrid auction house. This house was more like a store, you could add names to your weapons or armor and sell them at the store to make extra cash. The quest were excellent as well, we would do mass hunts, however they were all open as well which lead to the guy with the fastest PC and mouse to get the loot which was not a fair system. Gaining skill and levels was a bit complex for it's time, but once playing for a few days you would get the hang of it. They did not allow you to change skills later so what you chose is what you were stuck with for the most part. This was a game that I feel was designed for th 3Dfx Voodoo series cards which is now taken up by nvidia.
On the down side, the Loot was bad as I mentioned, fastest clicker, also it was open without control so if you were in an area that was jammed pack, chances are you could and mostly would get booted. Once you go into less open areas it would be back to normal.
All in All, this game did it for me, I love it to this day, while I am off playing Guild Wars and World of Warcraft, this one will always hold a place in my mind.