I was very surprised to see Ultima Online missing from the border above and not listed anywhere that I can see on this site. Ultima was not the first online RPG, but it was the one that got the ball rolling! There has never been a RPG as diverse as Ultima. It delivers hundreds of crafting items, dozens of skills, thousands of weapons, has more land than most RPGs. It is also one of the few mmorpgs that allows you not only to build and own a house, but it's customizable to your preferences! Ultima lost players when better graphic games like Everquest and World of Warcraft came out, but it is most definitely not all about graphics. Ultima is still around--the longest running mmorg of all time. It passed it's 17th anniversary in September. You should check it out!
I've personally never played Ultima Online but I've heard a lot about it. In the past I've played a few isometric games before but I'm not sure how engaged I could be with a game like that. I have to admit that I've gotten spoiled by WoW's details and somewhat more personal connection with the characters I've created because of said details.
