D&D as a (good) MMORPG

[the Jester]

You know what would work as a parallel advancement system for D&D? Affiliations. They're a bit mechanical for some folks tabletop games, but they'd fit in well with an MMO.

This is a fantastic idea. Couple this with some way to increase survivability- more hp, like the Hackmaster 'kicker' or the SWSE concept of starting with triple HD- and this could really work. In addition, I'd like to see a 'Cling to Life' variant introduced, wherein you die at a negative hp total equal to your con score plus you level (thus allowing high-level characters to occasionally be knocked out rather than slain outright).