Before I get started, I want to avoid the TL;DR;still gonna post.
, and while it has good dungeons, they're still very linear. You mostly can't avoid obstacles, light isn't an issue, encumbrance never matters, and traps are generally "try to jump over it and die if you fail - which is usual, or let the Rogue click it and wait for the bar to fill up". AI is barebones. NPC conversation is virtually nonexistent. Town is boring. There's no conflict between players and no enemies ever go after you specifically - just monsters you fight in the dungeon while you're there. Finally, it's completely a theme-park MMO which means nothing you do matters because everyone in the world did it a dozen times already and you're just on the quest chain.
I like the DDO active fighting (although missiles should be more useful - I guess I should say melee should be nerfed) rather than turn-based, but I'm openminded on that front.
I'm thinking something more Spelunky-like?
I'm looking for a game that heavily utilizes many of the tools of old-school dungeon crawling. These would include:
50' Rope - can be thrown, lassoed, climbed, pulled, etc. Should be able to lasso a treasure chest and pull it toward you. Can also be burned/cut/etc. Weight limit before snapping. Damaged easier if under load.
10' Pole - for poking and prodding
Torches / Lanterns - used up, need to be carried in hand, lights things on fire, water/drafts extinguish them
Wall climbing - including sheer surfaces by Thieves
Hiding / sneaking / backstabbing / pickpocketing
Locks and traps, including on doors, treasure chests, etc., which in some cases can be dealt with manually using tools like sandbags and 10' Poles, but sometimes need to be finessed by a Thief with lockpicks. Also monsters can spring traps, but smart ones in their own territory don't.
Secret doors you have to interact with - pull the book on the shelf, press the stone in the wall.
Puzzles - whether they make sense in the environment or just "a wizard did it"
Gasses that disperse eventually unless refreshed, but disperse faster in a gusty wind, and have effects like suffocation / poison / sleep / flammable
Mounts, and pets that aren't directly controllable but you have to give general orders, and pack animals like donkeys
Tribal AI that responds to threats - kill enough wolves and the pack might leave or just hang around in the den, kill enough orcs and they mass for a showdown or escape with the loot
Conversations, AI friendliness and hostility, not all monsters are hostile and many can be negotiated with - Parley is as useful an activity as Combat.
Town is an adventuresome environment - muggers, gangsters, rowdy Vikings, wizards' mansions, shops that can be plundered if you're careful and prepared, factions that have their own agendas and pursue them with or without you.
Rival / friendly adventurers.
Hirelings - morale, secret goals, betrayal
Keeping your ear to the ground helps you catch rumors, which other people also pursue, and may conflict with you. You might find an unknown dungeon, plunder it, and if you let slip info about it (or let yourself get tracked back to it by rivals) other people may try to get that sweet loot before you.
Weirdo monsters like true gelatinous cubes slorping along, green slime and piercers falling on you, rust monsters, disenchanters.
(These first ones feel to me like environmental interaction things, which would need to be part of the gameplay / interface, unlike the below which could just be added to any game)
Hurled Flaming Oil - which helps prevent pursuit by animal AIs
Food - required to be eaten and if thrown down helps prevent pursuit by stupid AIs
Treasure - weighs a lot and can be cashed in at town, and if thrown down helps prevent pursuit by intelligent AIs
Holy Water / Turning Undead by Clerics
Magic-Users who have to find their spells as treasure
Intelligent "ego swords" with special powers
Some item crafting (like primitive knife+staff=spear, cooking butchered meat, branches+cloth=torch, etc)
Really difficult content that you might not ever be able to overcome, or must come back to later, or expend resources to overcome it at a low level
So? Any ideas? All this time people have been trying to put the D&D experience into a video game and pretty much ignored most of D&D in favor of "oh D&D is Hit Points and Experience Points and Gold Pieces and you fight monsters and get magic items" which is like saying milk is fat suspended in water.