Hi,
What am i talking about? Ways to interact with the world that feel authentic, unique, grounded, and the technology now allows it. Think BIG.
- NPC In-Game awareness. The NPC sees/knows what you are carrying, sees what type class you are, sees you are holding a sword or book, aware off the weather, current state off the surroundings, the level of the node, possible siege or triggered events, what kind of monsters are out there and respond containing all that info. It is more immersive because the text will differ more. as seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wCjosz1vOA
- Talking (trough your mic) to NPC's and get a well-tought out response https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQq8M88s3BU
- PvE monster movement. The creatures themselves could learn to walk. Have a sense their limbs, feet, hands, torso, their abilities, use their wings, tail.. and play with the reward/punishment to create sets of 'modus operandi'. Seems like an impossible task for every monster, but imagine a legendary boss. it could be trained to avoid damage, live long, do a lot of dmg, use the environment, who will it target first? who last?.. and no fight will ever be the same. Kinda, depending on the level the boss is trained at, you can scale in difficulty. you could have the same monster trained in different ways to suit a lvl 5 dungeon, spicing things up. basics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_4BPjLBF4E
Who knows, a group of boars might migrate with the changing of the seasons. they have a will of their own now.
So the development is shifting more to molding the AI to suit the purpose. This is only a short list. I believe using AI is the future of gaming, and those who do not implement it.. stay behind. AI is till in its baby shoes but the tech is advancing. If ashes is successful, maybe in 5-8 years?

What does the future of gaming look like for you guys? Regarding immersion & MMO's?