In Asheron's Call and Ultima Online, this seems largely ignored except in small cliques of friends, such as allegiances or guilds, and, hey, I don't even know anyone in my allegiance in Asheron's Call except one fellow who's an old friend from Meridian 59. There are, of course, other downsides to commercial MUDs. Yes, designing these games is a craft, no, an art, really. I've done quite a bit of it myself, and there's more to it than figures. We're creating worlds, not money.
Money's a side effect.
Some things that I feel are ignored would increase income and player base. A while back, in a poll on HorizonsVault, I voted that I only wished for there to be global communication on a 'tell' level, and even then that it would be restricted further. There must be a larger scale communication method. With the increased size of the world and growing number of players for these games, I believe that it is becoming even more imperative. I was, a few months ago, involved in a discussion about dynamic worlds.