See, now, it's talk like this that has made me shy away from massively multiplayer online games for so long.

"What's so cool about this MMORPG you're hooked on?"
"Well, you get to do all sorts of cool stuff in a persistent online world and interact with other players."
"What sorts of cool stuff?"
"Like mining and trading." (For fantasy games, replace that with "killing rats and trading".)
"Is that all?"
"Well, you can be a shopkeeper..."

If I am going to invest time in a MMORPG, I want to blow stuff up and be involved in massive battles every single time I log on. I don't want to wander around looking for mundane stuff to do. And if I thought running a retail business was "fun", I would never have quit working at the Jewelry store.