Intriguing idea and topic, certainly something to get this ryzomless homin off the wall.
You have raised a very important point, to wit: there is a lot out there, but nothing quite like ryzom.. so make it. Which is sad in its truth.. er, or truthfully sad (or which ever way personal preference re-orders that), but avoiding that whole saga and onwards to the point at hand.. an MMORPG.
Before delving in, a few questions..
For professions are you suggesting only a harvester (a-la-ryzom) or a harvester referring to harvester(ryz) and/or farming?
Also, though not quite related, would introducing the concept of professions limit players to chosen professions?
Much of the draw for Ryzom, I can only speak for myself, was the absence of said hard barriers to skills and specialisations. In Ryzom, classes and professions became a natural evolution within the player ranks (whether as a result of socialpolical demands I cannot be certain, but maybe some of the older players could clear that up), this aspect also gave individuals the opportunity to find their own niche in the game rather than being given one on a platter. As a result of this, there was much more of a sense of achievement in reaching your own goals.
Okay, one could argue to just create another toon to fill a role.. but that defeats the point in my mind.
Ryzom showed in practice that even with a bag full of masters an individual will develop some preferential fields. and that hardline castes are not a foregone conclusion in fostering the societal and economic development in the world.
Quests are odd creatures.. for one they are a means to empart the story of the world to players and then also to guide players through initial game training.. silan was a nice example. By the time they degrade into: go to X and kill N of Y and return W to Q, you are into grind central; and one gets the feeling that the sole point of these quests is to try satisfy the need for real substance in the game.. kinda like a bag of crisps and a coke instead of a decent meal. Ending up with a hoard of hyper players running from one pointless quest to another so far beyond any vestige of realism or, at the lest, believability within the nature of the world..
In ryzom it was a bit different, and here I think is why and where it leaves a gaping hole in experiences in other online games since; Quests were, for the most part, only a means to knowledge of the world(which was always somewhat sparse, but it added no end to the intrigue of the world), rather than a means of character progression. This left grinding more to team play oriented gaming, [cunningly/blatantly ommiting the crafting arts here, but bear with me!
], encouraging and fostering the community.. This is an amazing achievement if you think about it, take what everyone really hates doing and make them do it with others (if they want) so they forget about it, brilliant!
In retrospect, it is a strange realisation that ryzom did not seem like a time sink, and that everything since feel like massively singleplayer online rpgs that are grind-tastic... okay, I digress.
In short; I think that envisioning a game is in only part about creating an fantastic world or story (amazing and exemplary is also good enough). But also alot about an environment wherein players are free to develop and progress in whatever manner they wish; and where the community is paramount to the game that fosters and supports it.
Note: If a project of this nature materialised I'd gladly offer to help where need be, but the focus needs to be right.. the game engine is sadly not the first thing you need to decide on. :: Firstly establish, fully, what you want to achieve; Determine a way(s) to realise it; Break the solution into requirements; Then find the right means the end...
I think what you have put down is a good start. Nice going.
Edit : ... hm.. there's lots of reminiscing in this post, heh, sorry..