What have you taken for granted to your detriment?

"Everyday we take the Massive daily posts and bring them to Dragoon discussions. We would like to thank Massively for their original content."

For better or worse, human beings have a tendency to assume that things will stay more or less the same from day to day. We figure that all else being equal, the electricity will stay on, there will be food in the fridge, and the people we play games with will play fair. But these things aren't natural states -- the electricity goes off if you don't pay for it, the fridge will run out of food as you eat it, and the only way to find out a player is a cheater is to be cheated.

MMOs are no different, and with the nature of each game being so mutable, it's very possible that we take something for granted that is easy to lose. You assume that your game's mechanics will stay largely the same until a patch comes along and changes many of them, a la Star Wars Galaxies. You assume that your endgame tank friend will still be in World of Warcraft no matter what, only to find out he doesn't like the latest expansion and is quitting.

When have you taken something for granted in a game only to find out you were wrong to do so? Did you think a player wouldn't leave when he eventually did after all? Were you expecting mechanics or classes to remain unchanged when they weren't quite so permanent? Had you counted on having all the time in the world to achieve something only to have the criteria changed or outright removed?

TH