Combat is unique, Social aspects were unique(when it came out) at this moment, even if those are unique even on this day an age, people have the mindset that graphics are everything(a wrong mindset, heck how many point and click games, old ones, I played that are amazing? even to this day? Monkey Island guys? Loom? pshh could name a heck load more)
Putting it simple, for people to regain interest in "Mabinogi" or something close to it, someone would have to pick up on the "base" of this game and make something new/fresh, retaining the aspects of this one with updated graphics, and when I say updated graphics I don't point at something like Tera(Fuck skimpy outfits and the lolis) I mean graphics on par with Lets say RO2 with Physics? that would be enough I think.
But again, opinions, I step away from official due to how Nexon is Publishing/Monetizing tjhe game and the weird changes they implemented, some where welcome, lets be honest, the Begginer quests even on the current version we go are clunky at best, and revamping the starting experience of the game was a good move, changing how the combat worked and implementing weird skillsets that feel out of place on the universe of Mabinogi *Cough* Ninja *Cough* Gunner *Cough* now that shit was to me one of the big turn offs.
But, we got Mabi.pro to save us from the shittyness of Nexon so, all good?
I totally agree that we need a new game like Mabinogi, problem is i think even Nexon don't know what the Mabinogi community want, they keep trying to force the dark and gritty story and graphics on us and that's what in the end killed Mabinogi Arena, i think what people really want is a Mabinogi remake and not a dark, gritty sequel, prequel, side story, yes i know that a lot of people currently playing Mabinogi on the official servers would get pissed off that they have to start over on a new remake of the same game, but that's a small issue compared to keeping the current Mabinogi suffering until it's eventual death, it's a small price to pay in order to keep playing what you enjoy with many new people and have a game you enjoy renewed and enhanced for modern gameplay.
I was however talking about Mabinogi as a game, i didn't differentiate between the official Mabinogi and Mabinogi professional, both of them have issues, it's just that one of them is less about "Mabinogi" and more about everything else they care to add or implement.
There is plenty of quality of life updates and such on the official Mabinogi servers, i guess that's the price we must pay in order to play Mabinogi like it was meant to be played here in Mabinogi Professional.