Monsters, weapons and armour: what your enemies should do
What I would like to see is the ability for enemies or NPC's to pick up items, weapons and armour for their own personal use. It would be really funny to see a character hack a lot of enemies to death, but decide to leave the really expensive item on the ground (due to inventory limitations). The player wants to come back for the item when they have time to rearrange their inventory, and then their NPC companion decides that he/she likes the look of it and takes it. This would allow NPC's and monsters to get special attributes that are available from your weapon, item, or armour. It should be obvious why a goblin would not have on humans plate armour, so there must be limitations on this system. There should be a reason as to why a monster has any items on them. If you wanted to get money off a monster, you should sell their hide (or something similar) because it is unlikely that a hyena could ever have gold on its person.
(Idea thanks to MadKeithV). How likely is it that the armour, that you scavenge off a creature that is half your size, will fit you? This is a valid point and I shall expand on it. What was the creature doing with humanoid armour and weapons in the first place? UFO: Enemy Unknown was a game where if you found an enemy weapon, then you needed to research it (in your base) before you could use it. For a fantasy RPG, I think that you may need to take these kinds of weapons back to the weapon/armour smith to identify them (and clean them) and give you any hints on how to use them effectively. The player should still be allowed to use these items without taking them back to the knowledgeable person, but they will suffer in their effectiveness without the 'identify' on the item. They may be able to learn to use the item effectively over time, but it would be quicker to go to an expert for identifying. Armour that is obviously too small for a player should not be allowed as armour for that player. If you had to wear armour that was 2 sizes too small, your effectiveness of movement would be hampered. Maybe they should be able to, but it decreases their battle speed or movement. This is just one more speculative idea for you to think about.
(Idea thanks to MadKeithV). Another brilliant brain-buster from our exalted Moderator (do I hear the sound of a suck? Who is the one who is kissing the fish?) Is what are the hygienic consequences for donning the armour of a freshly slain Orc? The Orc had probably been wearing that armour for weeks without taking it off, and it is probably infested with who knows what kind of bacteria. What is to say that the player couldn't catch some kind of nasty infection from wearing this alien armour? This would come back to the "identify and clean" situation that was mentioned above.
Blatant racism and the redefinition of a race
There is a lot of racism in RPGs and although some is fair to those who may not deserve the praises, it can be unfair for those who are condemned for little reason. I have noticed that whenever an elf is mentioned that most would think of a fair being of splendor and right. I think that the elves are a people who gain credit where credit may not be due. It is from these prejudices that you can draw from in your game to cause havoc. Just because legends speak of Elven folk, tall and fair, that every elf you meet is going to be trustworthy and have no will to pursue needs to their own ends. Also, legends that have been built about such racism include Dwarves as coarse ruffians and Orcs as evil and dark. The only non-racially good and evil race that has been consistently depicted is humans. This is because we all understand human nature and know that there is both good and evil within our actions.
I would like to see a devious, untrustworthy elf (gee, I really am sounding
like a dwarf 
) join the characters
party and use the racism to their advantage. Likewise, an Orc that may have
no ill will to any human may be of great value to a character but is deliberately
used as such because the player would be racist towards such a character and
would most likely smite the would-be friendly Orc.
Are we all so blindly devoted to finding a true race that depicts all that is good about its species and one that depicts all that is bad. Hitler himself managed to touch on both of these subjects. He was searching for the one true race that was superior to all and would lead the world to salvation as he saw it (ridding it of Jews) and really he was one of the evil race of which he did not see. Everything is hinged on the black and white in the fairy tales that make up the legends that RPG's are based on. The coming of the grey is the revolution that should be taking gaming. There should never be a clear-cut good or evil. It should be up to the player to judge the rights and the wrongs, as they are the ones who are playing god.
(New) Enemy stupidity… "Give them a tactical approach!"
Recently, I was thinking about tactics that I used when playing on my own and in multi-player games. For example, in Diablo (the first) I played a Warrior. Whenever I came across archers, I would charge past the hoards just to take those out first. The archers always did more damage in the long run, and it was ALWAYS more profitable to take them out, if you had enough strength to do so. When I was in multi-player with my friend, who played a Rogue, I would hold the battle away from him while he absolutely slaughtered the enemies that I was battling. Eventually we got beasty enough to just charge blindly around levels, but that is a different story…
As I was alluding to, the enemies would just hit me as the battlefront and
would quite simply be wiped off the map. This could be a problem if there was
one warrior, who holds them all back, and many spell-casters and ranged attackers.
The warrior would take all the damage while the others DID all the damage. What
I suggested is that smarter enemies (technically, I think that they all should
be smart. I will write up a rant on that 
)
should have a front that draws in the tanks (Warriors, Paladins, Barbarians
all) and once that battle is joined, another wave comes in from the sides, attacking
the casters and shooters. This way there is a tactical element brought into
the fray, and also this means that I don't get absolutely pummeled while my
friend comes off without a scratch!
This would be a bit of fairness for enemies, and wouldn't be totally difficult to implement from the way that I look at it. It is much the same as the AI is at the moment, only with a bit more 'teamwork' for the minions. It also makes the game a little more fun, because when that second wave hits the casters and shooters, there is going to be a lot of adrenaline pumping, and that is something that will keep the players coming back for more.
(New) Reasoning against Enemy Stupidity
Like I was saying before, Enemies should not be stupid and should pose a decent threat to the player. The reason that it would actually MAKE SENSE to have smarter enemies is due to none other than evolution itself. It all comes back to survival of the fittest. If the enemies that you were facing were always as hostile and stupid as you have seen then there is no doubt that they would have been wiped out long before. The only reason that they wouldn't have been wiped out is if they were stronger, in which case the humans would have been wiped out. It all comes down to evolution, as genociding would cause the weaker race to be totally slaughtered from the face of the planet.
Now you are probably thinking "So? Why spoil our fun?" and I am inclined to agree, to a certain extent. Killing should NOT IMHO be removed from games. It is one of the prime reasons that games sell these days. I am just saying that the player shouldn't be able to slaughter an entire race, and if they started to then the race should start breeding its stronger elements into majority. This way, the races will all have strengths and weaknesses, but they all remain on a relatively similar level to each other. All I campaign for is a bit of a challenge in my enemies. Now I just provide reason for it.
(New) The petty 'evil' minions – When they know when to quit?
I was just thinking about how players go around slaying hoards
of the "Evil Lord's"™ minions just to get experience and money. Already
I have stated my opinions towards that kind of a game (Murder
based experience or "End Goblin Genocide") and so I will
get to the point of this idea. Once a player-character becomes powerful enough,
should the minions not know when enough is enough? In Diablo, you could be able
to walk around in Hell without any problems, yet when you went into the dungeon
the stupid enemies would keep attacking you and bounce off your armour dead.
I would just like to see a game where once you have undoubted superiority over
a specific sort of minion (provided that you are using a relevant system of
you vs. the bad guys a.k.a. anyone else) where they would see you and run away.
Running at the very sight of you. I think it would look best as though they
were mice running away with you stepping at their heels. Just something to give
the player that added feeling of superiority .
Generally about enemies not being able to tell your character class if you were not showing them in any visible way. If a warrior took off his armour, then you would not expect anybody to just go 'Yeah, he's a warrior'. Read Freedom of choice for players. For my reference read Freedom of choice for players.