Top 5 for me are but SWTOR shouldn't model any of them.
1) SWG pre-cu - When I first picked up SWG it was my first mmo and since that game I haven't found a game to top it. Crafting was unbelieveable, PvP was awesome, Community was like no other. To me the community is what made this game what it was. You name the planet and there was pvp going on...It was best times ever. This is where FoTM started. The classes were so diverse. You could be a Bh but specialize in pistols or rifles or carbines or survival, You could be a tera kasi but also be a gunslinger, or a fencer/armorsmith/weaponsmith. I tell you the options were endless. You only did get 1 character and unlocked a second after you made jedi.
2) WoW - I played this game at launch quit because there wasn't pvp, came back after burning crusade and had great times.
3) Old Republic - No matter what anyone says to me this is one of the most complete MMO's to ever come out. Every MMO's has it's flaws. Wow didn't even have pvp when it came out.
4) DaOC - Awesome RvR...this was the only thing I liked about this game. Taking a keep was epic.
5) This is a toss up between The Matrix online and City of Heroes. CoH had great customization and was fun playing. Matrix reminded me alot of SWG because the diversity of the classes..There were so many option when building your toon from 1 to 50.
Bottom Line there is no perfect MMO. Right now I am enjoying this MMO and not because I'm a huge Star Wars Fan and Kotor fan but because to me this is one of the most complete games out there IMO. Plus it is a change from swords and bow and arrows...Saber's and Blasters is a nice change.
SWTOR should keep there current model as it is..Because this is a different game then all other games. If there is any MMO it should look at it is SWG because SWG did alot of things right until it started to listen to the whiners and screwed the game up. During SWG timeline Jedi's were rare and people wanted to play a jedi hence the changes they made. Take a look at TOR how many jedi's do you see running around? How many other classes? It's works because the timeline of this game fits it.
I think BW is doing a great job of making this game better. I mean come on people the game is barely what 5 months old. It only took me what 1 month to get to 50...and I work fulltime. Now I'm going back and playing the other classes for the story because isn't that why we played KOTOR 10+ times to begin with. How many MMO's do you know allows you to get to end level so quickly? I remember WoW when it first launched I think I got my toon to 30 and said screw it and that took a little over a month. Even the great SWG took forever.