Could it work, and would it be profitable for both Blizzard and the console maker?

Let's use a next-gen Xbox and whatever Blizzard's follow up to WoW would be for the sake of this discussion. Microsoft would obviously have to release a wireless keyboard and mouse for the console and they would have to work with Blizzard to find a way to have Xbox live gold members be able to log onto Blizzard's servers. As far as an MMO subscription fee is concerned maybe Microsoft and Blizz could split on this by adding the difference onto subscribers Live memberships.

So what are some of the pros and cons?

Pros: Being able to play an MMO in the comfort of your living room instead of hunched up by yourself at a computer....being able to play on a big screen HD TV....easy voice communication because every Xbox would ship with a mic.....increased subscriber base for Blizzard....increased subscriber base for Live....

Cons: Uncomfortable setup having to use keyboard and mouse on your coffee table.....even more people become addicted to the digital crack that is WoW and the world's population gets fatter.....

That's all I got! It seems like a good idea for both sides. Why hasn't it happened yet, and will it ever?

I think the upcoming KOTOR MMO, by EA has a good chance at being a console MMO. The first 2 worked well on PC and console, so why not the upcoming KOTOR. Control scheme seems the most doable. I play WoW, and the thoughts of using a controller scare me.  FF online worked for a while, but it now only holds it's most loyal fans, and doesnt have the support it once had....sad really, cause it was cool.

MMO's can work fine on consoles.

Final Fantasy XI (PS2/PC/360) worked pretty well and was even giving WoW a pretty good run for their money for a while.

Sadly FFXI was a little too hardcore and WoW was super casual so WoW won out in the end.

Don't think it will happen anytime soon. Blizzard hasn't messed around with home console/handhelds for a little bit. I think they made Starcraft 64 pretty decent even though I never played it (just heard that the controls worked pretty well considering controllers aren't the best for RTS). Blizzard seems too focused on SC2, Diablo 3, and WoW (PC) right now.  I am still a little upset that they cancelled Starcraft Ghost.........

Never having touched an MMO - why would it NEED a keyboard and mouse? Isn't the reason why WoW is so popular because it is really easy to play but hard to master?

I think for an MMO to be popular on a console, a similar mantra is neccessary and making it work with just a controller or even a Wii Remote on it's own would be a step in the right direction.

It'd be much more accessible but that doesn't mean it has to lose depth and I'm sure a tlent like Blizzard could make it work on a console format.

MMO's are mostly about communicating with other people so you would need mic or keyboard. Heck, many people play MMO's just to chat. Everything else should be possible with controller.

If you had to use keyboard + controller, it would pretty much be the same as on PC... Not really, but really close.

In that case a microphone should be enough.. Console MMO's will never take off if a keyboard is required

That's one half of it and the other half are macros or hot keys.  You need to be able to do things quickly and that's hard to do without a good setup.

Going back to FFXI, they actually did a really good job at both of these.  I didn't use controllers or gamepads much at all in FFXI but I believe they had it where you pressed a trigger which brought up a bar that you just used the D-Pad left or right to scroll through the 0-9 positions.  It sounds cumbersome but it actually works pretty well and things can be done really quickly.

Timing is incredibly important (even more so than WoW) but you have a few seconds to always set up or anticipate your next move so it works quite well.

For the communication they actually had the incredibly smart auto translator.  I never used this on the gamepad, only on the keyboard but it worked very well too *and* it lets you seamlessly communicate with people in whatever their native language is.

For keyboards, you simply start typing and press tab and it brings up a small list of words (and you usually type enough so it's the only or first word on the list so you just press tab and then enter--also makes for quick typing) and then BOOM everyone can read what you type.

For controllers or gamepads I believe you pressed a button and you had to navigate a series of menus.  Again, sounds cumbersome, but I knew people that exclusively used gamepads or played on consoles and they always communited well.  They had trouble participating onconversations but as far as gameplay they could do perfectly fine.

There are also mics that take care of the communication problem beautifully.  FFXI was made for the PS2 before even the PC so mics were never considered.  Nowadays mics are part of every console so that wouldn't be a problem at all.

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And puffy, WoW is easy to learn but it's also easy to master.  In fact, that's why it's so popular.   Anyone can pick it up and instantly look like a badass.  I'm sorry to all you WoW people, but there really is barely any skill involved in that game.

-edit-

Just thinking about FFXI again (I use to be super addicted to that game)...

That game was built around community and working with other players at all times.  If you've ever played it, you know what I mean.  There are a very small number of things you can do by yourself in that game, everything else requires working and communicating with other people and often times those other people didn't speak English.

It's amazing at how well of a job SE did at this, especially considering that the game was made for the PS2 first.  It's a shame that such a good game had to be eaten by WoW.  True, the game was a huge time sink (I would spend days hunting NM's) and that was one of its biggest downfalls but damn that game beat the snot out of WoW in everything else.

Im wonder if WoW got ported to a console that much of the userbase would switch to the console. I would say they are loyal to the game and not the machine that plays it.