Not only this, but first impressions. Where we have our starting areas, where we first see the game and are first introduced to the world matters so much. I still think fondly about the Commandlands of EQ, or Camelot Hills in DAoC and everytime over the years I've revisted these games I go to these starting areas just to reminisce and those games with wonderful starting areas of intrigue and beauty are such a hold. I love them.
I would like inns to give a buff based on how long one stayed in it. Perhaps a lesser version if you logged out in an inn. Give tangeable reason to go to inns and taverns.
One thing I disliked about EQ was walls that mobs could attack through. I remember the first time I was running from a hill giant in the commons and I ran into an inn for safety. That didn't work out that well. So inns were not safe and were always empty. Sure some RPers would use one sometimes, but there was no reason to go otherwise unless that one had a quest giver.
The buffs should be just good enough that you wouldn't want to be without it but it wasn't vital to survival. Perhaps you got the buff for 3 times the time you spent in the inn/tavern on-line and one tenth the time spent logged out in it with a cap of 2hours gained off-line. Or whatever works out. And the buff is something like more health/mana/stamina regen that stacks with spell buffs, etc. Nothing that will make things "easy mode" but might save on down time.