It would be very (very) cool if a 100% free (no pay-to-win) rpg browser game existed.

Now -- i don't mean anything uber-complicated:

1) character development (spending gold to increase stats)
2) quests with minimal interaction cause we want to play the game while doing other stuff (at job!)
3) pvp with leaderboards
4) guilds/clans (including wars)
5) dungeons (like quests but vs bosses that will give you special items)

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Suddenly i realized i could create such a game myself (well -- actually i'm quite sure i could)...

What do you think? Do you like browser games? Gameplay ideas? Want to collaborate?

The focus would be keeping the required interaction at a minimum to allow people to play it during the day while doing more intense stuff

Cool idea,
my 2 cents:

You could make it something like running a guild, so you could either send off heroes to carry out quests which they perform automatically (maybe with a mini screen showing them on their adventures) meaning you would have to balance risk vs reward, and the correct skill sets, or you could take charge of a group yourself allowing for more control over harder quests.

If that was the case the trick would be a simple yet deep combat system (maybe like pokemon with only a set number of skills available) so that the AI are not just destroyed by any PC's..

"Heroes Guild" Manager game idea seems VERY VERY VERY cool to me!

About combat system: many games make the battles 100% automatic. It just depends on player skills vs monster skills. The game will (maybe) show you a simulation but you don't have control over it. I know it may seem uncool but actually if the game is a sim/manager i think it's reasonable.

You might want to check out Dungeon Of Kong by Nerdook (yeah, the dev of Vertical Drop Heroes HD here)
http://www.kongregate.com/games/nerdook/dungeons-of-kong

No multiplayer but you have a party with fully playable turn-based combat.

Epic Battle Fantasy series, Monster's Den series, and Mardek series are all highly recommended. Especially Mardek. All free on Kongregate.

I totally don't have the abilities for that. But I love browser-based rpgs, I have perused several (urban dead, shartak, cthulhu nation, and another fantasy based one I can't remember) and I had often toyed with ideas, mechanisms, settings, that I would alas be unable to implement.

So I totally say : go for it, and keep us informed. I can pretty much promise(-ish) to register at some point.

Why not sharing some ideas?

I like the "guild master" concept kazmar suggested:

You have a guild of heroes. You hire them at the inn. Each day new heroes spawn and their level depends on the guild one.

You'll send out those heroes (arranged in parties) in quests that will give you money and xp. Each hero in the party gets xp and levels up and your guild as well.

You can buy equipment for your heroes too. Each day the shop will have new items to sell.

Your guild can be upgraded to increase max number of heroes, but also with, say, trainers that allow your heroes to get better (i.e., the cost of training is reduced).

Guilds could be grouped in alliances that would grant even more bonuses. Alliances could fight each other in wars.

This is the base concept.

Also, quests are automated -- you decide who to send and there's a timer that will tell you when the quest is done. There may be a fight at the end but you won't control it. You win if your heroes are strong enough.
This is my greatest concern -- how to make the heroes choice meaningful? Show the level of the enemy you'll front in the quest description? Have a difficulty meter?

It sounds like a good idea. Final Fantasy Tactics had a similar system for it's quests. You could fight the battles yourself or just choose a party and send them to do it while you did other stuff. I think their level and also the classes effected whether you won or not. So if the quest was to hunt a monster and you sent a hunter you'd have a better chance then if you sent a white mage.

Something similar would probably work, choose your heroes based on classes, levels and skills and try to match them to the situation. A better match means more likely to win (with some random element possibly?). Maybe tell you in advance how likely you are to succeed (60%, 70% etc.) or leave you to guess and figure out the proper combinations.

I'd love to offer a hand for actual programming, but web stuff is not my strong point and I don't really have the time to commit at the moment.

Let us know how it goes :)

yeah match hero class to quest type seems the best idea to make the choices meaningful

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i think i could put something together to show other people the idea and then start looking for an artist to join the project and make it actually look like a game