MMORPG without Death

I have a few very close friends that I’d love to play get hooked into a MMORPG.  We played TSO together and shared Sims 2 stories over the phone when I played and took turns at the console planting our way to happiness in Harvest Moon.  So why don’t we get into one of the MMORPGs together?  They are vehemently against killing to play or advance in a game.  We need something that allows for the 3D social aspects of a game like TSO, with the measured strategy and objectives of HM and some fantasy/magic related RP for me.  Does such a game exist?  Oh yeah, and we didn’t like SL or Habbo Hotel, both of which seemed to be populated with players whose conversation was full of sexual overtones.

They want social and the ability for character advancement that doesn’t involve dismembering other beings.  I’d like some high fantasy and don’t mind killing to get what I want, but could be satisfied without it.  Boy would I love to try HM online.  I’ve seen a few random sightings that one might be in the works but I’ve yet to find anything substantial.

Comments

[Michael Whitt]

Try Seed (www.seedthegame.com) it doesn't involve any killing and is a MMO.

[John]

My first encounter with Harvest Moon was for the N64 with the ever-so-cute picture of the boy & his dog on the box cover, and I laughed at the notion that someone would pay $40 for a cutesy farm sim. I went home and as I am wont to do, googled Harvest Moon...and wow! The fan sites dedicated to this series of games was amazing. Within a few days I'd located a copy of it, brand new, for $30 at a local games store when used copies were selling for $50 on ebay.

I played it off & on for months but never "completed" the game, in the sense that I never progressed far enough for my father to come and tell me how good a job I'd done (or how poorly).

I also bought HM for the Gamecube but never played it through to the end...in fact I never really got into the GC version enough to even marry the girl of my dreams. I gave her the blue feather and ticked off the guy who was wanting to marry her, but never got the wedding scene.

I still think it's one of the best sim games out there, though :)

I just wish the girl's version had come out in Australia so I could get it for my niece. My nephew is a little too old for HM, but his younger sister would love it.

[Van Hemlock]

Closest thing to your description I can think of might be A Tale In The Desert (2, 3, whatever 'Telling' they're up to now). I've never tried it myself, but does seem to be a more structured and thematically coherent step-child of Second Life - as a citizen of Eygpt, you have a number of different, and almost entirely non-destructive, ways to become 'civilised' (free-form crafting tasks esentially), along with all manner of social gameplay, politics, etc, and communal building enterprizes in some form or another. I couldn't say what the people are like, but I'm fairly sure there is agriculture! Worth looking into at any rate.

Unfortunately, 'High Fantasy' is pretty much synonymous with 'Chop Da Head Off Da Orc', even before it reaches a watered-down game-friendly format, so you'd be hard pressed to find anything in that genre that doesn't give you a sword on day one, and the necessity to use it every day thereafter.

[Wolfgangdoom]

Chop the head off?? Am I missing something? World of Warcraft doesn't allow you to dismember anyone, and the blood content is quite slim compared to just about any first person shooter that has ever been made. Sounds like your friends just don't like violence in video games whatsoever and that is unfortunate. I can understand why someone wouldn't want to cut another persons head off for glory and loot, but the cartoon graphics of world of warcraft remind me more of an episode of Tom and Jerry, than it does even 5 minutes of Doom 3. You may have to wait a little longer for another game like the Sims to come out, or find a game like barbies dream castle to play as that is probably one of the few games where there is no violence. For everyone else who enjoys a good round of hack n slash, check out the website for age of conan www.ageofconan.com as that MMO is going to be the first to attain the level of rated M. /drool

[Saylah]

I've attempted to get them to try EQ2 and WOW, and happily offered to go to RP servers. You don't have to kill other players to advance. Even still the whole advancing my taking life is what seems to put them off, although one of these friends would routinely abandon an infant on the lawn for the Social Worker to take if her couple produced off spring. I found that quite funny.

I'm trying to convince them to try out these games using trails in order to at least articulate what it is they are so opposed to - if it's violence in general, then I'm sunk. :-) Regardless, I think their thoughts could provide some interesting commentary if I can convince them to load up one of these games.

P.S. I sent them the link to Seed and the sci/fi and graphics produced a unanomous, "No!" :-)

[Shasta MacNasty]

I'm the person that can't watch scary movies without having nightmares. Even in an action or thriller, I watching the murder/violent scenes through the tiny holes in my sweater. I dislike gratuitous violence. I'm not entertained by it. I'm not entertained by the idea of killing and maiming as many people as possible. If that works for you (you sick bastard) then more power to you. I'm not here to judge. ;) Just for me, I want an alternative to that in a strategy game, and its one of the reasons I love the Sims 2 so much. I just wish EA didnt jack up TSO with their wack-ass ideas. They should have just left it alone and made it just like how we play on our individual PCs. I would have been very happy with that.

Another beef I have with a lot of these online games? They are based in this "high fantasy" imagery. I hate it. It does absolutely nothing for me.