[tsa]

As you all probablty know, Myst Online is going to be shut down on April 4. I'm now in the process of saying goodbye to this wonderful game, which is harder on me than I expected. I walk around in the Ages, and make as many good pictures as I can.
What I love about Myst online are the beautiful and often very detailed surroundings, the beautiful sounds, and the fact that you don't have to do anything there to have a good time. You can just walk around and look at things, or talk to people if you want, without having to be constantly at the alert in case anyone would wants to shoot you. There is no real 'getting ahead' there, which I love because if I want to get ahead I'd rather do that in real life and get a real compensation for my efforts, instead of in a game. And last but not least, I only met nice people there, and I met someone there who is very special to me now.
Now I'm looking for an alternative to Myst Online. Many of my friends there moved to Second Life long ago. I tried out Second Life for a while, but didn't like it at all. It's hard to explain why, but although it has most of the characteristics I described above, I just couldn't 'get into it'.
So now I turn to you, my fellow (adventure) game lovers. I hope you can help me in my quest. What other online games besides the ones I mentioned are out there that don't involve violence and can be enjoyed just by being there?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You can always jump into an adventure with me in Fable 2 co-op when it releases (if/when you get an Xbox360 and join Live).

[tsa]

Thanks Trep, but sorry, consoles are not for me.

[MdaG]

Maybe EVE online?
It's beautiful to view the environments and has safe zones so if you don't like PvP you don't have to experience it. This is only hearsay, I haven't played it myself.

[tsa]

Eve online has been recommended to me by more people. I'll certainly check it out.

Edit: checks out EVE Online. Finds the sentence: CHOOSE TO BECOME ONE OF FOUR BLOOD-THIRSTY RACES. Walks away...

This is an interesting read about the problem of most MMORPG's.

[MdaG]

If I'd have more time I'd certainly try it out myself, but after Ultima Online I promised myself to never let a game take over my life the way it did back in 1997...

[Maruca]

Originally Posted by tsa

As you all probablty know, Myst Online is going to be shut down on April 4.
(...)And last but not least, I only met nice people there, and I met someone there who is very special to me now.

Thank you so much Tsa!
I am checking out the Endless Forest now. that might really be an alternative.

It looks a bit weird, but its kinda nice... the only bad thing is, I crash all the time... weird.

How did you find that anyway? It seems to be free (its only wise to register), an I had no problems installing it. The deers with faces are kinda creepy though and they remind me of something in the books of "Otherland", which I can't talk about it here, as you still have to read them...

[aries323]

There's the Secret World, I think, made by Funcom. However, I don't know if thos world is online yet as it supposed to be a mmo-game like experience in the world in which April and Zoë lives.

[tsa]

I looked around a bit and found the following non-violent MMORPGs:

A Tale in the Desert
Tale of Tales: The Endless Forest (which Maruca mentioned already).

I'll add more when I find them. Maybe a mod can change the title of this thread to "Non-violent MMORPGs"?

[tsa]

Thank you, anonymous mod!

[Squinky]

I have yet to find an MMO that piques my interest enough to enjoy it for any length of time, but I'll keep some these in mind.

...maybe if I had someone to play with who could make the user-generated experience worth my while...

[tsa]

That certainly helps. Many of those games are about cooperation. Since I often like to be the lone cowboy Myst Online was perfect for me. I often came there just to sit in a beautiful spot and relax.

[tsa]

There is another one that looks interesting.

[Thom_]

Originally Posted by tsa

There is another one that looks interesting.

I think that just looks like a Second Life clone though rather than a game though.

[tsa]

Yes you're right. I was a bit disappointed when I played it.

[Thom_]

It's a shame really. I've always really wanted to get into a decent MMO game, but I've never been big on fantasy or sci-fi so I can't get into them. I found WoW amusing for a bit, but the endless levelling up etc. just doesn't justify a fun game for me. Definitely a spot in the market that needs addressing

[tsa]

The Endless Forest looks to be the nicest of the lot at the moment. The fact that you can't talk in the game is easily compensated by using Skype.

[BucketBot]

I really hope that you don't take this the wrong way, but I think maybe you are being a little too closed minded about online games (please don't be offended by that). I hate fighting with real people too and I play lots of online games. It is going to be really hard to find a game the same as MYST Online, but there are lots of great games out there. They might not stay fun forever, but they will entertain you for a while.
If you were to play a "traditional" online game you wouldn't have to kill real people or risk being attacked by them. You could play EverQuest 2, World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online or Pirates of the Burning Sea all without having to kill any real people. They have servers that are for PvP (Player vs Player) and then they have servers for PvE (Player vs Environment). You can do a little leveling by killing animals and doing quests and never have to fight with a real person. You could specialize in trade-skilling where you just make things for other players. You pretty much never have to fight with anything that way and you get to make wonderful and fun things and make lots of friends. Online games are only as violent as you make them.
EverQuest 2 would be a great game for you to check out. I hate fighting and I know several other people on there who hate it too and they just trade skill. Almost everone on there are mature (not kids like in WoW) and very friendly.
The nicest people I ever met were on Lord of the Rings Online. Again, you don't have to fight with real people if you don't want to.
In Pirates of the Burning Sea you get to raid the pirate ships of computer controlled pirates. It's almost exactly like Sid Myer's Pirates (I know I spelled his name wrong), but online. You don't have to kill real people. Just raid computer ships. It's really fun.
I don't think you would enjoy WoW (World of Warcraft) at all though. You don't have to fight real people there, but everyone is pretty immature and they can be quite rude. Especially to "n00bs". Plus the graphics aren't great, so if you are looking for a beautiful game WoW will rank low.
I think if you just looked into the more usual online games you could find something that you could enjoy. Unless you are absolutely deadset against killing anything, not just real people.

[tsa]

Thanks for your post BucketBot. The reason why I like Myst Online so much is basically that there is nothing but the great environments that you can explore and walk around in. As I said before, if I want to achieve something I'll do that in the real world. I don't need a virtual world for that. I just want to look around and enjoy. The social aspect of MOUL is a plus, because I can take friends with me and we can enjoy the worlds together. I can imagine the lack of goasl in the game makes it very dull and boring to most people, but that was what attracted me to it so much.

[BucketBot]

Originally Posted by tsa

As I said before, if I want to achieve something I'll do that in the real world. I don't need a virtual world for that.

Well, that is one way to look at it, but I do think that you're sort of missing the point of the in-game "achievements". In real life you can go to law school, get a degree, pass the bar, work hard, make partner and retire in style. But you'd have to look far and wide to find a place in real life where you can cast spells or build an explosive robot sheep or ride a giant griffon. I don't know. I mean, if it's not your thing it's not your thing, but they can be fun if you think of them as a game and not a job that you could do better in real life. Look at adventure games. Alot of them involve things that you could really do exactly the same way in real life. Like Scratches. Anyone can wander around in an old house and if you believe in ghosts your experience might end up being very close to the game, but the game is still fun to play, even though you could do the same thing in real life.
Idea!!
Have you thought about The Sims Online? Now The Sims is a game where I think you can say, "Couldn't I just do that in real life?" and be 100% right, but I think it's also a game where you don't have to kill anything and you can just wander around hanging with people.