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Non-Violent, Cooperative Games?
jandersen writes "While I generally don't play computer games, I do occasionally play games like Crossfire or The Mana World, because they have more of a story line and allow you to go at your own pace. What I don't care much about, though, is that they are still focused on killing monsters and amassing wealth, and it gets very tedious after a while. Are there really no games where the goal isn't so much about increasing your own power and defeating others, but where you instead grow by doing things that benefit others, where enemies shouldn't be killed out of hand, but befriended; where learning, teaching, research and social skills are more important than killing and conquering? Would people be interested in a game of that nature?"
I don't know... SimCity? Wii Sports? Jewel Quest & friends?
... then get Little Big Planet
Have fun.
"We'll need 2000 crickets, 4 cans of Easy Cheese, and the fluid from 18 glowsticks for this plan to work...." - ph0n1c
"I don't care much about, though, is that they are still focused on killing monsters and amassing wealth, and it gets very tedious after a while. Are there really no games where the goal isn't so much about increasing your own power and defeating others, but where you instead grow by doing things that benefit others, where enemies shouldn't be killed out of hand, but befriended; where learning, teaching, research and social skills are more important than killing and conquering?"
The truth is not enough is known to make such a game, not only that it is subject to aesthetic prejudices and what not. I would imagine text adventures would fall into the realm you're looking for... any GUI based game needs all the bells and whistles to be compelling to an audience.
If the market wanted such games it would demand them and pay for them, you are in an extreme minority IMHO.
The technology is not there yet to do "social" games, the AI and interfaces are pretty primitive and no computer NPC's would be believable, hell games have a hard enough time portraying well voice acted computer animated characters with gusto... the truth is what the OP wants in the story is not technically within our means, and most "help each other games" are subject to the same kind of politics and BS and those who have free time vs those who don't (disproportionately kids, teens or idiots).
Finally.. go do good deeds in the real world, that is what the real world is for. Games are an escape from real life, that is what they are supposed to be - fantasy and wish fulfillment.
The point of games is to do what is entertaining. Almost all videogames have elements of competition in them, or competition against the computer.
Doom.
M.U.L.E, players who cooperated had a better outcome for their colony than when everyone was back stabbing each other. (Not that I knew that when I was playing.) The genre of "German Boardgames" avoids violence and usually has an interplay of cooperation and competition, there are computer implementations of some of the more popular, like settlers of catan.
That game was pretty much designed just for this scenario. Hell, as a hardcore gamer (logged nearly 1000 hours in FFXI) even I enjoyed it. Sequel's gonna be out in the US on the 16th, too.
I sought long and hard for just the games you mentioned after Myst Online crashed for the second time, and the only thing I found is A Tale of the Desert. This game exactly suits your needs, I think. No violence, you can trade stuff you grew or made, etc. I never played it because I basically want MystOnline to be back online, but I think you should give it a try.
-- Cheers!
Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe. http://www.openttd.org/
It's an open source recode of the original classic game, but with all the tweaks to bring it up to modern standards (8-players multiplayer, huge maps, better cargo routing algorithms, etc). Fantastic stuff.
There's also a large massively OpenTTD cooperative group, focussing on ways of making huge efficient cargo networks and other scenarios. http://www.openttdcoop.org/blog/
... best explains this. Play Civ 4. Play it by researching and trading and and expanding with friendly means. Play through the game on settler and never get attacked, and there is never any conflict or risk of losing. Then be so bored you dont want to come back.
After her second game which I forced her to play, on a higher difficulty, she made the comment "war is the part that is more fun".
And that is why games center more on violence.
much like the real world, it won't get you very far.
Part of the allure of MMORPGs is the accumulation of wealth and the feeling of dominance and superiority. Most of the older gamers that feel the need to create a sense of community, or contribute to a common goal are usually doing so within a guild/group, and competing with other groups. This appeals to another part of the human psyche, the need to establish an out-group, and to be better than the opposition!
There are games for younger children which don't incorporate violence, and encourage good skills - but they're marketed to parents, not to children, and usually aren't that much fun.
So, whether or not there is a market for such games, I don't know. But I do get the sense that the target audience doesn't have the buying power, and the people who would purchase these games are already purchasing other educational and boring games.
So, if you're not a child, why would you want to immerse yourself in a world where you help people? If you are that sort of person, you probably realize that your time would be better spent actually helping people in real life. And if helping is really that important to you... well, you're probably not playing videogames in your spare time, anyways.
Quartz Extreme and Core Image. Are there any other real reasons to spend all that money on generic hardware?
How about Instant Messaging and facebook?
;)
Seems quite popular. Lots of people go about collecting friends/"friends".
Some of the AIs involved may even surprise you once in a while and say something coherent and intelligent.
Then there's also Slashdot.
"As for a game that is intrinsically nonviolent, the Sim games are probably the only popular ones I can think of. Sim City, Sim Tower, The Sims, and the like are all well known titles, The Sims and expansions, in particular, sell very well and frequently visit top 10 seller lists."
You obviously do not have a sick mind.
Other then using a cheat code, the fastest way to make money in the Sims was to marry a neighbor(after the proper amount of time spent on wooing them), wait for the new wife/husband to go for a swim, then delete the ladder coming out of the pool. Let em tread water until they meet a watery death. Tada! You are now the sole beneficiary of the deceased's estate.
Either that, or simply brick 'em into a wall. Gravestones in the pool always seems to upset the party guests.
Au contraire: I rather enjoy minimal-combat strategies for winning Civ IV. I've managed Research-'em to Death victories (i.e. research to successfully build and launch a starship in the late 1800s/early 1900s) and Virus/Borg victories, where you spread so fast that you are literally all over the start continent in the first millenium, and between everyone else. . .and then just Assimilate everyone by culture and growth. . .