Not gonna lie, I really like farming in MMOs. No, not the grindy kind of farming, just the actual process of farming crops on a farm or gardening a plot. Ironically, my favorite MMO of all time, Star Wars Galaxies, took farming to mass-production levels, so my harvesters are as I type this hungrily farming up grains and fruits for me while I’m not even in the game. But that doesn’t scratch my farming itch – there’s nothing organic or nature-y about that.
Lately I’ve been playing Villagers & Heroes, which has a small gardening system whereby you can plant crops. But as in something like FarmVille, you plant them and walk away, which helps to reduce how fast you can grind and how many crops are entering the game – but also gets a bit boring in between. World of Warcraft’s farms were similar, but the variety and associated quests kept me more engaged. Lord of the Rings Online’s farming might be a favorite of mine, but it absolutely requires nearly full attention while you’re actually tending plots. Ultima Online has a fabulous gardening system complete with cross-breeding and decoratives and rares (of course it does!). Trove, meanwhile, just got gardening in its last expansion and is still waiting on me to go play around with it.
Which MMORPG offers the best farming and gardening gameplay experience in your opinion? Where would you recommend I go to farm if I’m looking for that true farming feel rather than the chintzy FarmVille spam/pay-to-win feel?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
