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The Daily Grind: Is farming ruined forever?
One of my favorite things to do in games is farm. No, not the kind of farming that involves killing zillions of mobs for mats and money -- real (virtual) farming. Like when you buy seeds and plant them in the ground and wait for them to grow and then collect the literal fruits of your labor. Think I'm talking about FarmVille? Nope. Lord of the Rings Online, actually. And Ultima Online and Glitch and hopefully, someday, ArcheAge. MMOs actually implement farming so much better than the social game that seems to have redefined it. In UO, I can grow decorative plants and buff petals; in LotRO, I can mass-produce crops that are used by cooks to make food; and in Glitch, I grow flowers and herbs used by tincturers. I suppose even in Star Wars Galaxies, I was farming up corn and tubers in my oversized industrial extractors. But I have to wonder whether the FarmVille-induced stigma attached to farming as a gameplay concept has ruined it for MMO fans forever. Even when we discuss ArcheAge's amazing farming system, we can't help but crack jokes about tractors, jokes we wouldn't make about big, burly, angry Orcs practicing their fine tailoring skills in World of Warcraft. What do you think -- is farming in MMOs ruined forever? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
