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alias_sqbrSun Haven is like if Stardew Valley was made by furries who shop at Hot Topic. It's not a MMO but does have optional multiplayer, which I have not tried.
Palia is a free MMO where the world is shared with strangers and has a similar cosy post-apocalyptic fantasy vibe to My Time At Sandrock.
Things which apply to both:
Sun Haven: Enjoyable but not very deep. The art is pretty, the game loop is fun, and there's lots to do until there isn't. There's no strong gameplay reason to befriend anyone and I didn't really click with the characters so I didn't bother with romance or even friendship, but I did mostly enjoy the silly fantasy plot with ELVES and DRAGONS etc. There's some controversy about the developers which has caused the Steam ratings to drop dramatically, afaict they are seen as shady for not crediting/paying employees and adding cosmetic DLCs instead of fixing bugs.
Palia: I'm really enjoying this as someone who likes low-key social interactions in MMOs but sucks at combat. It has a nice chill, quiet vibe where a few other players are around doing their thing and you can cooperate if you want, but there's no specific compulsory social interactions. That said, some materials are hard to get unless you pay attention to the server chat, and there's a whole etiquette it took me a while to figure out (I only found this video later oops) Noone has given me crap for screwing up and at worst I mostly just made things harder for myself, which makes it a big step up social anxiety wise from FFXIV.
It's not pay to win and doesn't have outright gacha/gambling-with-real-money mechanics, but it does have some "pay real money to get a randomised in-game item" and encourages you to buy cosmetic items. So far I haven't felt tempted to spend any real world money, especially since I have my doubts about how long such a quiet, free MMO can survive.
I do not understand how the servers work at all, it's all done automatically. So I have no idea how many players there actually are, just that I rarely see more than 3-4 in the same place at the same time.
It took me a little while to get into the gameplay until I looked up some guides, but now I'm quite enjoying it. I have so far been able to work around my poor reflexes by levelling up slowly with tasks a little below my current level/tools, but I'm not sure if I'll eventually hit a wall.
The writing isn't stellar but I'm enjoying it well enough, and there's gameplay advantages and fun little quests when you befriend the villagers. Some of the love interests are mildly appealing (some are even older adults!), apparently you can romance multiple at once for a fair while before committing. There's been text-only mentions of off-screen same sex relationships and non-binary people, which I assume are designed to be easily cut for countries with censorship.
It's not really voiced: NPCs have randomised greetings, and the PC has little like... grunts.
The main questline has some fun Mysterious Ancient Ruins with floating islands and secret doors locked with puzzles etc, but also stuff like timed jumps over lasers which I managed eventually but was not happy about. They just tweaked the main quest slightly and it's buggy for me right now, I don't know how finished it is or if the platforming gets harder.
If you decide to play it I can send a referral link and we'll both get some (not very exciting) decorative items. Also I'm theoretically open to friending people I know and playing together when we both happen to be online and in the mood for chopping trees or whatever. Or I can show you my very boring house, I haven't decorated much. But I am usually online during the Australian day eg the middle of the night in the US. Anyway if we do know each other and you want to friend me, ask away!
Oh also, two suggestions if you do play: Double check your voice before exiting the character creator! Everything can be tweaked later but the voices don't have previews which is a pain. Also only choose a username you're ok with being referred to as by strangers, since it's what other players will see and can't be changed. Everything else can be figured out as you go, but there's lots of guides online, too.
Palia is a free MMO where the world is shared with strangers and has a similar cosy post-apocalyptic fantasy vibe to My Time At Sandrock.
Things which apply to both:
- Pretty and fun to just wander around in. Palia is 3D, Sun Haven is pixelated 2D.
- Avoid gendering the player character, with the ability to make moderately androgynous characters.
- There's a mix of male and female love interests. There's not much obvious queerness beyond that. Aims for a vaguely progressive/inclusive vibe while unthinkingly replicating a bunch of subtextually racist/sexist etc tropes.
- Playable, but buggy. Palia is in beta, Sun Haven is not.
- Platforming and other reflex based skills, but Sun Haven's are easier to avoid by just making yourself immortal.
- Mixed success at a Big Fantasy Plot and social conflicts where Maybe Both Sides Have A Point etc
Sun Haven: Enjoyable but not very deep. The art is pretty, the game loop is fun, and there's lots to do until there isn't. There's no strong gameplay reason to befriend anyone and I didn't really click with the characters so I didn't bother with romance or even friendship, but I did mostly enjoy the silly fantasy plot with ELVES and DRAGONS etc. There's some controversy about the developers which has caused the Steam ratings to drop dramatically, afaict they are seen as shady for not crediting/paying employees and adding cosmetic DLCs instead of fixing bugs.
Palia: I'm really enjoying this as someone who likes low-key social interactions in MMOs but sucks at combat. It has a nice chill, quiet vibe where a few other players are around doing their thing and you can cooperate if you want, but there's no specific compulsory social interactions. That said, some materials are hard to get unless you pay attention to the server chat, and there's a whole etiquette it took me a while to figure out (I only found this video later oops) Noone has given me crap for screwing up and at worst I mostly just made things harder for myself, which makes it a big step up social anxiety wise from FFXIV.
It's not pay to win and doesn't have outright gacha/gambling-with-real-money mechanics, but it does have some "pay real money to get a randomised in-game item" and encourages you to buy cosmetic items. So far I haven't felt tempted to spend any real world money, especially since I have my doubts about how long such a quiet, free MMO can survive.
I do not understand how the servers work at all, it's all done automatically. So I have no idea how many players there actually are, just that I rarely see more than 3-4 in the same place at the same time.
It took me a little while to get into the gameplay until I looked up some guides, but now I'm quite enjoying it. I have so far been able to work around my poor reflexes by levelling up slowly with tasks a little below my current level/tools, but I'm not sure if I'll eventually hit a wall.
The writing isn't stellar but I'm enjoying it well enough, and there's gameplay advantages and fun little quests when you befriend the villagers. Some of the love interests are mildly appealing (some are even older adults!), apparently you can romance multiple at once for a fair while before committing. There's been text-only mentions of off-screen same sex relationships and non-binary people, which I assume are designed to be easily cut for countries with censorship.
It's not really voiced: NPCs have randomised greetings, and the PC has little like... grunts.
The main questline has some fun Mysterious Ancient Ruins with floating islands and secret doors locked with puzzles etc, but also stuff like timed jumps over lasers which I managed eventually but was not happy about. They just tweaked the main quest slightly and it's buggy for me right now, I don't know how finished it is or if the platforming gets harder.
If you decide to play it I can send a referral link and we'll both get some (not very exciting) decorative items. Also I'm theoretically open to friending people I know and playing together when we both happen to be online and in the mood for chopping trees or whatever. Or I can show you my very boring house, I haven't decorated much. But I am usually online during the Australian day eg the middle of the night in the US. Anyway if we do know each other and you want to friend me, ask away!
Oh also, two suggestions if you do play: Double check your voice before exiting the character creator! Everything can be tweaked later but the voices don't have previews which is a pain. Also only choose a username you're ok with being referred to as by strangers, since it's what other players will see and can't be changed. Everything else can be figured out as you go, but there's lots of guides online, too.
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Date: 2025-03-29 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-30 04:43 am (UTC)