I *think* I remember reading somewhere on the SV main site that there will be some multiplayer capability, but that it would be limited in the number of simultaneous connections. Might I recommend some day upping that? I know right now you are ONE person working on this, so you're not going to be able to get something programmed and up and operational in any kind of reasonable time frame that is massively multiplayer, but I think it would be tons of fun to have the capacity to have farming guilds. I know some people have expressed relief that this game is not going to be "just another Harvest Moon." However, Harvest Moon WAS a fun game, and what would make it even more fun is if there was an ability to play in an MMO format. I'm not talking about an EverQuest or WoW clone with farming. Rather, tie the farming in integrally to the storyline, but have quests for...I dunno, rare seeds, special farming tools, nifty farm upgrade blueprints, etc. that are linked with quests that require cooperation, collaboration, and organization with multiple players. There are SOOOOO few games out there that are MMO and don't end up being 'ER MAH GERSH, PVP FIGHTS!!!!' This game has the potential to really blossom as a cooperative game that encourages friendships, fun, and family-safe gaming that kids and parents can all support. Wouldn't it be neat to think your brainchild was promoting good values while most games are giving kids new ways to bomb one another into atoms? That's my 2 cents!
Whenever I thought about a Harvest Moon MMO, I always pictured more of a co-op MMO like the original Guild Wars or Monster Hunters. Where there was a town that all players could meet in, but the rest of the game was instanced off in smaller parties. You could do this with small 50 player servers or something so its more communal and the other players are like neighbors. So everyone's farm/plot of land would be instanced off. People could sell stuff, or make friends in town, trade, etc. But only small groups could ever visit each others farms. You could also group up before visiting a cave, or some other instanced dungeon where your get rare mats. Quests could be more like town benchmarks, like if enough people clear a certain amount of land more areas open up that you can buy and expand your farm. Enough people collect a certain crystal from a cave on such-and-such holiday the Harvest Goddess will bless the town and increase the crop quality. But that's already established MMO practice. To develop things in more HM style, thing like community growth - more people more markets in town- could be affected by successful farms. Pollution could become a factor, as in, if too many farms use heavy machines the crop qualities drop, the town gets grungy and npcs get sickly. Too many trees get pulled up than flooding is more likely after a rain storm. Oh and there could be a community garden that everyone on the server has to maintain and keep plentiful to keep the town prosperous. If wishes were horses, etc.
