I've always wondered how a wilderness survival mmo would turn out. My idea would be to have a huge open wilderness with no zones, instancing, etc. Set back during the cavemen era you would start out with just a loincloth and you would have to survive by any means neccesary.

Crafting: You could craft spears and bow and arrows from wood and clothes form animal skins, not that different from any other mmo.

Food Source: You could hunt or fish or gather to collect food but you would have to eat or you would die from starvation. Certain meals would keep you full longer then other (meat keeps you full longer then berries)

Shelters: Starting out you would just build a lean-to which would require wood, branches, and a small amount of build time but when you have more mats and more time you could clear some land and build a cabin. A shelter would help shield you from the elements and if you did not have one their would be some kind of penalty.

Clans: If you got enough ppl together you could build a  community and give out jobs (hunter/gather, crafter, soliders). Clans would go to war over territory, resources, etc. Open world pvp and nowhere is safe and full loot.

There would be no quest or prebuillt cities/factions, it would just be wide open wilderness with animals, caves, lakes, etc.

Some ppl say whats the point of this game, well their's only one point, to stay alive. As for content well the players could develop their own factions and religions and trading would be big. This would be a real sandbox mmo with no levels or quest.  Obviously this wouldn't be for everyone but I would definitely play. I'm excited for Mortal Online because it seems MO is the closest to my wilderness survival mmo idea.
 

Edit: Does anyone knows the name of the 2d wilderness survival game?

A Tale inthe Desert and Wurm Online kinda go that route. I think it's a great idea to pursue if you want to build a game focused around social interaction.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

A Tale inthe Desert and Wurm Online kinda go that route. I think it's a great idea to pursue if you want to build a game focused around social interaction.

Yea I  like wurm online for its gameplay but I couldn't get over the graphics and movement,  a 3d wurm online would be awsome.

Indeed, Wurm is FTW ten times over here... and it looks great beyond the models and animations, you're tripping if you have issues with the world graphics beyond draw distance.

I have messed with the idea of wilderness survival myself, and it came out in an MMO idea that is in a prehistoric setting, basically like Monster Hunter Online with an emphasis for building temporary shelters, scavenging for useful items, hunting, and staving off hunger/thirst/pests/disease/etc. Prolly just like yours in a sense, but I am sure the story and specific settings are different (and mine's proll better ^ ^).

In fact... there ya go.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/253128/An-MMO-idea-and-a-revival-of-the-hunting-concept.html

Its not a bad idea in principle but its too far out in the "sandbox" side of things to be anything but niche. You havent addressed progression and just "skill based" doesnt make for an answer. Also the game lacks direction, maybe a technology system a la Civilizaton for the clans? It wouldnt turn it into themepark and would encourage grouping.

The problem with this type of game is that too much micromanagement of things like hunger and it turns into the Sims, while too much "freedom" could lead to lack of cohesion and the whole thing turning into Survivor; Azeroth (at best). Although i guess this was already handled somehow if theres a game out...

Originally posted by Caleveira

Its not a bad idea in principle but its too far out in the "sandbox" side of things to be anything but niche. You havent addressed progression and just "skill based" doesnt make for an answer. Also the game lacks direction, maybe a technology system a la Civilizaton for the clans? It wouldnt turn it into themepark and would encourage grouping.

The problem with this type of game is that too much micromanagement of things like hunger and it turns into the Sims, while too much "freedom" could lead to lack of cohesion and the whole thing turning into Survivor; Azeroth (at best). Although i guess this was already handled somehow if theres a game out...

Good points on micromanagments, while I thought it would add to immersion and give the player a sense of content to be fulfiled it could turn into more of a bothersome feature.

Progression in my game would go up and down. One day you could have a really nice spear and armor and a full sack of food and then you get killed (by pvp or pve) and you would have to start back with your loincloth and lean-to so it would be a very unforgiving game. But the great thing about loosing everything is that it wouldn't take long to get back the essentials (spear, clothes, food, etc). The only things that would be missed are the high level crafted items which you would need to equip wisely.

But I do want to stick to the "sandbox idea" of no quests, no npc factions/cities, player made content, and just the freedom to do whatever you like and to go where ever you want.