The Daily Grind: Would you ever play a noncombatant?

It depends on why you play games. Sometimes you just want to take yer frustrations out on some pixel based enemy. Other times it might be more interesting to be something other than a fighter. I suspect such a character would be best suited to power rather than a casual gamer.

Only game that I know of without any combat :
A tale in the desert
http://www.atitd.com

I could see myself as playing some kind of merchant trader. Of course in most of these MMO worlds, that would entail hiring lots of combatant-types to keep you alive. But really, aren't these stock-trading competitions or browser games like Jennifer Government: Nation States a kind of non-combat MMO?

I would like to experiment with a concept like this. Some uber-form of crafting or gathering where you need to work uninterrupted in a hostile environment, surrounded by your trusty guards who are there for the money or for the product of your labors. And then you could double-cross them, or they'd turn on you, or Beloch would show up and say "there is nothing you can find that I cannot take from you."
Yeah.

Yes, and I did. I was a Master Musician, Master Entertainer and Master Dancer in Star Wars Galaxies pre-CU. One of the best gaming experiences of my life. I really REALLY enjoyed that god awful grinding system of playing music, but the thing is, when a cantina was full of almost 50-75 people all listening to you, chatting away, enjoying themselves and even a dev or two shows up to join in the fun, it was all worth it.

Isn't this exactly what people do in EVE?

I have played games as an Artisan, crafter, gather type, but few games allow you to level up performing these tasks. What I don't like is having to rely on others to get basic mats for crafting.

Perhaps a crafter that could employ (summon) somebody to fight for you and you don't fight at all.

If it could be done well and made fun to play, I'd be all for a non-combat character (such as a politician).
It could definitely be done in a game where people actually role-play, but in games that revolve itself around a combat engine/system, role-players are few and far between.

Ultima Online, though it's a pretty darn old MMO, is one of very few games that (I feel) allows you to succeed through a non-combat character. There's the obvious choice of playing a pure crafter, but there's the less obvious of playing a thief and stealing from player characters.

Vanguard has Diplomacy. In EVE, you can play as a trader or miner exclusively. There's plenty of options out there, but the fact that there's combat SURROUNDING them all makes them hard to see. It's true that MOST MMOs bury these alternative playstyles as second-thoughts, but some of them have elevated them beyond something to do while spamming the chat channel with LFG messages.

I play There when I don't feel like being violent or aggressive. Though, I do whoop some serious butt in the hoverboard races... and I guess paintball can get kinda hairy at times.

But this is already possible. Many people in SWG and EQ2 play crafters/entertainers only. In EQ2 for probably a year I was a noncombatant, working as a carpenter and decorator and only going into combat areas to gather supplies. And I got rich and quite well known also. Nowdays I have some adventuring characters too, though my carpenter is still a noncombatant. Noncombatant forms of play can actually require more social interaction and more creativity/originality which can make them even more fun than killing stuff (which, as the very name of this blog highlights, isn't that much fun really).

if its fun, I'd play it.

I played a non-combat character in UO for a long time. It was great. Skill-based systems ftw.

I would not mind trying something of the kind. Always having to fight to reach a new level is sometimes... tiring.. But a game like this would have to offer something extra, maybe continuous exploration of new areas, what means it would have to be an ongoing project for the creators. Every game on the first days is like that...with people amazed at the new content and discoveries - we've been all rushing about in LOTRO now, buying new clothes and other stuff... but soon we will want more. I remember the amazement we had with the EA space online game Earth Beyond(can't recall the name) when it first came out... but look where it is now... In that game smomehow you could run away from battle and try to live a peaceful life. Still, sometimes it would be nice to have something of the kind for a change. Any idea?

I actually have my own system i have thought for an MMO (I one day may might attempt to create) relating to this topic:

Basically in a medieval setting you make a character and instead of choosing a single class, you choose 3 classes/professions: one military (archer, assassin, swordsman), one economic (farmer, merchant, metalworker), and one political (work overseer, mayor, some kind of council). These relate better to my kingdom (large groups of players running guild-like empires) based game as a whole. But it would have to work out so that by being a politician you can gain much influence, as a farmer you could expand your land and make new crops, or as a merchant you could gain enormous wealth. All possibly stand alone occupations. But you still have all 3 at once and choose which to devote the most time and effort to.