Massively multi-player online social simulation video games

Massively multiplayer online social simulation video games (MMOSS) are a genre of MMOLS which focuses upon socialization instead of objective-based gameplay. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with "online communities" and "virtual worlds".

One example that has garnered widespread media attention is Linden Labs' Second Life, emphasizing socializing, world-building and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. It is technically an MMOSG by definition, though its stated goal was to realize the concept of the Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. Instead of being based around combat, one could say that it was based around the creation of virtual objects, including models and scripts. In practice, it has more in common with Club Caribe than Everquest. It was the first game of its kind to achieve widespread success (including attention from mainstream media); however, it was not the first (as Club Caribe was released in 1988).

Competitors in this relatively new sub-genre (non-combat-based MMORPG) include There, Dotsoul, and Furcadia. The PlayStation Home, when released, would also be a MMOSG of sorts.