There are always exceptions of course. Some would argue that EVE-Online, to provide but one example, has become PIE-Online -any EVE players here at TMS will know what I mean. If you're not one of these, then PIE is a 'player-corporation' dedicated to Role-play PK (after a fashion -lowercase RP, uppercase PK) and if you follow such things in-game, you'll notice that the members of PIE absolutely dominate, primarily ICly, by way of absolute coverage during events. PIE is also player-run, not an npc 'corp' or controlled by the admin, by the way.
I'm sure there are other examples in other graphical MMOs. Shakers and movers aren't restricted to text-only, but on the whole I'd tend to agree with most of what you say. Graphical behemoths like EVE, SWG etc. can get -very- impersonal when you're playing online with thousands of others. Parochial, I think, is somewhat of a demeaning little word, but applied to muds, its a favourable one. 'Homely' is better, and mu*s do this extremely well, on the whole.
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