This is a great post, although not essentially related to what I was talking about. As an aside, my next game is almost totally non-violent, and I think the approach I take there is pretty interesting. I don't want to reveal too much about it yet, but basically it involves zelda-style "action" but without violence. I don't mean in the way Super Smash Brothers did it (hitting and people flying away), I mean not even violence in that sense. I wonder if people will find it as satisfying.