http://www.voyagecenturyonline.comI stumbled upon this title a week ago (well ok my friend recommended it for me). And after that week of testing it I think I can still keep my conscience quite clean when recommending it. It's an MMORPG, but people who are not really into that genre listen a while more.
It takes place in the real world in... well I think it's sort of an alternative past or something like that, all seems to be in order though. Anyway it takes place around the 17th century or so and everyone has his/her own boat/ship and you can engage in sea battles, mine minerals, chop wood... be a merchant or just simple explore the world. Sounds quite dull and too normal I suppose but suprisingly it's quite fun. I myself am an explorer by my main profession and I think it's quite enjoyable to sniff around the continents and see what I can find.
The reason why I still hesitate recommending it fully is that even though its not really that well mentioned on the web page I still think it's in Beta stage, because of all the small and minor glitches and bugs that do not really affect the gameplay but can be a bit disturbing or hilarious time to times (like NPC names being different in log book and in reality, or quest reward being different from the promised amount etc.). And also the game does not give that much information usually so one might be a bit lost time to times about what to do... especially at the beginning.
Anyway, take a peek though. You might like it. I'm playing in the server called Magellan.