I think not. Why should the combat be like all other MMOs ? You CAN make a proper non target combat system.. they just need to tweak and change some things, like parrying, as you said. But with a shield, right now, it's not THAT hard to block an attack. Combat system is supposed to be skill based, not character based, and, I understand that, as a peaceful guy, you want a combat system that is easy to get into, but that's not going to happen.
Downvoted.