Sandboxes are a type of MMO that emphasize player freedom and expression. They frequently include mechanics for building, crafting, trading, character customization and development, roleplaying, destruction, and significant interaction with the world and other players. A sandbox that is dominated by an open-PvP or free-for-all ruleset is sometimes pejoratively called a gankbox. Contrast with the themepark.
sandbox
One Shots: Hey Hobbit, what’s ursine?
Lord of the Rings Online's recent loosening of class/race restrictions is either the greatest or the worst thing that's happened to the game, depending...
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Ages, the weird lovechild of Celtic lore and Lovecraftian legends
While the online world was fascinated by "the Big Three" Western MMOs in 1999 -- that would be EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Asheron's Call...
PlanetSide 2 cleans up tank cannons and fixes some environmental issues in newest PTS build
PTS builds aren't always about glamorous updates or big top features; sometimes they're just about applying some needed polish and bug fixes. That looks...
ArcheAge’s newest patch temporarily raises earnings and drop rates, adds a new buff to a faction statue
It's never a good feeling when your faction in ArcheAge doesn't have enough members in it, but maybe a change to a statue will...
Fractured Online patches out a long list of bugs and details its crafting mechanics
It's never too late to kick out a dev blog about the features of your sandbox MMORPG regardless of the fact that it's been...
RuneScape swings a banhammer at accounts caught exploiting its Fresh Start Worlds
RuneScape's Fresh Start Worlds are not looking so crispy and fresh out of the gate. First, Jagex had to rollback the servers due to...
Star Citizen follows up on alpha 3.18 feature developments as the build heads towards a November release
Alpha 3.18 has been the talk of Star Citizen's summer series of Inside Star Citizen videos, but now that Cloud Imperium is wrapping up...
Working As Intended: My 25 years of Ultima Online
Twenty-five years ago my boyfriend, Paul, and I walked into a shop to find a new game to play together. He picked up this...
Ravendawn has a blockchain-linked version of itself that is now called RavenQuest
Regular readers are likely familiar with Ravendawn, the Open Tibia-built sandbox MMORPG that first unveiled itself in 2021 and more recently entered into closed...
Antilia unleashes its wild side in the realm of multiplayer sandbox design
Mentally shopping around for an open world sandbox with as much freedom as your imagination allows? Mosey on over to Antilia, a new fantasy...
Survival sandbox Grounded releases out of early access with new area and new features
It's been just under three years since Obsidian Entertainment kicked off the early access period of Grounded, a survival sandbox that casts players as...
Stick and Rudder: Venturing into EVE Online’s nullsec
EVE Online is a game that offers many experiences, from NPC faction warfare to harvesting, refining, and building to market speculation. But the one...
Old School RuneScape polls its players about Wilderness weapon changes
Old School RuneScape's continuing quest to update the rework the Wilderness has taken yet another step - a polling step, to be specific. The...
Wild Terra 2 announces a release date of November 10 and shares an update roadmap
Another MMO is making its way off of the sands of early access and into the ocean of full launch. Sandbox MMORPG Wild Terra...
Dual Universe’s launch is tripped up by bugs, performance issues, and problems with subscriptions
No MMO launch plan survives contact with the enemy (aka access by players at scale), so knowing that yesterday's launch of Dual Universe had...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 390: All systems go for MMO launches
Justin and Bree discuss Star Citizen's crowdfunding, Wrath Classic's launch, Dual Universe, Mythic, Ultima Online's 25th birthday, Tibia, and LOTRO Before the Shadow, with adventures in SWG Legends and Truck Simulator, plus a voicemail topic on MMO systems proliferated across the genre.
The Stream Team: Dual Universe launches with a giveaway
The space sandbox Dual Universe just launched today, and Massively OP's MJ is raring to dig in! Literally -- she's looking forward to mining...
MMO sandbox BitCraft makes exploring – and walking – far more satisfying
Even though BitCraft is still in pre-alpha, that doesn't mean its world is devoid of meaning and content. The studio behind the procedurally generated...
Dual Universe debuts a new trailer and offers lapsed players free play time for today’s launch
Dual Universe is going live today - something that regular readers would be more than familiar with given our coverage of the news coming...
Colony-building MMO SEED outlines playtest plans for the rest of 2022
It's been some time since we've gotten some major news out of SEED, the colony-building sandbox MMO from developer Klang Games that we first...
