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
RuneScape is getting its own comic book miniseries this fall
Sure, your MMO is cool, but does it have its own comic book? Oh pipe down, City of Heroes players. We hear you. Anyway,...
EVE Online details plans to adjust Equinox’s sovereignty, Zarzakh, dailies, and ship skin tool
Now that the Equinox update of EVE Online has been out in the wild for just over a month, CCP Games is prepared to...
Star Citizen’s alpha 3.24 personal hangars aren’t quite housing, but it’s a start
Sure, Star Citizen has showcased cargo and freight gameplay coming in alpha 3.24 already, but who's stopping it from doing so a second time?...
The Daily Grind: What’s the oldest MMO meme you remember?
If you were around in the early days of online gaming, you surely remember how terrible the memes were. I mean, I put on...
Massively Overthinking: How much research do you do before playing a new MMORPG?
On this week's MOP Podcast, Justin and I discussed our experiences in No Man's Sky (again), and both of us came to the conclusion...
Homestead Online is an indie MMO that embraces character persistence, permadeath, and base building
An indie MMORPG developer is asking for help to test out a brand-new title that's still in its early days. This would be Homestead...
Old School RuneScape share game client update progress, makes more tweaks to Deadman and Guthrix
Jagex is continuing to work on improving the client for Old School RuneScape, though it has been some time since the studio checked in...
Sea of Thieves Season 13 adds a world event-sized ship for players to capture and new gameplay elements
Today is the day when Sea of Thieves players can become the world event - and possibly have everyone's guns trained on them in...
Working As Intended: The Fridge Poetry game is the latest distillation of MMORPG PvP
This morning, MOP's Sam busted into MOP's work chat with a link to the Fridge Poetry game.
"It's more like an art project than a...
Stars Reach’s Raph Koster: ‘We’re going into space, and it’s going to be awesome’
Playable Worlds' Raph Koster is back with yet another batch of Stars Reach game pillars, the driving concepts behind the MMORPG sandbox's design. We've...
Black Desert readies new Dosa skills on PC, adds alpaca mounts on console, changes item acquisition on mobile
It's time for another week of updates to Black Desert, and this week we're going to begin with the console version's patch, primarily because...
Kickstarted sandbox MMORPG Fractured Online is finally, officially out of early access
Fractured Online has been through a whole lot over the last few years, from its Kickstarter campaign to its Gamigo-backed early access, then to...
Perfect Ten: 10 times MMOs appeared in TV and movies
It's always surreal when real MMOs cross the divide between niche and mainstream to be referenced in television and films. Depending on how you...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 477: The lineage of Lineage
Justin and Bree discuss Throne and Liberty's beta, Ultima Online's New Legacy, New World, Spellfarers, TennoCon, and Soulforge, with adventures in LOTRO, WoW, No Man's Sky, and T&L, plus a mailbag topic on the usefulness of MMO mobile apps.
Choose My Adventure: Gleeful space truckin’ through Elite Dangerous
This is, for all intents and purposes, going to be a very simple, laid back, and perhaps obnoxiously serene edition of Choose My Adventure....
Ultima Online sets its first New Legacy open beta for this weekend
On the MassivelyOP podcast this week, Justin and I were speculating on when the Ultima Online New Legacy beta is happening - surely it...
Starbase dates its returning in-game ship building Eos Con showcase for July 26
Are you ready for two days of spaceship? Then you're going to want to punch your non-existent ticket to Eos Con, the in-game showcase...
MapleStory adds new nodes and even more events in part two of its Go West update
Last month saw the first part of MapleStory's big giant Go West update release, and as scheduled, the second part of the udpate came...
RuneScape opens the ‘back-to-back bossing’ Sanctum of Rebirth dungeon
Who here likes fighting bosses in RuneScape? If you do, then this week's update is just for you, as it opens up the Sanctum...
Albion Online’s Paths to Glory update goes live with a task journal, dynamic spawns, and quality-of-life
Usually people aren't happy to see a list of tasks arrive to them, but in the case of Albion Online, there are ideally lots...
