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
Massively Overthinking: Has the term MMORPG become toxic?
Back in 2016, when the MMORPG genre had just suffered a brutal one-two punch of losing EverQuest Next and the gutting of WildStar's team,...
Ultima Online’s New Legacy will finally launch October 15
If you noticed that Ultima Online's New Legacy stress test came to an end on Tuesday without, you know, an actual date for the...
PlanetSide 2’s Nanite of the Living Dead rises from its grave once again for Halloween this year
It's time for the Halloween season to once more cover the battlefields of PlanetSide 2, and regular players of the persistent war MMOFPS know...
Black Desert Console releases the Dosa class and opens a season server with massive level boosts
At long last, players of Black Desert on console are getting more than a pet event and a video that vaguely promises improvements. The...
Here’s how Albion Online’s Horizons updates will buff open-world PvP and PvE alike
As of this week's Albion Online dev update, we're getting a much clearer picture of the philosophy behind the game's latest quarterly content drop....
Four Winds: Throne & Liberty’s opening hours were fun AF, but I’m still on my guard
After what feels like an absolute eternity, Throne and Liberty is finally here. In my younger, less jaded years, I'd feel excited and elated...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 487: Give me Throne and Liberty
Justin and Bree discuss Throne & Liberty's launch, the new book on Blizzard, ArcheAge 2's morph into ArcheAge Chronicles, and New World Aeternum's impending release, with adventures in LOTRO, WoW, and Guild Wars 2, plus a mailbag topic on MMO history and games preservation.
Enshrouded’s Update 4 will add a new region, new craftables, a level cap raise, and animal farming
Multiplayer survival sandbox Enshrouded has already had some pretty meaty updates, but developer Keen Games is preparing for one of its biggest yet, as...
Indie MMORPG Project Gorgon adds horse breeding and instanced guild halls in latest update
Do you know how outlandish a feature has to be before the devs of Project Gorgon have to call it outlandish? It's outlandish indeed,...
Myth of Empires’ Persia DLC will add new bosses, fancy building items, and a walking platform
It turns out that the ancient Persians were pretty prolific inventors in their time, including wind power, refrigeration, a highway system, and a postal...
PlanetSide 2 introduces an honest-to-goodness fishing activity to its public test server
We are well past the month of April, so you know that PlanetSide 2 isn't telling a joke: Fishing is coming to the persistent...
EVE Vanguard drops dev blogs themed around art, lore, and gameplay mechanics
The devs behind EVE Online's FPS module EVE Vanguard have never shied away from talking about the game's wider design philosophy, but now CCP...
EVE Online’s mobile strategy spin-off, Galaxy Conquest, launches in late October
Sure, EVE Online's seen more spin-offs than you can shake a stick at, but that's the great thing about sticks -- there's always more...
Star Citizen recaps its server meshing efforts and outlines future testing plans
It would be easy to assume that the server meshing technology being attempted by Star Citizen has just been spinning its wheels, but evidently...
Pax Dei plans to scale up to 1M building ‘pieces’ while explaining the system’s fiendish complexity
Pax Dei isn't merely an MMO sandbox looking to copy the crowd; it wants to excel in its building program. Mainframe Studios claims that...
It’s time to blow up houses in Star Wars Galaxies Legends – plus the devs just upgraded PvP and the engine
OK, so you're not really destroying houses with Star Wars Galaxies Legends' housing pack-up event. I mean, yes, you're calling in an airstrike on...
Tarisland prepares for Blight Dragon Elegy with a rep-boosting event and more dungeon lore
We still don't know when the Blight Dragon Elegy will be sung by Tarisland beyond sometime in October, but we can probably count Saturday,...
‘Infinite sandbox MMO’ DreamWorld introduces AI-powered tools as it readies for an October 10 playtest
Do you remember DreamWorld? It came to our attention back in 2021 when its inexperienced developers laid out huge promises as part of its...
Why I Play: Satisfactory scratches my MMO crafting itch
My first real exposure to Satisfactory was long, long before playing it or even being more than peripherally aware of it, because I really...
Massively Overthinking: Do you expect compensation for MMORPG trainwrecks?
Earlier this week, Blizzard admitted that a major bug had resulted in serious and permanent data loss for some World of Warcraft players, including...
