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 examines the design principles behind its upcoming Group Ironman content
For those of you who do not play RuneScape and thus are unfamiliar with the game's Ironman rules, it's important to explain that it...
Nexon Q2 2024: Dungeon & Fighter Mobile drives a record financial quarter
The parade of financial reports continues this afternoon with Nexon's Q2 2024, which saw record revenues for the gaming company thanks to Chinese mobile...
Old School RuneScape will take a hard stance against ‘deathmatching’ in its rules August 15
Old School RuneScape has often been used as fertile soil for RMT shenanigans, particularly in the case of its duel arena feature, which was...
Pearl Abyss Q2 2024: Equinox bolstered EVE Online revenues as Crimson Desert waits in the wings
The dog days of August bring a whole deck of financial results for companies - including MMO companies like Pearl Abyss. The Korean gaming...
Stars Reach’s Raph Koster on MMO trust, fear, and freedom: ‘We understand how nervous players are about griefing’
Regular MOP readers know that our commenters have already spilled a lot of ink about Raph Koster's in-development MMORPG Stars Reach - and he's...
Black Desert launches the Mountain of Eternal Winter expansion on console today
Console Black Desert players are capping off their summer with some winter - Mountain of Eternal Winter, that is. The console version of the...
The Stream Team: Back in the spaceship saddle with Elite Dangerous’ new update
Today is the day when MOP's Chris and his best friend see for themselves whether the latest update for Elite: Dangerous fixes one of...
Albion Online’s first Paths to Glory patch fixes a multitude of Albion Journal issues
Albion Online hasn't had the most flawless post-Paths to Glory experience, as at the end of July, it was victimized by a series of...
Elite Dangerous deploys its new ship and engineering revamps in the Type-8 Update
Today is a pretty exciting day for a lot of Elite: Dangerous players (this writer included) as Frontier Developments is deploying the Type-8 Update...
World of Tanks invites you to its 14th birthday party with presents and events
Earlier this week, we noted that Wargaming had dropped a new trailer for World of Tanks, but the timing was far from random. In...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 479: The MMO that must not be named
Justin and Bree discuss LOTRO, World of Warcraft, Bungie, Ashes of Creation, and Guild Wars 2, with adventures in LOTRO, WoW, and SWG Legends.
Choose My Adventure: Mission runs cap off a welcoming return to Elite Dangerous
What a difference a month makes. When I first started these series of Elite Dangerous posts for Choose My Adventure, I had gone into...
Monsters & Memories is running another open stress test this weekend
Clear your Saturday, old-school MMOers, because throwback sandbox MMORPG Monsters & Memories is plotting yet another stress test, open to all comers. The event...
The Daily Grind: What MMO should Daybreak buy next?
One of the surprise news bits out of July was the announcement that EG7-owned Daybreak - which had just been scrambling for cash, to...
Old School RuneScape starts checking the results of Deadman Armageddon to determine the winners
The Deadman Armageddon event has ended in Old School RuneScape once again, and that means it's time to announce the winners, right? Well... no....
Dune Awakening publishes the first of its planned monthly newsletters
If there's one complaint that could be leveraged against Dune: Awakening, it's that Funcom isn't exactly generous with information about the survival sandbox MMO,...
Victorian sandbox Nightingale banks on a big summer patch to turn its fortunes around
While admitting "shortcomings" to Nightingale's initial launch, six months into early access Inflexion Games' devs say that they're "proud" of the title and yet...
The MOP Up: EVE Echoes is going to let you drill into the moon
EVE Echoes -- please remember that this still exists -- offered up some balance and market adjustments along with a preview of some new...
Star Wars Galaxies legends teases Jedi Themepark part 2, the Endor revamp, and a chef overhaul
At the tail end of July, the devs behind rogue server Star Wars Galaxies Legends released a new dev blog discussing development of the...
Embers Adrift promises a ‘crazy’ weekend of in-game events starting August 16
The second weekend event for Embers Adrift is reminding players of the event's date, just in case anyone missed its first such event. Players...
