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: Where is the line between buy-to-play, free-to-play, and subscription MMOs?
You might think this Massively Overthinking topic is way too obvious, but I assure you, it's not! Consider this: When the buy-to-play-with-no-sub Guild Wars...
Halloween festivities in GTAO, MapleStory, Aion, and Star Stable, plus a Halloween makeup collab in Elvenar
We'll have our complete Halloween roundup ready next week, but in the meantime, we have some spoopy events you might not want to miss...
Tree of Life spawns a survival MMO sequel named Oddria
A quick history lesson: Back in 2017, studio Oddone Games released a multiplayer sandbox named Tree of Life that didn't do so hot and...
A Black Desert node war bug dumped quadrillions of silver into the North American servers
Protip: If your Black Desert guild mysteriously manages to pull quadrillions of silver in tax from the guild incentive system, maybe just log out...
Star Wars Galaxies Legends’ community honors a fallen player developer, Irish
One thing I've learned over the past many years of dabbling in emulators is that their communities and teams can be as tight or...
Braving Britannia: Tales of Melancholy, Malice, and Peril in Ultima Online book chronicles player experiences in the seminal MMORPG
Back in 2018, we ran an interview with author Wes Locher about his book that was all about "Life, Love, and Adventure" in Ultima...
Black Desert begins Halloween on PC and Guardian pre-creation on console
The middle of the week once more is offering up another gaggle of Black Desert updates, this time for both the PC version of...
Perfect Ten: A small sampling of literary offerings from MMOs
Salutations are in order once again for our most literate and eloquent readers of Massively Overpowered! I bid you welcome to our numerical column...
EVE Online dev discusses how communities and lasting friendships form in the sandbox
Let's all ignore the 15 weeks' worth of explosions, bubbles, and fighting going on in EVE Online and instead talk about friendship. Or more...
Choose My Adventure: Good friends and bad player behavior in Star Wars Squadrons
Well, I was hoping for this to be more fun than it actually was. I adore the heck out of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter,...
Star Citizen Live discusses the features of alpha 3.11 and patch plans for the new build
This weekend saw yet another episode of Star Citizen's livestream with members of CIG, and this one's all about the release of alpha 3.11,...
Black Desert releases its ‘Prestige Edition’ on November 6
Ladies, gentlemen, and those who fall into neither category, we implore you to look to your physical video game collection. Does it mark you...
Fractured shows off mining and blacksmithing, dates fall alpha for November 4
Ah, the pastoral life of a sandbox MMORPG. None of this combat stuff, just you, your tools, and a slowly filling progress bar as...
Fight or Kite: Checking out veteran sci-fi sandbox MMO Vendetta Online – on mobile
Over the last few months, I’ve been playing around with VR on my phone. I know, not the ideal VR experience but I had...
Star Citizen has 720K total backers and 34K subscribers according to gathered public data
Getting subscriber details for multiplayer and MMO titles out of companies can often be like pulling teeth out of an alligator's mouth with a...
Some Assembly Required: The future of Dual Universe’s puzzle events and development
While I may be sad at missing Dual Universe's first big puzzle event that was just solved (though folks can still follow the clues...
The End is a Viking-themed multiplayer survival action RPG from Legends of Aria’s Citadel Studios
Citadel Studios, best known around these parts as the folks behind sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria, has pulled back the curtain on a new...
Full-loot PvP MMORPG Profane postpones end-of-year testing, now counts 43 staff
At the top of 2020, we covered a new MMO called Profane, one that sparked a lot of discussion over its full-loot, open PvP...
Elder Scrolls Online, Star Citizen, Project Gorgon, Champions Online, Warframe, SWG Legends, Wurm Online celebrate Halloween
Halloween events are piling up faster than we can write them up - here are a few you should keep your eye on!
Elder Scrolls...
ArcheAge Unchained offers free trial as Reddit melts down over pay-to-win
So let's just get this out of the way upfront: ArcheAge Unchained's rollout a year ago did not go as well as Gamigo was...
