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
Raph Koster’s new MMORPG will be more than ‘just hack and slashing your way through levels’
Yesterday, we reported on something pretty thrilling for long-time MMORPG fans: Raph Koster, one of the brains behind classic MMORPG sandboxes Ultima Online and...
Star Citizen recounts alpha 3.7.0 feature development in its September report as the update hits PTS
Alpha 3.7.0 for Star Citizen is a pretty big deal for the game. It's been the subject of numerous Inside Star Citizen videos for...
PlanetSide Arena’s next update will dynamically tweak safe zones and pain fields for low population matches
When your battle royale game is designed for 1,000+ player fights but nowhere near enough players show up, you've got to make some adjustments....
Elite: Dangerous puts out a patch of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements
The latest Elite: Dangerous patch out today is all about fixing issues with the game. Some of those are bugs; for example, console players have...
Star Citizen studio releases UK Annual Companies House Report for 2018
Star Citizen and money: It's one of MMO players' favorite topics, right?
Back in December of last year, Star Citizen studio Cloud Imperium announced a...
Mortal Online revamps the whole newbie experience in next week’s Haven update
It's been a minute since we talked about Mortal Online, which earlier this year began teasing Mortal Online 2 and last year tried its...
Raph Koster is making a new MMO and just raised $2.7M in seed funding to do it
So, who wants a new and well-funded MMORPG from the guy who literally wrote the book on virtual worlds? I knew you would. Raph...
Angeldust offers a large-scale sandbox MMO world with a selectable visual style
The world of early access gaming still has a few surprises out there for us MMO players. One of these is the game Angeldust,...
Dot Big Bang is a voxel sandbox that lets you create your own objects and worlds for multiplayer shenanigans
I miss the ever-loving heck out of Landmark. Way more than I expected to, actually. Or, perhaps more specifically, I miss the potential that...
Black Desert adds the Tamer and Dark Rifts on Xbox One and kicks off new events on PC
Two versions of Black Desert have seen some updates recently, which raises the question: When will these games reach a level of parity that...
Elite Dangerous addresses community petition over development ‘grievances’
It appears that a number of Elite: Dangerous players are unhappy with the state of things in the space sandbox. In fact, they've drafted...
Perfect Ten: Solo prequel games to MMORPGs
When studios go about making MMORPGs, risk comes along with the effect as a matter of course. The only question is how to reduce...
CCP vets found new game studio to build an open-world MMO
There's a new player in the MMO space, and that player is Mainframe Industries. This Nordic game studio was founded by veteran developers from...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 240: Hypergank!
Justin and Bree discuss Star Citizen, Zenith, Guild Wars 2, LOTRO, WoW, and SWG, with mailbag entries on true MMO difficulty and cyberpunk MMOs.
EVE Online brings back the Skilling Spree event
Ready to get some bonus skills in EVE Online? Eager to blow up some NPC ships in the game? Fond of avocado-mango sushi rolls? If...
Multiplayer monster sandbox Day of Dragons just funded for over half a million dollars
Day of Dragons has gotten just a sliver of coverage here on Massively OP as it headlined a crowdfunding column, but today it's getting...
ArcheAge Unchained pushes name reservations to this weekend, but the PTS is up today
If you're all-in for ArcheAge Unchained with a preorder already made, you've probably been anxious to know when exactly you can take advantage of...
RuneScape patches in big improvements to its bank interface
The sheer length of RuneScape's operation means that veteran players no doubt have banks absolutely clogged with stuff, which makes the newest patch's bank...
Trials of Ascension: Exile gets bought by a player who vows to continue development
If you were worried that your dreams of playing as a spider were in danger due to the rocky foundation that Trials of Ascension:...
Ashes of Creation explains how Apocalypse battle royale has brought about improvements to the MMO
This past Friday saw a developer livestream from the Ashes of Creation team with the aim of providing a bit more context on just...
