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
Gather eggs and earn goodies in RuneScape’s Easter event
It's time for that most eggcellent spring holiday, Easter, and the world of RuneScape is celebrating with an eggcitingly eggstravagant in-game event. It involves...
Star Citizen’s 3.5 alpha is really, truly ‘imminent’ this time
The last week of March, everyone was super excited because patch day for Star Citizen had finally arrived. The 3.5 alpha, with its playable...
Fan recreates classic Guild Wars’ Ascalon City in RPG Maker
Remaking your favorite online world in a different program seems to be a hobby of some fans, which is why we get (for example)...
The MOP Up: Grab your Harry Potter nickname now!
When Harry Potter: Wizards Unite arrives later this year, by which name will you be known and feared? Lord Scooby? Mr. Cheddar? Fluffybutticus? The...
Battle Bards Episode 142: Sunrise, sunset
In MMORPGs across the world, days are beginning and days are ending — and with them come the catharsis of the sunrise and sunset....
One Shots: Band practice went long today
Fred and Wilma's parents always wondered what happened to them. One day they stayed after school for a little extra band practice... and they...
Star Wars Galaxies Emu stress tests all things Jedi – today
There's a curious air of Star Wars fandom going around this weekend -- for no discernible reason that we can identify -- and that...
The Daily Grind: What makes you dismiss an MMO without ever trying it?
I would say that I'm generally -- generally -- a fairly open person when it comes to trying out MMORPGs and other games. I...
Brave the Sunken City to confront a Great Old One in Conan Exiles’s latest update
Eldritch horror appears to be the flavor du jour in the latest test server update to Conan Exiles, which has opened up the gates...
Old School RuneScape hopes to improve player input polling by hiding results
Classically, the development focus of Old School RuneScape has been steered by polls, and those poll results have always been visible. That will be...
Adorable retro sandbox Staxel has officially launched today with a huge update too
We've been covering the supercute voxelbox Staxel for the last year of early access, so what a joy to get to say that it's...
Albion Online’s free-to-play relaunch is going well in spite of lag, queues, and duping
We don't get a lot of buy-to-play or subscription-based MMOs going free-to-play anymore, chiefly because most of the ones likely to make the jump...
Black Desert says it’s finished its Shadow Arena-related ‘false bans’ investigation
Since March, we've been covering a hacking wave and the ensuing fallout in Black Desert, as cheaters swarmed the now-defunct Shadow Arena battle royale...
Broke Protocol’s Repair and Rearm update adds vehicle repairing and fixed turrets
Life in the blocky sandbox world of Broke Protocol is about to get... well, maybe not easier exactly, but somewhat more convenient perhaps. The...
Check out Star Citizen’s new ‘environmental AI bounty hunting’ in action
It's still not really ready for primetime after some much-deserved delays, but Star Citizen's 3.5 alpha features a big chunk of content aimed squarely...
Hyperspace Beacon: I can’t believe I forgot these things about Star Wars Galaxies
For the last couple of weeks, I've been able to re-experience Star Wars Galaxies. After eight years, I noticed that I might have forgotten...
Desert Oasis: Understanding and critiquing Black Desert’s RNG systems
One of the main critiques readers made about my first Desert Oasis column last month was that I did not mention Black Desert's random...
Black Desert deletes Shadow Arena, compensates players, and opens the Egg Hunt
The day has come, folks: Shadow Arena is officially patched out of Black Desert today, after hackers and banwaves and what had to be...
Albion Online is officially free-to-play today – and already ‘under heavy load’
Fancy getting your peekay on in an actual PvP sandbox? Albion Online is officially free-to-play today, meaning you can swarm the game without paying...
Wurm Online’s massive update brings six months of adjustments online
If you read a claim that an MMORPG update has been six months in the making, it's a pretty safe bet that there are...
