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
The Daily Grind: Which MMO took the most effort to click with you?
I think that many of us MMO veterans have a story or two in our past that involves not getting a game the first...
EVE Online moves cynosural fields to a separate overview filter with its February update
If you have never wanted to see a cynosural field in your overview in EVE Online, the game's February patch will take care of that....
More MMO Valentine’s Day events: Black Desert, EverQuest II, Destiny 2, MapleStory 2, Revelation Online, and Wizard101
Hearts and chocolates and flowers continue to invade MMOs all around us. Bree here, reporting from the front lines of the invasion. Here are...
Star Citizen players will be able to communicate using American Sign Language
This week's Star Citizen Around the Verse kicks off not with development but with player footage of a 42-man dogfighter skirmish just above the...
Interview: Black Desert’s Pearl Abyss on battle royale design, metrics, cron stones, and future content
Black Desert has had a wild ride over the last year, as has its home studio, Pearl Abyss. Not only did PA pick up...
Hands-on with Amazon’s New World sandbox – and its distinctively MMO mechanics
Can a survival sandbox game be an MMORPG? Until recently, the answer has been pretty much a big nope. Mostly that's because the game...
The Daily Grind: What was the worst MMO newbie experience that you powered through anyway?
Earlier this week, Justin mentioned that he was toying around in classic EverQuest, and he said he was playing through the tutorial. That surprised...
The first of Ultima Online’s planned 2019 high seas updates has hit the test server
At the start of the new year, Ultima Online did its level best to disrupt my plans to take a break from subbing it...
Interview: Legends of Aria’s dungeon expansion, early access, ganking, housing, and cash shop philosophy
Indie old-school sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria has become a household name among MMO players over the last few months, first rolling into early...
Hyperspace Beacon: The tale of Ood Bnar and his place in SWTOR
If you've not watched the "Choose My Alignment" livestreams that MJ and I have been doing over the last couple of years, then you've...
Sci-fi survival sandbox Astroneer has officially launched out of early access
A couple of months ago, I called Astroneer a "lavish multiplayer space sandbox," and I meant it: This is one of the most vivid...
Perfect Ten: Hit franchises that were almost made into MMORPGs
For my money, there are few more tantalizing and agonizing thoughts than the great "What Ifs?" of the MMO genre. What if one title...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 207: Bunny girls throughout Eorzea
Justin and Bree discuss Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, Legends of Aria, RuneScape, Elder Scrolls Online, LOTRO, and Warframe, with mailbag topics on MMO endgames and battle royale modes in MMOs.
The Stream Team: Checking Outpost Zero’s base after a break
Massively OP's MJ has been traveling and out of town for work, so she hasn't really had a chance to check in on her...
Spycursion is an indie cyberespionage sandbox MMO hitting Kickstarter this month
So here's a new MMO those of you into espionage and spooks and hackers might like: It's a "continuously evolving" MMORPG sandbox called Spycursion,...
Wild Terra is going free-to-play next week as its ‘next stage of active growth’
You might have wondered whether this was happening, given all the key giveaways, but yes, you were right: Juvty Worlds is taking its isometric...
The Daily Grind: Who the heck are you people who buy stuff for MMOs you can’t play yet?
I gotta know this. Who the heck are you people who buy stuff for MMOs you can't play yet? Star Citizen, Ashes of Creation, ships,...
There’s now another Glitch reboot on the way: Odd Giants
When TinySpeck - that's the company that went on to ultimately found Slack - sunsetted its tiny browser sandbox Glitch back in 2012, it...
Steam’s Lunar New Year Sale is offering a discount on your first $30 in purchases
Sure why not let's do a Lunar New Year sale on Steam. Any excuse for a party! Valve and co. has done more than...
EVE Online’s new beta launcher allows custom settings for launching groups of accounts
CCP Games, what are you folks up to? First it was a brand-new get-acquainted-with-EVE-Online trailer for enticing newbies. Now the game itself is getting...
