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
Daybreak opens PlanetSide Arena closed beta signups, promises forums next week
Daybreak's announcement yesterday that it's delayed PlanetSide Arena's early access launch from January 29th to March 26th didn't seem to surprise any MMO players...
RuneScape dev Jagex is up for sale by its struggling Chinese owners after posting record high year
Remember a couple of years back when RuneScape company Jagex was bought out by China's Shandong Hongda, a company known primarily for its iron...
Star Citizen’s Around the Verse covers intuitive flight controls and landscaping desolate moons
Cloud Imperium's Sean Tracy and Steve Bender headline this week's episode of Star Citizen's Around the Verse, and if you didn't expect clowning, then...
Massively Overthinking: Why aren’t you playing the MMO most like your favorite sunsetted game?
This week's Massively Overthinking question comes to us from reader Smuggler-in-a-YT.
"Star Wars Galaxies had its problems, but the sense of community, purpose, and story (through...
Old School RuneScape outlines proposed Chambers of Xeric adjustments
In the wake of last week's huge Old School RuneScape update, which added the all-new Kebos Lowlands region to the game, Jagex is now...
Daybreak is delaying PlanetSide Arena’s early access launch to March
Daybreak has announced that it's delaying PlanetSide Arena's planned early access launch from January 29th to March 26th.
"What we’ve discovered during playtesting is that...
Perfect Ten: The worst MMORPG expansions of all time
A great MMO expansion brings so much to the table: fresh excitement for a game, new classes, innovative features, expanded vistas, additional races, and...
Black Desert is heavily adjusting its battle royale mode based on player feedback in today’s patch
Black Desert's had a wild winter already, with an expansion, new class, and battle royale mode rolling out in just the last few months....
Improbable and Crytek team up for SpatialOS CryEngine integration and new AAA game
Improbable made headlines over the last couple of weeks thanks to its tussle with Unity over SpatialOS's integration and licensing. That tussle's since ended,...
EVE Online cracks down on cheaters, again, and contemplates more free-to-play gates
You'd think that people might think twice about cheating in EVE Online, given that in 2018 alone, the company banned tens of thousands of...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 205: Dragons and other MMO rarities
Justin and Bree discuss Elder Scrolls Online's Elsweyr, Breach, Nexon, ArcheAge, Pantheon, FFXIV, SWG Legends, CrossCode, and the harms of early access.
RuneScape boots player who streamed himself bullying a suicidal gamer
A game as large and old and multifaceted as RuneScape is bound to collect some bad seeds over time, and as we've seen repeatedly...
The Stream Team: Onward into more Outpost Zero
With early access comes the inevitable server wipe. Massively OP's MJ is OK with this as she gets to find a new cool place...
Gamigo is reversing last week’s ArcheAge unicorn mount stealth-normalization
Last week, we covered the mess over ArcheAge's unicorn mounts, which had been patched and speed-normalized without notice, leaving players angry over what they...
Choose My Adventure: Fighting for friends in Elite Dangerous
Combat in Elite Dangerous is hard, but finding friends was just a bit harder. At least, it was in the way that I had...
Ashes of Creation yoinks another ex-Daybreaker, this one a community manager
Ashes of Creation's Intrepid Studios has been grabbing up Daybreak devs left and right, and now it's hired a new one: Sarah "Lt. Toast"...
MapleStory 2 is retiring Toad’s Toolkit on January 31
The latest producer's letter from MapleStory 2 describes Toad's Toolkit as an experiment, an attempt by the designers to address a clear issue with...
Here’s what The Repopulation’s current owners are working on in 2019
At the tail end of 2018, The Repopulation actually saw some forward movement under its new owners at Idea Fabrik, with the launch of...
Grab a free key for Wild Terra from Juvty and MOP
Looking for something to play on today's holiday? How about Wild Terra? The isometric sandbox has recently patch in a patch to tweak the...
EVE Evolved: Solving conflict avoidance in EVE Online
Back in October, I made the case that wars were literally ruining EVE Online for the huge number of players living in high-security space....
