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
ArcheAge’s player-run rogue servers are booming as the retail MMORPG’s sunset is looming
Now that fans of ArcheAge know for certain that their sandbox will be shutting down in June, there are some who are perhaps looking...
Star Citizen allows third wave of testers to alpha 3.23’s PTU, talks about upcoming UI changes
Now that access to the PTU of Star Citizen is linked to overall account activity, players have been waiting for their turn in line...
The Daily Grind: How do you define ‘old-school’ MMORPGs?
One of the topics that comes up every year come award time is how we decided which MMORPGs are old enough - whether by...
Starbase returns from radio silence with plan for new navigation, territory control, and PvE
In May of last year, we expressed some concern about Starbase, the sci-fi crafting sandbox from Frozenbyte, particularly since it received little more than...
Reign of Guilds promises to expand dev headcount, seeks player patience in early access
When the PvP sandbox Reign of Guilds opened its early access doors at the beginning of this month, developer Atlant Games admitted that it...
Bellwright’s first week of early access sees daily bug fixing and mostly positive reviews
It would appear that Donkey Crew knows it has eyes trained on it after its last shoulder shrug of an early access game launch:...
BitCraft shares an in-game preview of early skills and character progression
Since the month of April has been alpha testing month for sandbox MMORPG BitCraft, Clockwork Labs appears to be eager to continue showing off...
Albion Online’s European server is fully live and F2P for all players now – here’s the new music video
If it seems as thought we've been covering the launch of Albion Online's Albion Europe server for a really long time, well, that's because...
MapleStory superfan transmutes promoted stream into Nexon critique and quit
What was likely meant to be a watershed moment for MapleStory PR ended up being an alley-oop to the MMO's own live dunking: Niru,...
Myth of Empires previews Greek buildings and armor, opens Jade Era servers to help new players
The survival MMO Myth of Empires is going Greek for its most recent previews, as Angela Game has put out a couple of sneak...
The MOP Up: Tarisland’s Mr. D fixes the world
Over on Discord, Tarisland continues to walk fans through the history of its world, including the war between powerful beings, including a guy named......
MapleStory gears up for its 19th anniversary, launches MapleStory Worlds in Korea
While MapleStory 2 has become a distant memory for many of us, the MapleStory franchise is still going strong in 2024. In fact, Nexon...
Stick and Rudder: So let’s talk about those Elite Dangerous pre-built ships
Over the past couple of days, I've been watching and writing about the fun little tire fire that Elite: Dangerous ignited when it announced...
Star Citizen brings new race tracks and a first look at engineering to alpha 3.23’s Arena Commander
While many of the reveals shared by Star Citizen for alpha 3.23 have been focused on the persistent universe portion of the game, the...
Dune Awakening teases its movable, taxable, base-buildy but cozy player housing
Fans of Funcom's Conan Exiles will eagerly point to the game's building as one of its strongest features, so it's no surprise that the...
Massively Overthinking: Is there a feature or item in MMORPGs you won’t play without?
I was jolted into a near panic earlier this past weekend when I saw a tweet from Lord of the Rings Online in which...
Elite Dangerous provides an elaborate deep-dive on how Powerplay 2.0’s mechanics and rewards will work
Despite the backdrop of Frontier Developments setting Elite: Dangerous players on fire with talk about cash shop ship bundles, the studio came together for...
Kickstarted MMORPG-turned-TCG Genfanad gives up, will sunset April 30
ArcheAge isn't the only MMORPG announcing a sunset this week: Kickstarter success Genfanad is apparently closing its doors too.
Genfanad is a browser-based nostalgia-driven indie...
Seafaring survival MMO Age of Water hits Steam early access, addresses premium perks
After a week-long false start, publisher Gaijin Entertainment and developer Three Whales Studio have brought Age of Water into the roiling and (arguably) crowded...
Elite Dangerous shares additional details on engineering updates and pre-built ship bundles
Yesterday saw Frontier Developments enrage the Elite: Dangerous playerbase when it announced plans to sell pre-built ship bundles in its cash shop, with many...
