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: What do you do when you ‘finish’ your main MMO goals?
There's a sense of satisfaction when you wrap up a big set of goals. You're downed the last boss of the last raid tier...
Make My MMO: July 11, 2015
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Derek Smart reminded everyone that he exists. Not that he's crowdfunding an MMO or anything, but he did...
Revival recaps its June dev blogs, talks physical coin storage
Fantasy sandbox virtual world Revival has released its latest newsletter, which takes a look back at the various dev blogs penned by the Illfonic...
The Game Archaeologist: The Sims Online
The Sims Online was one of the odder entrants into the MMO genre, an online iteration of an immensely popular game franchise that promised...
Here’s the latest Star Citizen FPS update
Cloud Imperium has published another in its ongoing series of weekly updates regarding Star Marine (otherwise known as Star Citizen's first-person shooter module, if...
Black Desert video review rips MMO beta as a ‘shallow game’
When it comes to MMO betas, don't you usually want to cut through the hype and hysteria to get at the truth of whether...
Project Gorgon preps second Kickstarter campaign, adds day-night cycle
Virtual world MMO Project Gorgon is preparing for a third Kickstarter campaign, its creator tweeted this past week. Eric Heimburg confirmed that the team...
The Soapbox: Star Citizen is still worth the wait
Wow, it's Star Citizen and Derek Smart in the same post! OK, now that I've stopped laughing (again), you can call me crazy because I remain optimistic about...
ArcheAge’s skill queues lead to near-instant kill exploits [Updated]
Skill queues are meant as a way for players to "store up" commands and have all of those commands finally executed in one fell...
Massively Overthinking: The MMO innovation we long for (or do we?)
This week's Massively Overthinking topic comes from Kickstarter donor BigMikeyOcho, who wants to talk innovation:
"Sometimes when I play MMOs, I get the feeling that I'm...
Notch: ‘F2P is bait and switch and should be illegal’
Well, there's at least one game developer who hasn't sold his soul to F2P. That would be Markus "Notch" Persson, otherwise known as the creator...
Star Citizen dismisses ‘feature creep’ concerns, declares Star Marine has NOT been canceled
The year thus far has not been the best possible year for Star Citizen. The game has seen a few people depart from prominent...
Elite’s Braben on self-publishing and the perils of virtual reality
Frontier CEO David Braben is interviewed at VideoGamer.com, and he has some interesting nuggets both for fans of Elite: Dangerous and for industry watchers...
Earn new EverQuest and Landmark rewards with the EQ Worlds app
It might be time to dig out that mostly-forgotten EverQuest Worlds mobile app, especially if you've been playing one of Daybreak's fantasy titles. The...
EVE Online previews upcoming nullsec and sovereignty changes
The world of EVE Online's nullsec is changing. It's not getting any safer, no, but the nature of the dangers you face therein are...
Derek Smart says Star Citizen, ‘as has been pitched, will never get made’
The most polite possible way to describe Derek Smart is "contentious." He's indisputably worked on several games of huge scope without great reception. But...
The Daily Grind: What keeps you from crafting in MMOs?
To this day, I've really only been a "crafter" in a small handful of MMOs: Fallen Earth, World of Warcraft, and Lord of the...
Gloria Victis adds a PvP arena and an attack power bar
Gloria Victis has updated with a new PvP arena and an attacks power bar. The latter allows players to control the strength of their...
Massively OP Podcast: Episode 21
Justin and Bree discuss Marvel Heroes, Final Fantasy XIV, RIFT 3.3, WoW's patch cycle, Cabal 2's launch, Skyforge's soft launch, and TERA's update, with mailbag questions on hero picks, names, and character gender options.
EVE Online releases Aegis part 1, preps part 2
The first of two July patches for EVE Online is rolling out today, with Aegis part 1 unloading an array of changes and features...