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
Gloria Victis inviteth thee to dump burning oil on the heads of thine enemies
I can't imagine anything more disheartening than going over to a friend's house, knocking on his door, and being coated by burning pitch as...
E3 2015: Life is Feudal isn’t just another gankbox
I'm standing with my PR contact at the Life is Feudal booth when suddenly a guy with a thick Russian accent walks up to me,...
One Shots: Primitive GPS
There's no shame in being lost, especially if your MMO doesn't include an on-screen map. Anyone remember the olden days of using graph paper...
EVE gets a new art director, Dominix redesign
CCP's latest dev blog talks up the forthcoming Dominix redesign, but put away those pitchforks, Gallente fans, because the ship isn't morphing into something...
Shroud of the Avatar’s update talks taming, player towns, and more
Shroud of the Avatar released Update of the Avatar #130 yesterday, and there's quite a lot to cover as it's a typically lengthy look...
The Game Archaeologist: Seven MMOs operating on borrowed time
Most everyone who knows me well will acknowledge that I'm not generally a cynical, dark person. I'm not rooting for games to fail, for...
The Stream Team: First steps in ARK: Survival Evolved
Folks are talking about ARK: Survival Evolved, the dinosaur-infested sandbox that recently joined the ranks of early-access games. Sandbox? Dinosaurs? You just knew that...
Landmark devs: Respawning is working as designed
Addressing complaints that respawning mobs and resources are broken in Landmark, Daybreak came out today to say that, on the contrary, everything is working...
Anarchy Online’s long-awaited engine upgrade looks to be coming soon
"You've waited, it's coming. In this year of 29489 on Rubi-Ka, you will see it," Anarchy Online's Twitter feed trumpeted today.
We'll see what? You...
Punching dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved
Five minutes after I logged into ARK: Survival Evolved, I punched a fish. A few moments later, I punched a tree. Shortly thereafter, I...
Star Citizen is handing backers the keys to all of its spaceships next week
If you're on a tight budget, Star Citizen's ships aren't always the most affordable pieces of virtual hardware in the gaming world. However, if...
EVE dev blogs address overview bracket changes, Drifter lore
CCP has released a pair of new EVE Online dev blogs, the first of which focuses on the lore behind the game's mysterious Drifter...
RuneScape’s RuneFest community event scheduled for October 3
Jagex has announced that RuneFest will return for a fifth incarnation of the annual community event devoted to RuneScape. It happens at London's Tobacco...
Time’s running out for the Voxelnauts Kickstarter
Are you interested in playing Voxelnauts, the "VR sandbox MMO" from Retro Ronin? If so, you might consider helping the firm out on its...
Co-op sandbox Windborne is closing down on Steam
You're in for some disappointment today if you were hoping that Windborne would ever emerge from early access. Developer Hidden Path announced this morning...
Perfect Ten: MMO terms that have overstayed their welcome
My original plan for this week - during the few moments that I was capable of coherent speech rather than just babbling about the...
Age of Wulin allows you to summon offline friends for combat assistance
Do you have a good buddy you wish could play with you all the time, even when she's sleeping, eating, or at work? In...
Worlds Adrift details the design of a steering wheel
Part of the very premise behind Worlds Adrift is exploring the great big sky on an airship. Sure, we've seen how you can design...
Hall drops Ion hints, says he worked on DayZ ‘longer than [he] intended’
What exactly is Ion, the new sci-fi sandbox being developed by Dean Hall in collaboration with virtual world firm Improbable? We still don't really...
E3 2015: David Braben on Elite: Dangerous
How does the guy who got motion sickness from Kirby's Air Ride get assigned to the flight simulators every year? Yes, at this year's E3, with...
