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 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...
Ion’s Dean Hall wants to show how much innovation is possible in MMOs
If you're curious about Dean Hall's new Ion project that was recently announced at E3, a new interview at Polygon might be worth reading.
Hall explains...
Star Citizen’s new Frankfurt office features 21 devs now, 50 by year’s end
Cloud Imperium has opened a new development office in Frankfurt, Germany, according to the company's latest press release. Star Citizen, dubbed a "first person...
EVE Online deploys Aegis part 1 tomorrow
EVE Online's newest content update is apparently so big that developer CCP has decided to split it up into two chunks.
The first part of...
Wisdom of Nym: The leveling dungeons of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Final Fantasy XIV takes you on quite a ride on the way to level 60. There are indisputably fewer dungeons than there are from...
Star Citizen gets a monthly report, Star Marine status update
Hot on the heels of last week's Star Marine delay update comes a new monthly report from Star Citizen chairman Chris Roberts. As per...
MMO Mechanics: Four inspiring indie developments worth watching
The MMO genre has immense sticking power in terms of tenure, staying relevant to players for decades despite such fluid and rapid development in...
Make My MMO: July 4, 2015
This week in MMO crowdfunding, Pathfinder Online introduced mules. No, not your dual-boxed healer or the crafter avatar that you force your kid to...
Pathfinder adds mules, cautions against attacking them
Goblinworks has added mules to Pathfinder Online, according to a new dev blog by designer Lee Hammock. Mules are intended to make long-range travel...
The Stream Team: Landmark be a land of pirates!
Arrrrg! Thar be pirates skulking about Landmark! At least there are plenty of their hideouts scattered about. Previously, Massively OP's MJ has shown off...
Elite: Dangerous downgrades graphics, plans appearance at Lavecon
If you have been wondering if Elite: Dangerous looks a little less gorgeous as it did before, trust us, it's not just you.
After players...
The state of MassivelyOP’s ARK server
Well, the MassivelyOP ARK: Survival Evolved server is still a thing. It's been running for just over 10 days now, and it's been publicly available for...
Check out all of Black Desert’s costumes
If you're like me, then one of the first questions you have for any new MMO isn't what classes or systems it offers but...
Xsyon is looking for your feedback on infirmaries, death penalty tweaks
Post-apocalyptic sandbox Xsyon got a developer update post this week. Notorious Games' blogged briefly about changes to the game's infirmaries and guides, which it says...
Tree of Life has territory growth, guild wars on the mind
The survival sandbox Tree of Life has plans to vastly expand its territory, promising that it will soon grow to encompass four times the...
Shards Online’s June newsletter talks player-run servers, taming, and more
Citadel has published the latest issue of its Shards Online newsletter. Project lead Derek Brinkmann pens an intro that touches on everything from worldbuilding...
Skysaga gives PvP to the masses
Skysaga's burgeoning community has a new way to grow closer today, as the game has opened the doors of its PvP arena to testers.
Alpha...
