EVE Online's always outspoken Executive Producer Nathan Richardson answers the question: Sandbox games have proven that they stand the test of time. Why do you think the sandbox model appeals to players even after all these years?

It’s the other players--that’s the appeal. The sandbox is essentially an open environment, with rules and tools that empower players to become the “content” for everybody else playing. And this manifests itself on almost all levels of gameplay and interaction.

Playing the market is interesting because it is player-driven and you are competing with everyone else just by the simple act of selling or buying a good. If you run a mission for an agent and the rewards you gain end up on the market, you have become a competitor. Your resources gained through hacking sites or wormhole exploration are part of the supply and demand. Do you process them? Do you manufacture with them? Or do you research and gain a competitive edge in a specific area?

Read Nathan Richardson: Why Love the Sandbox.

Eve...its like bricks.

This article shows well what Eve does very well and that is the sandbox playtype. However what Eve does NOT do well is a sci-fi space game. Most of the times your target is so far away that he is just an icon and how fun is that? Fighting an icon...

Anyway, just wanted to point that out to anyone looking at these magnificent screenshots and read these amazing articles about Eve. A great sandbox MMORPG it is, a great space sci-fi opera it is not.

Originally posted by Yamota

This article shows well what Eve does very well and that is the sandbox playtype. However what Eve does NOT do well is a sci-fi space game. Most of the times your target is so far away that he is just an icon and how fun is that? Fighting an icon...

Anyway, just wanted to point that out to anyone looking at these magnificent screenshots and read these amazing articles about Eve. A great sandbox MMORPG it is, a great space sci-fi opera it is not.

"Look-At button? What's that?"

Yeah, I fight those "icons" all the time.

Good article.

Originally posted by Yamota

This article shows well what Eve does very well and that is the sandbox playtype. However what Eve does NOT do well is a sci-fi space game. Most of the times your target is so far away that he is just an icon and how fun is that? Fighting an icon...

Anyway, just wanted to point that out to anyone looking at these magnificent screenshots and read these amazing articles about Eve. A great sandbox MMORPG it is, a great space sci-fi opera it is not.

I went to create an account just to respond to this... I also found out that I apparently already had an account, but only after filling out the whole form... my point is I created an account to respond to this... for the most part.

I disagree with you. I disagree not with your assessment of how most the time you are so far away you only see an icon, but I disagree that EVE is not "a great space sci-fi opera".

Maybe I agree and EVE is not an opera, I don't like opera's, but it is most DEFINETLY an amazing space game. If you think the captain of a real (how ever not real it may be) space ship is going to be looking at anything but icons on a screen you are crazy, especially on the scale of a solar system entire fleets would be represented as a single icon. That is one of the reasons EVE is such an amazing sci-fi game, the scale is incredible. You do not plan massive wars thinking about single ships, you plan thinking about fights involving hundreds of ships and you never once care about a single individual one... OK well maybe a Titan.

You know whats best though, knowing what those icons represent when they go boom. They represent time and effort some one put into bringing it into existance and when it blips off your screen and you know some one on the other end that is now ejecting their pod into space is cursing and yelling you get to smile like never before.

Originally posted by Shadowdf

Originally posted by Yamota

This article shows well what Eve does very well and that is the sandbox playtype. However what Eve does NOT do well is a sci-fi space game. Most of the times your target is so far away that he is just an icon and how fun is that? Fighting an icon...

Anyway, just wanted to point that out to anyone looking at these magnificent screenshots and read these amazing articles about Eve. A great sandbox MMORPG it is, a great space sci-fi opera it is not.

 

I went to create an account just to respond to this... I also found out that I apparently already had an account, but only after filling out the whole form... my point is I created an account to respond to this... for the most part.

I disagree with you. I disagree not with your assessment of how most the time you are so far away you only see an icon, but I disagree that EVE is not "a great space sci-fi opera".

Maybe I agree and EVE is not an opera, I don't like opera's, but it is most DEFINETLY an amazing space game. If you think the captain of a real (how ever not real it may be) space ship is going to be looking at anything but icons on a screen you are crazy, especially on the scale of a solar system entire fleets would be represented as a single icon. That is one of the reasons EVE is such an amazing sci-fi game, the scale is incredible. You do not plan massive wars thinking about single ships, you plan thinking about fights involving hundreds of ships and you never once care about a single individual one... OK well maybe a Titan.

You know whats best though, knowing what those icons represent when they go boom. They represent time and effort some one put into bringing it into existance and when it blips off your screen and you know some one on the other end that is now ejecting their pod into space is cursing and yelling you get to smile like never before.

 

I would say Eve is a good game BUT a classic Space opera it is not. It does what it does well. It does not give most players the epic classic space opera feeling in my opinion.

Before you ask what space opera is, a judge once said I know it when I see it.

Originally posted by uttaus 

I would say Eve is a good game BUT a classic Space opera it is not. It does what it does well. It does not give most players the epic classic space opera feeling in my opinion.

Before you ask what space opera is, a judge once said I know it when I see it.

 

To each their own.

Originally posted by Shadowdf

Originally posted by uttaus 

I would say Eve is a good game BUT a classic Space opera it is not. It does what it does well. It does not give most players the epic classic space opera feeling in my opinion.

Before you ask what space opera is, a judge once said I know it when I see it.

 

 

To each their own.

 

Absolutely.

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

Originally posted by girlgeek 

Absolutely.

 

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

 

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

 

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

 

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

 

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

 

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I want to respond really bad to this, but I am just not sure what to say... I mean there are plenty of days where I just do not log into EVE because I don't have the energy to do it, and yes EVE is much more a game of work than any other games I know, but thats also why I like it so much. However much I don't want to come home from work and work, I do... and I think this interview actually said it really well: "The lows (i.e. house-on-face) create the meaningful context of the highs (i.e. house-on-other-guys-face) making all the more rewarding." Those highs for me are just worth too much to pass up.

:)

Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by Shadowdf

Originally posted by uttaus 

I would say Eve is a good game BUT a classic Space opera it is not. It does what it does well. It does not give most players the epic classic space opera feeling in my opinion.

Before you ask what space opera is, a judge once said I know it when I see it.

 

 

To each their own.

 

 

Absolutely.

 

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

 

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

 

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

 

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

 

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

 

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by girlgeek

....much clipping to save space.....

 

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

 

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

 

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

 

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

 

 

Well, first of all...I USED to love PvP.

PvP that had a roleplaying type REASON, that is...like back before UO got completely "gang(or gank)-oriented," or hell...even WoW (shock of all shocks) back before they added all the BGs and arena, and people actually did world PvP because they were roleplaying that they hated the other side, not because the HKs really got them much of anything special...just because it was fun to go running into Ironforge "guns blazing" to kill their leader, because...after all...they needed to be taught that we were better than them, and that this "Azeroth" was not going to be a safe place for them. We believed them to be cowards, manipulators, and liars, and the game's lore (back then when a good many of the players came from past Blizzard games) dictated how we felt about them.

Needless to say....that didn't last long in THAT game. *sigh*

I've also played Guild Wars, and Warhammer, and other "PvP-centric" games. I have not always "not cared" about PvP. Part of me wishes I could "get the love back" for that style of play. But it hasn't happened yet. And I think...it's more because I'm TIRED than anything else. The juvenile "smack talking" that goes on now....just exhausts me. It seems like a waste of time. And...it didn't USED to feel that way.

Oh, and I also played EVE, for a while. Long enough to accumulate some very nice ships, loads of isk (or what seemed like loads to me), and had outfitted my ships very nicely for mining. I was in a carebear corp that predominantly just accumulated vast wealth selling to PvPers. We built ships, did blueprints, and I....I mined my ass off. But eventually....I got bored.

And it's not that the PvP was "too much" for me...I got pod killed a couple of times, and my HULK blown to bits...twice. I still played...for a while. It's just not really what I'm looking for in a game. EVE is great, I think, and innovative, in some aspects....but it's not for everyone any more than any other game is.

You know, the more I think about it...the more I wonder if I have just, either temporarily or permanently, grown away from the MMO genre, both PvP AND PvE. Because I'm not enjoying either now like I used to.  And so...I've been playing a lot of single player games where there is no pressure to excel, no one to be "accountable" to after work (other than my family), and no "keeping up with the Joneses" thing going on.

By the way....this is posted in General Discussion, not on the EVE board, so being that I have enjoyed PvP in the past....I felt I had a right to respond. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but as you can see...lol...that didn't stop me. ;)

As much as I loved my time in EVE, the biggest strength of the "sandbox" can be the biggest weakness if the company doesn't compensate for it. Interacting with other players is *all* that will keep you in EVE because the pve is boring/mind numbing/horrid.

If you can find and maintain those interactions with other players, the game is great...when you don't or when it all breaks down, you're left with garbage. As much as EVE is a pvp-centric game, finding ways to make mission running/ratting/mining/exploring more challenging, interesting, visually exciting etc would do far more to boost sub numbers and retention than any pvp-tweak or new "sandbox" element.

PS I *have* fallen asleep in "pvp" in EVE and heard other corp mates do the same....POS sieges anyone? or that prolonged gatecamp after you've already been on for 8 hours+ straight?

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by Shadowdf

Originally posted by uttaus 

I would say Eve is a good game BUT a classic Space opera it is not. It does what it does well. It does not give most players the epic classic space opera feeling in my opinion.

Before you ask what space opera is, a judge once said I know it when I see it.

 

 

To each their own.

 

 

Absolutely.

 

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

 

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

 

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

 

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

 

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

 

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

 

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

 

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

 

 

well, 5 years and its still fun so ... have to see in another 5 i reckon.. anyway, i pretty much agree with you, theres nothing wrong with themepark games as such, and if your happy playing games that arent that intellectually challenging then fine i guess, its not a bad thing either, and believe it or not you can do that in Eve too, try mining  
 

as for the rest, Eve is, imo, the greatest space game since elite

Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by girlgeek

....much clipping to save space.....

 

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

 

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

 

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

 

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

 

 

 

Well, first of all...I USED to love PvP.

 

PvP that had a roleplaying type REASON, that is...like back before UO got completely "gang(or gank)-oriented," or hell...even WoW (shock of all shocks) back before they added all the BGs and arena, and people actually did world PvP because they were roleplaying that they hated the other side, not because the HKs really got them much of anything special...just because it was fun to go running into Ironforge "guns blazing" to kill their leader, because...after all...they needed to be taught that we were better than them, and that this "Azeroth" was not going to be a safe place for them. We believed them to be cowards, manipulators, and liars, and the game's lore (back then when a good many of the players came from past Blizzard games) dictated how we felt about them.

But pvp does have a role in Eve, Either to the roleplayers or the low sec and 0.0 folks that pvp for territory or FW. It's not meaningless, I remember pvping in UO, hunting PKers its the same imo.

 

Needless to say....that didn't last long in THAT game. *sigh*

 

I've also played Guild Wars, and Warhammer, and other "PvP-centric" games. I have not always "not cared" about PvP. Part of me wishes I could "get the love back" for that style of play. But it hasn't happened yet. And I think...it's more because I'm TIRED than anything else. The juvenile "smack talking" that goes on now....just exhausts me. It seems like a waste of time. And...it didn't USED to feel that way.

IN other games that just have you pvp for a place in a ladder system or for trivial item rewards off a vendor I would agree but in Eve we have stuff to fight over, our very way of Eve life.

 

Oh, and I also played EVE, for a while. Long enough to accumulate some very nice ships, loads of isk (or what seemed like loads to me), and had outfitted my ships very nicely for mining. I was in a carebear corp that predominantly just accumulated vast wealth selling to PvPers. We built ships, did blueprints, and I....I mined my ass off. But eventually....I got bored.

See you never really experienced eve pvp, other than wardecs am I right? ever fought in 0.0? ever defended a wormhole? ever fought in FW? Its a totally different experience.

 

And it's not that the PvP was "too much" for me...I got pod killed a couple of times, and my HULK blown to bits...twice. I still played...for a while. It's just not really what I'm looking for in a game. EVE is great, I think, and innovative, in some aspects....but it's not for everyone any more than any other game is.

Sounds like You may need to try a different side of Eve, Being pod killed sucks when you can't fight back. If you ever try Eve again give a different side of the game a try.

You know, the more I think about it...the more I wonder if I have just, either temporarily or permanently, grown away from the MMO genre, both PvP AND PvE. Because I'm not enjoying either now like I used to.  And so...I've been playing a lot of single player games where there is no pressure to excel, no one to be "accountable" to after work (other than my family), and no "keeping up with the Joneses" thing going on.

Other than Eve online I'm right there with ya. So tired of the genre right now. Been wasting all my free videogame time on Dragon age and Assassin's creed 2. After playing 13 years straight of mmos one tends to get tired.

 

By the way....this is posted in General Discussion, not on the EVE board, so being that I have enjoyed PvP in the past....I felt I had a right to respond. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but as you can see...lol...that didn't stop me. ;)

 

Your right, for some reason I thought this was in the eve forum. I'm sorry.   I'm a bit busy atm I've been posting in the new Eve in game browser I missed what section this was in.

Originally posted by Phry

 

well, 5 years and its still fun so ... have to see in another 5 i reckon.. anyway, i pretty much agree with you, theres nothing wrong with themepark games as such, and if your happy playing games that arent that intellectually challenging then fine i guess, its not a bad thing either, and believe it or not you can do that in Eve too, try mining  
 

as for the rest, Eve is, imo, the greatest space game since elite

in My three years I have yet to really dig deep into the industrial side of Eve. I;ve gone as far as a Hulk (that I used once) and a basic hauler for spring cleaning.

See thats the great thing about Eve. There's so much too it that you could play for years and not try everything.

I know people only getting into exploration now after five years.

I was reading about being a drug dealer in Eve (booster production) and it was like reading a novel, how technical that aspect of the game is. I gave up lol.

All this time and there are still things for me to strive for.

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by girlgeek

Absolutely.

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

1. This is not a "pvp focused games thread", it's "Why love the sandbox thread".

2. Considering the nature of the this thread (as said in the title) it's about all things in general pertaining to a sandbox MMORPG.

3. This is a discussion forum, not a "metalhead980" get's to decide who's viewpoints are worthy of publication or recognition forum. Hint: That's what the user blogs are for. (pst..Those are kind of like personal forums that you can control..nifty huh?)

4. This thread was posted in the "General" forum, therefore it was not specifically targeted to only Eve players, but to anyone that has interest in the sandbox style of play. (Again, a general title that signifies the subject is broad and limitless).

5. There is no need to get personal (You quoted "Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?"). "girlgeek" didn't attack anyone, in any way say anything negative about anyone that enjoys PvP, flame or degrade anyone or anythnig pertaining to PvP, nor did she say that her "opinion" was absolute.

6. Everyone is different and has thier own ways of getting the same results. (You quoted "You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.")

Nonetheless, everyone is entitled to thier opinion, even if that opinion is fuled by personal tastes or emotional attatchment, or self employed arrogance rather than with an objective state of mind.

While EVE is probably the better Sandbox game out there, I think Mr Richardson's metaphor of a brick is a bit mis-representative of EVE.

EVE simply does not have that level of granularity to it.  EVE controls the number of Bricks you have (mining), and it controls the way in which those Bricks can be arranged (blueprints).   Compare the old Lego sets which were free form and the new themed Lego sets in which you build what is depicted on the box.  EVE is the latter.  You cannot innovate in EVE.

Now if happen to agree with Mr Richardson that a sandbox game is, ideally, like using a brick. But EVE has no where near the amount of player agency implied by such a system.

Not trying to speak for CCP but the other benefit of a sandbox, you don't have a bunch of maxed level characters standing around waiting for you to add 10 more levels which they will plow through in 48 hours. You don't have endless rants about end game content either. Sandboxes have their own set of rants, like "WHERE"S MY MOTHERSHIP FIXES YOU MOTHER…".

In a truly great sandbox, like EVE, you live in the game in a way. You don't wait for the game to tell you which next linear progression to accomplish, which you keep doing until the end and either A) you wait for more content; B) create a new toon and do it all again or C)play some PVP but with no real meaningful loss. This is OK though, I know many people that want to be lead down a path because they find it entertaining. The problem comes when they have reached the end of that path and have started over and done it 2 or 3 times.

Sandboxes can require real effort, which many people will find it to much like work. In Eve's case, people who watch the combat might think it's boring and/or spreadsheet-like but what they fail to understand is those two guys fighting is someone is going to loose real time and effort. Took some guy months to create his faction fitted ship only to have someone blow it up an hour after he got it, that is the thrill and/or fear you get every time you undock. Maybe someone rage quits over something like that but someone goes out and tells that glorious victory story which generates real enthusiasm for some and fear for others. In the end that story is not some fiction drafted buy some writer in a game studio but an actual story that unfolded between two real players, sandbox done well.

Myself, love EVE and play it daily but every once and a while I like the theme park so I turn to DDO for a few quests. Looking at DDO, I can clearly see my end game but in EVE I have no clue where and what I will be farther down the road.

Originally posted by Mithios

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by girlgeek

Absolutely.

And that is why I'm going to say something totally "unpopular" around these parts and that is....

I find sandbox games (the ones made post UO, anyway) to be completely and utterly boring. That's right...I said it...B O R I N G.  Because honestly, a sandbox, in my opinion, is only as good as the imagination of the collective group of people playing it. And I don't find that people, over all, have the active imaginations that they had back in the early days of UO. 

Granted, I haven't played Darkfall yet. I have avoided it because of the "other side" of my "gaming moodiness".....

However, the seeming lack of imagination isn't really the only thing that makes these games boring to me, but in the opposite direction, as I've gotten older, it has actually become less of a draw to me to log into a game that requires me to "work" to play it. I really don't want to have to think very hard anymore...on SOME days. Now I don't feel like that EVERY day, but some days....I'm just tired. And on those days...a game that "leads me" (like EQ2, LoTRO, WoW) sounds pretty darn good.

On days I have ENERGY....wandering around in Telon (Vanguard) with no particular agenda in mind, suits me fine.

And I rarely, if EVER...have enough energy for PvP any more. I just quite simply do not CARE about PvP.

Welcome to the forces of time and gravity, and a fully developed immunity to caffeine in any format.

I've only been playing three years, When should I expect Eve to become like that? You know when I need to "try to make my fun" in the game?

In a game with so many ways to play, In a game thats always changing, In a game that takes years to get a grasp of it fully (if ever) I don't see how anyone could "try to make eve fun".

There are people here that just don't get it and that's fine. To the rest of us Eve is as perfect as you can get.

The ultimate sandbox, the ultimate sci-fi mmo, our space opera.

Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?

Eve is a game that's built on pvp conflict, every feature in the game contributes to this, everyone matters because of this.

When you wander in Vanguard you don't matter at all, explorers in Eve do.

You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.

 

1. This is not a "pvp focused games thread", it's "Why love the sandbox thread".

2. Considering the nature of the this thread (as said in the title) it's about all things in general pertaining to a sandbox MMORPG.

3. This is a discussion forum, not a "metalhead980" get's to decide who's viewpoints are worthy of publication or recognition forum. Hint: That's what the user blogs are for. (pst..Those are kind of like personal forums that you can control..nifty huh?)

4. This thread was posted in the "General" forum, therefore it was not specifically targeted to only Eve players, but to anyone that has interest in the sandbox style of play. (Again, a general title that signifies the subject is broad and limitless).

5. There is no need to get personal (You quoted "Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?"). "girlgeek" didn't attack anyone, in any way say anything negative about anyone that enjoys PvP, flame or degrade anyone or anythnig pertaining to PvP, nor did she say that her "opinion" was absolute.

6. Everyone is different and has thier own ways of getting the same results. (You quoted "You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.")

Nonetheless, everyone is entitled to thier opinion, even if that opinion is fuled by personal tastes or emotional attatchment, or self employed arrogance rather than with an objective state of mind.

Next time read further down the thread to see if two individuals continued their conversation before you butt  your nose in defending someone like your their daddy.

I already apologized for mistaking this as a Eve topic thread. 

pay attention!

Originally posted by metalhead980

Originally posted by Mithios

 

1. This is not a "pvp focused games thread", it's "Why love the sandbox thread".

2. Considering the nature of the this thread (as said in the title) it's about all things in general pertaining to a sandbox MMORPG.

3. This is a discussion forum, not a "metalhead980" get's to decide who's viewpoints are worthy of publication or recognition forum. Hint: That's what the user blogs are for. (pst..Those are kind of like personal forums that you can control..nifty huh?)

4. This thread was posted in the "General" forum, therefore it was not specifically targeted to only Eve players, but to anyone that has interest in the sandbox style of play. (Again, a general title that signifies the subject is broad and limitless).

5. There is no need to get personal (You quoted "Oh and if you don't ever have the energy to pvp and don't care for pvp anyway, why are you in a pvp focused games thread?"). "girlgeek" didn't attack anyone, in any way say anything negative about anyone that enjoys PvP, flame or degrade anyone or anythnig pertaining to PvP, nor did she say that her "opinion" was absolute.

6. Everyone is different and has thier own ways of getting the same results. (You quoted "You say you don;t want to think when you come home? Well after my long days at the office I need a game that stimulates me or i'll fall asleep. Much like I did in Vanguard or any other pve focused themepark where you truely don't mean a thing.")

Nonetheless, everyone is entitled to thier opinion, even if that opinion is fuled by personal tastes or emotional attatchment, or self employed arrogance rather than with an objective state of mind.

Next time read further down the thread to see if two individuals continued their conversation before you butt  your nose in defending someone like your their daddy.

I already apologized for mistaking this as a Eve topic thread. 

pay attention!

I do apologize for the late and misplaced reply, though again you are making this personal by being demeaning. It seems I pay as much attention as you have good grammar skills. "Your" in the context that you used it in should have been You're"...as in "you are". But hey, We are only human.