Originally posted by fat_taddler

My first MMO was a sandbox and ever since the Themepark style games took over the genre, I've been hoping that  we'd see the return of AAA sandbox titles.  

Now that we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,  I honestly don't think I'd be able to carve out enough time these days to really enjoy a sandbox style game.

Most of my buddies seem to be in the same boat which begs the question, are there enough people with the time (and patience) to make the possible resurgence of sandbox style games successful?

 

If you think Sandbox game will devour your life like the old ones did, it means your idea about good sandbox game stays just like 10 years ago.

Plus, themeparks also devour life as much as typical sandbox-claiming-but failed-to-be-one games do.

Originally posted by fat_taddler

My first MMO was a sandbox and ever since the Themepark style games took over the genre, I've been hoping that  we'd see the return of AAA sandbox titles.  

Now that we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,  I honestly don't think I'd be able to carve out enough time these days to really enjoy a sandbox style game.

Most of my buddies seem to be in the same boat which begs the question, are there enough people with the time (and patience) to make the possible resurgence of sandbox style games successful?

 

Yes and no.  I've been playing mmorpg's for the past 12-13 years and yes my time now is little compared to the days when I was in highschool playing 2d games online.  But in the same sense I do have time inbetween my responsibilites as an adult, school, and relationship to devout some time to a truly great sandbox when it emerges.

Originally posted by fat_taddler

My first MMO was a sandbox and ever since the Themepark style games took over the genre, I've been hoping that  we'd see the return of AAA sandbox titles.  

Now that we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,  I honestly don't think I'd be able to carve out enough time these days to really enjoy a sandbox style game.

Most of my buddies seem to be in the same boat which begs the question, are there enough people with the time (and patience) to make the possible resurgence of sandbox style games successful?

 

First of all, having a mindset that you dont have enough time to play a sandbox is wrong imo. In theme parks you need a set minimum time to stay aboard the ride with minimum gear level requirements for raids and such, with minimum PvP sets and such.

On the other hand, in sandbox you are not supposed to stay in some arbitary gear race, but instead do what you want and what you like. Just look at EVE, it works for old players, new players, you can do what you want in it, and it does not require a set amount of time.

Wanna be a miner? Do the industry tutorial and you get your mining frigate and then you start building towards exhumers, no artificial time limits involved. Want to PvP or faction warfare? Train for jamming frigates and get in PvP in your first week while starting to train for bigger ships and skills of your interest. Want to be a trader? Make a few ISK and throw your self on the market the very first day, while grabbing a cargo ship from business tutorial. Explorers get the same treatment and explorers actually have their very own game mechanics too which is awesome. Or if you want to grind basic missions the basic quest grind style, that's very possible too and actually quite fun at first at least, imo.

Compare that to a themepark game where you always have to do the level grind, then some more, grind in instances to get to harder instances to get to raids and then grind raids to be able to stay in them, because that's the goal set for you before you even start the game. A lot more mandatory time involved.

Originally posted by Aviggin

Originally posted by IIIcurrier

Originally posted by Fearum
Most people just use a macro or some form of self botting anyway to level in sandbox games so you really don't need time.

 

This is pretty ignorant, it is actually much easier to macro themepark games as enviroments never change, the massive quest lines and hubs that are always the same. [mod edit]

Hmm.. my friends have been playing Asheron's Call 1 for over 10 years now, and the only way they level is through macros, and have been for like 6-7 of those years. For some reason, it doesn't get old to them. The leveling in Asheron's Call is in no way fun after a point, but with macros they can get to max level in  a few weeks, so it gets the job done. A LOT of people macro in AC, and it's a sandbox. Not everyone does, but the majority of that game is macroers.

If you resort to macroing to level up as fast as posible in a sandbox game that means that the journey is boring and that it's all about the endgame and a good sandbox should be all about the journey, imo... so Asheron's Call failed in that department.

They should just do it as Guild Wars 1 did it and make it possible to create a max level character thats PvP only or something similar to that.