Create a gigantic new continent with nothing on it except mines, herbs and wildlife. 

Allow players to construct castles, keeps, blacksmiths, houses etc, wherever they want except on steep ground (like in SWG or UO), every structure that was in the Warcraft RTS game. 

Allow players to hire NPC peons will gather materials automatically, or a player could mine at a faster rate, like in Warcraft RTS. 

Allow players to hire warriors, archers, mage NPC's to guard wherever they want them to guard like in Warcraft RTS.

Make everything cheap so it only takes about 1 player about 1 hour of grind time to build something moderately sized like a blacksmith.

Buff all player character HP/Armor/Mana/etc so they all equal the combat power of a level 85 character, although a level 1 characer won't have access to very many abilities.

Allow everything to be FFA PVP, and all player buildings are destructible and don't have a trillion hitpoints like in Eve Online.

You would have to disallow current characers from going to that continent at all. The only players on that continent would have to be players that were started there. I think you might as well just create a different game. Why would you want to use WoW graphics though?

EDIT:  Maybe they should add a third faction instead of FFA?

Originally posted by Palebane

You would have to disallow current characers from going to that continent at all. The only players on that continent would have to be players that were started there. I think you might as well just create a different game. Why would you want to use WoW graphics though? One hour to build a blacksmith?

Why would there be restrictions on current characters?

I think it would be cool, build a New Gnomerang for all gnome characters in zone X.  An all Gnome city, but we gnomes would have to defend it.

Dur SWG vet here. we already left our game for the new shiny Wow wayback when and made it a mega hit. Now we pay the price for our lack of vision with a plethora of thempark games pissin on new innovations that could have been if we had stuck it out.

Sandboxers to WoW? no dissrespect but that jusst wont work :P

Originally posted by MeDzZ

Sandboxers to WoW? no dissrespect but that jusst wont work :P

Why not? 

Bring the WAR back to warcraft.

Who said the sandboxers want to go to WoW?

Lol Wow is the reason they want to play sandboxes and not themeparcs :)

Originally posted by Nerf09

Originally posted by Palebane

You would have to disallow current characers from going to that continent at all. The only players on that continent would have to be players that were started there. I think you might as well just create a different game. Why would you want to use WoW graphics though? One hour to build a blacksmith?

Why would there be restrictions on current characters?

I think it would be cool, build a New Gnomerang for all gnome characters in zone X.  An all Gnome city, but we gnomes would have to defend it.

I suppose it could work if you were just making a hyper-Wintergrasp type contient, but sandbox progression and treadmill progression are much different, in my opinion. How would you account for all the current players' wealth from the old continents? Building wealth is fundamental to sandbox games and much more integral than in treadmill games, to me. I would hate to see all the raid guilds come and be able to smash everyone's cities in a matter of minutes.

Originally posted by Palebane

EDIT:  Maybe they should add a third faction instead of FFA?

Erm. 

Or how about make each race a faction on this continent, or allow players to join several sub-factions within each race.  2 factions isn't enough.

Defeats the purpose of a sandbox game if you aren't working for something through all the mining and gathering if everyone is buffed the exact same. Sand box isn't only about building houses and gathering.

Originally posted by Nerf09

Originally posted by Palebane

EDIT:  Maybe they should add a third faction instead of FFA?

Erm. 

Or how about make each race a faction on this continent, or allow players to join several sub-factions within each race.  2 factions isn't enough.

I've always liked racial factions. With some form of politics or diplomacy, that would be a neat idea.

Originally posted by Palebane

Originally posted by Nerf09

Originally posted by Palebane

You would have to disallow current characers from going to that continent at all. The only players on that continent would have to be players that were started there. I think you might as well just create a different game. Why would you want to use WoW graphics though? One hour to build a blacksmith?

Why would there be restrictions on current characters?

I think it would be cool, build a New Gnomerang for all gnome characters in zone X.  An all Gnome city, but we gnomes would have to defend it.

I suppose it could work if you were just making a hyper-Wintergrasp type contient, but sandbox progression and treadmill progression are much different, in my opinion. How would you account for all the current players' wealth from the old continents? Building wealth is fundamental to sandbox games and much more integral than in treadmill games, to me. I would hate to see all the raid guilds come and be able to smash everyone's cities in a matter of minutes.

One of the rules:  "Buff all player character HP/Armor/Mana/etc so they all equal the combat power of a level 85 character, although a level 1 characer won't have access to very many abilities."

One reason I don't like PVP at all in WOW cause of the level or equipment imballance which is massive.  There's still progression.  A mining character would be valuable, although not needed, an armorsmith would be valuable, they could make armor for NPC's, but not needed.  It's bringing RTS to WOW.  A level 85 character would be more valuable than a level 1 character, even though their armor, hitpoints, mana are exactly the same they have more skills, so there's still progression the power difference isn't on a galactic scale anymore.

Originally posted by Palebane

Originally posted by Nerf09

Originally posted by Palebane

EDIT:  Maybe they should add a third faction instead of FFA?

Erm. 

Or how about make each race a faction on this continent, or allow players to join several sub-factions within each race.  2 factions isn't enough.

I've always liked racial factions. With some form of politics or diplomacy, that would be a neat idea.

One reason I quit WOW is cause there were no all-Gnome guilds; and I was on a roleplaying server too, go figure.

wow doesnt have and sand and their missing the  *box*.   i like most themeparks also, but wow just sucks in my opnion and thats why i refuse to play and most of us. We like to stick to sandbox's because of the freedown we have and the indepth crafting it gives, with the perks of a dangerious world XD

Originally posted by deathlylink

Defeats the purpose of a sandbox game if you aren't working for something through all the mining and gathering if everyone is buffed the exact same. Sand box isn't only about building houses and gathering.

There would still be progression, see post above.

I should reply to the OP with something witty but intelligent. As this post has neither my only reply can be--

NO, just no

Originally posted by snoocky

Who said the sandboxers want to go to WoW?

Lol Wow is the reason they want to play sandboxes and not themeparcs :)

WOW would probably get another million subs, active subs, if they did this.  Sandboxers and anyone who likes RTS games would love it.

op!just add every feature you mentionned to wintergrasp the full mecanic is all there already and it is already empty!

Originally posted by fatboy21007

wow doesnt have and sand and their missing the  *box*.   i like most themeparks also, but wow just sucks in my opnion and thats why i refuse to play and most of us. We like to stick to sandbox's because of the freedown we have and the indepth crafting it gives, with the perks of a dangerious world XD

You're a blacksmith level 85 character and your guild has just built a Human castle in that zone over there, there are 50 NPC guards that need plate armor. 

Your friend in the guild is an enchanter, they can enchant those 50 NPC's weapons.

This would be far more sandbox than SWG or UO ever was.

Originally posted by drbaltazar

op!just add every feature you mentionned to wintergrasp the full mecanic is all there already and it is already empty!

Wintergrasp isn't big enough for half the server.  It doesn't have enough empty space.  In fact it is WAY too small for this idea.