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Is it sandbox?
Yrael
Member Posts: 9
in Everquest II
Bear*(Edit:not bare. Me clevar) with me. I might sound like another dick lost in nostalgia, but that's me. I love sandboxing in MMORPGs. Probably the reason I played uo on and off for years, on freeservers. Same goes for EQ, actually, when it was newish. The fact that you could (to copy a recent blog) fall off a ship and find an island that you'd never discover otherwise, places that weren't there just for levelling purposes. I'm not exactly expecting a game to rival the sandbox potential of UO, or even EQ, but is there still a hint of that floating around, or is it just the world as a place to level?
Comments
It is very much sandbox. You will be happy with it.
I don't consider EQ2 as a sandbox game. It may be non-linear level paths, but that's mostly due to the shear amount of content EQ2 has.
The newest game that I do consider as a sandbox game are Vanguard.
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Leemeg.
EQ2 is not a sand box. Sure you can choose different areas to level in and different quests to do but it's not a sand box. You are stuck in the same old, same old leveling treadmill. Crafting is good but still based on leveling. End game is also based on raiding in EQ2.
Also Vangaurd is not a sand box either. Vangaurd is a game that is missing content because it was shipped incomplete and broken. It still depends on the same old leveling system and eventual raid = end game syndrome that effects all linear level and class based MMO's.
True sand box MMO's are Saga of Ryzom or EVE Online. In a sand box game you don't have levels to grind, or linear content that all leads down the same path ie..raiding as the top primer form of end game content.
Games I've played/tried out:WAR, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC, EQ1, EQ2, WoW, Vangaurd, FFXI, D&DO, Lineage 2, Saga Of Ryzom, EvE Online, DAoC, Guild Wars,Star Wars Galaxies, Hell Gate London, Auto Assault, Grando Espada ( AKA SoTNW ), Archlord, CoV/H, Star Trek Online, APB, Champions Online, FFXIV, Rift Online, GW2.
Game(s) I Am Currently Playing:
GW2 (+LoL and BF3)
If I a mistaken, please correct. I did not reread the original post, and I do not know if it is was edited.
I believe s/he was asking whether it was sandbox in the sense of EQ 1, which I think it is.
Everything in EQ2 is instanced and mapped out. There is nothing to explore in the boundaries of the instance zone you are in. Zones in EQ2 exist for leveling purposes be it pve or crafting.
His view of EQ1 is nostalgia IMHO. Early EQ1 was not as content rich as it was once the expansions started rolling out. Thus from what I know you could explore many areas if you could avoid aggro from random high level mobs.
Games I've played/tried out:WAR, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC, EQ1, EQ2, WoW, Vangaurd, FFXI, D&DO, Lineage 2, Saga Of Ryzom, EvE Online, DAoC, Guild Wars,Star Wars Galaxies, Hell Gate London, Auto Assault, Grando Espada ( AKA SoTNW ), Archlord, CoV/H, Star Trek Online, APB, Champions Online, FFXIV, Rift Online, GW2.
Game(s) I Am Currently Playing:
GW2 (+LoL and BF3)
oh, definitely. A large variety of dungeons, environmental Quests, and things to do for advancement. I turn off my experience because I like to experience the game more. I find it that fun.
I hope that is what you mean. You can also grind in a variety of dungeons if you want to as well to level. I think most people, but not all tend to complete Quests in one area and move on to a next.
You have small group, even solo, and full group dungeons. A lot of stuff to do if that is what you like. I think you would like the game, to be honest; it is why I confidently recommend it for you and others.
Oh man, anyone who claims EQ2 is a sandbox is either lying to get you to play it or clueless what a sandbox game truly is. EQ2 locks players into well defined classes and limits what each class can do. The game progression is based on linear quests and level based combat. EQ2 is not a sandbox game.
From Wiki:
A sandbox-style video game (or a video game with an optional sandbox mode) is a video game with an open-ended and non-linear style of gameplay, or a mode of gameplay within a game that is more often played in a goal-directed manner. The sandbox analogy is used to describe this style of gaming because, as with a physical sandbox, the user is simply allowed to do what he or she wishes (with the available game elements and within the limitations of the game engine - the metaphoric toys within, and boundaries of, the sandbox). This free-form experimentation is either an end unto itself - in contrast to competing models of gaming - or is a variant modality that has no effect on more traditional or usual play of the same game, such as scores, game level advancement milestones, player rankings etc. Just as a real-world sandbox can be smoothed out and resculpted again and again, so the sandbox game or game mode can be played and explored repeatedly without a linear "plot" or a particular set of expectations, nor any lasting game-play consequences.
Several computer role-playing games can be qualified as sandbox games, as they allow the player to explore the adventure world at their own pace, returning to previous areas to gain additional benefits and rewards.
I am not going to engage into a discussion whether EQ 2 is a sandbox as Wikipedia, or another source, defines it. I think s/he was asking if the world is open, has many options, and is non-linear in the sense that EQ 1 was.
I think the answer to that question, as some one who played EQ 1 for nearly 8 years is yes. Feel free to quote wikipedia or any other source, but I think that does not answer the Original Poster's question about a non-linear, open world, with many and varied options to advance one's character.
EQ2 is as far from sandbox as a MMORPG could possibly be.
REALITY CHECK
I know i will sound kind of stupid, but i have read so many times the term "sandbox" in online games and i still can't understand what it means. I know UO is a sandbox game cause many people say it, but i dont know the concept of a sandbox game,so i can't understand if EQ2 is or is not can anybody please explain it to me? thanks
It is how I feel, and I have been playing for several years. I think many people have a strict concept of what "sandbox" is. I do not. Moreover, I consider a game "sandbox" if it is a large world that offers options to experience the game.
If there is a standard or a specific set of criteria for a game to be a "sandbox" game, it makes little to no difference to me. I just play to have fun and let the chips fall where they may on this issue.
Simply said its nonlinear. You can are not limited by anything. You can go out of town, build up a bandit lair with a couple of friends, and rob people traveling around.
REALITY CHECK
(And incidently, I spent entirely too much time in UO stealthing along roads and popping out to say "Money or your life, dear?". Much more fun than just slaughtering people.) Anyway, thank you. right now, it's busily installing. I bought it when it came out, just never played it. What on earth were they thinking, ten cds?
Agreed its in noway a sandbox game but it just has masses of content that would make most MMO's blush so you really dont feel like your being forced down a linear path to level.
This game is in no way a sandbox. EQ2 is not a sandbox. Eq2 isnt even close to being a sandbox game. But the game is still fun. I just wont play because SOE runs the game and they will ruin it. They already did with that ingame card game. BUying itiems ect.
bars+girls+no condoms= babies