Sandbox/ Theme Park??

Cynic7

Could someone please explain briefly what is meant by a 'sandbox game' or a 'theme park' game. I'm just having a bit of trouble keeping up with the jargon???

JC-Smith

Theme Parks games offer a guided experience that is similar to other players of your class/race in general. If you start as a Goblin Warrior in WoW, your experience will probably be very similar to other goblin warriors. You'll do the same quests, go through roughly the same zones, etc. Theme parks generally opt for tight focused content, that is usually (but not necessarily) combat driven. Examples include: Everquest, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Lord of the Rings Online.

Sandbox games are more of an open-ended experience. Much of the content is player driven or generated. Typically sandboxes also have a variety of non-combat options which allow players to enjoy the game within being forced into combat. These games usually have a less guided approach to gameplay. Examples include: Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Eve Online.

RefMinor

Basically they are like the names suggest.

 

A theme park has lots of rides for you to go on but you can only go on the available rides so choices are limited.

 

A Sandbox is a pit filled with sand and some tools that the players turn into a world through their actions and imaginations which are less limited.

KwayZee

You can make anything in a sandbox =D.

 

If you get on a roller coaster at a theme park, you have to ride that ride.

Toferio

There is such a thread popping up every other week.. little google goes long way, and probably less biased definition too

KenFisher

In a loose form:

 

Themepark is developer provided content where the world, activity, and storyline is created by the developer for people to play through.  Closest parallel is a "you play it" movie.

 

Sandbox is player provided content.  The developer creates a world and provides tools to interact with it, and from there on the player is left to play and interact as they see fit.  Closest parallel is a virtual world.

 

 

arcanist

I'll try to explain in more depth. [i'll be as nautral as I can be I am a bit biased, so just ignore some things]

Themepark
Pretty much a game that that has a linear progresion. This is ussually in the form of levels. Veriety is limited bytween a few classesss and alternate progression paths. Common features [rides] are questing, dungeons, etc.

Problems in my opinion is that you have a imited choice in how you want to differ in roles, leveling is linear forcing players to rush to engame,crafting isnt given any importance, etc.

Sandbox
A game that allows you to choose what you want to do. If you want to craft without combat, or just plain explore. A non mmo example would be minecraft. There is limited progression in the form of wood, iron,diamons, obsidian, etc. But generally you can decide whether you want to be a nomadic explorer, build giant monuments, just mine and ccollect ores, create advanced mechanisms etc.

problems in my opinion are that most sandboxes are underfunded pieces o griefer ridden cheaps...t in great need of a bug exterminator. The best ones such as eve are just not everyones idea of fun. Full loot, ffa pvp is a major problem, etc.

my opinion
themepak: a cross between prison and slavery

sandbox: one well designed liked minecraft would be the best mmo I've seen. That said it doesnt look like its going to happen.

Azrile

Besides EVE and UO, there are no real sandbox games.   It is a term that is thrown around without a lot of people having ever experienced it.   The best way to explain it is like this

1.  In WOW, when you create a character, there is an NPC standing in front of you giving you a quest to go do something.  You do that, and get another quest.. you do that and get another quest... and that continues for the next 85 levels.  Each quest is designed to be a little challenging for your character.  

2.  In a sandbox game, when you create a character, you might get a little tutorial on the interface and basics, but after you aren´t really ´directed´anywhere.

There are two problems with the view of most people on this forum.  The first is that while UO was successful back 10 years ago as a sandbox, gamers have matured since then and want actual content, not just a world filled with random monsters that you hunt for no real reason.

The other things is that games like WOW, which are considered the ULTIMATE themepark games.. can be played as a sandbox.  Simply don´t take any quests.  Run off into the wilderness and kill whatever mob you want.   You can kill 10 boars because someone asked you to bring them 10 boar livers, or you can kill 10 boars just to kill 10 boars.

The real difference is that themeparks will direct you to mobs that are appropriate for your current power level.  In sandboxes like UO,  5 minutes after creating a character I could be charging in and getting owned by dragons.

The word ´sandbox´ right now is used as kinda an ´anti-wow´ thing.  Basically a lot of people hate WOW because of it´s success, so if wow is considered a themepark, then those people long for a sandbox game.

The fact is, most MMO players today would be bored to death playing a sandbox game like UO was 10 years ago.  It was cool at the time because it was all we had.

Creslin321

Lol so it looks like the OP has gotten some biased definitions from both sandbox and theme park hard liners .



Anyway OP, you must have gathered by now that no one exactly agrees on the definition of either sub-genre. The only definition I can give is a very basic one that both sides seem to agree on.



Theme parks are about a DEVELOPER driven experience.



Sandboxes are about a PLAYER driven experience.



In other words, in a theme park the devs create stuff for the players to do. In a sandbox, the devs provide the players tools and a world, and the players make up their own experience.



The one question that I ask though, is why must these two concepts be separate? Why can't you have a game with both developer created content and player created content?