SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
I read the OP's post three times and came away confused. I really got lost around the mob level part...I also don't see much sandbox in the original post. There seemed to be much focus on level, aggro etc and really nothing about player's actions and opportunities outside themepark elements. But to answer the question I think they CAN co exist.
Ah sorry that the thought process wasn't as coherent as I thought, I was in a rush, was on break at work. Essentially, that a themepark zones have a level range for each. Meaning only mobs within that level range will be located there. A sandbox world means that most of the time the mobs will scale with your level.
Originally posted by GeezerGamer Originally posted by DannyGlover SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
It didn't have progression hence the word elements
it had themed quest hubs with story progression, item rewards, titles, badges, etc.
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
wow now that was long & confusing but I kinda get what you mean, the only problem I have is that some people (not saying all) find it nice that when you advance you see new fantastic places & if you had already seen the whole map as you could travel it at any level maybe it wouldn't appeal to a rather large group of people ? as say I was level 20 (Names are just made up) I got bored so for 2 hours I played in stone valley then in Snake Mountains & progressed to change location every few hours or day or whatever & slowly worked my way up to level 80, now I have already seen the whole map so what's new ? personally I would feel rather bored just going over the same places for a 2nd time, or am I missing the point ?
No your not missing the point Mot. That is a legitimate question. Perhaps, there is a heirachy of mob types. As you level, the mobs types also scale and change their type. Sort of like a teir progression. I don't know. And I would agree that is a major concern for me as well because the world was originally designed for serveral alts to fully explore it. Also, maybe quests wouldn't be accessible in certian areas until the player as reached it's level requirment.
I think it can. And here is why. I have been pondering this for a long time. I am in favor of the themepark gameplay over sandbox gameplay, I do enjoy classes and the sense of progression as many players do. Last night a friend and I have had this conversation and we both came up with a solution regarding the world I have designed. Let me give you a brief summery of what it would consist of.
Think of an mmorpg world that is colossal in size, that is hosted on a single shard server and is seamless. I know what your thinking, how can this be possible, that's a whole other thread. Anyways, in the world, there are four different hubs for starting areas. If there are a lot a players within those four hubs and the zones are traditional themepark design, it could create massive server tension.
A themepark world has zones sectored off by a certian level range and a player will progress outward into the world. A sandbox world is free roaming where you are not constraned by your level. But how can themepark gameplay that relies on a linear sense of progression versus a free roaming world? I am old school EQ gamer and I like the gameplay philoshopy risk vs reward and the challenge that goes with it. Most MMO worlds don't give off that persona of danger to a player anymore. I would still like that to play a major factor.
The solution for themepark gameplay and a sandbox world is simply a mixture of both. The deciding factor is how the player will gain experience. Experience comes from many different forms, mobs, Bosses, quests, tasks, ect. Essentially, zones will not have a static level range. Most mobs will scale to the player and it's party to allow a player of any level range to free roam. However, to condition the world to be more dangerous, there would be static rare level spawns, roaming static level mobs, Bosses are static and dungeons are static. This way, that a player can freely raom and wander the wilderness as they please but yet still have that sense of danger.
What about the aggro issue? What if there are twenty level 30's in the and forty level 60-70 players in the Stone Forest? What will happen if a group of level 30's happen to engage mobs within a close vicinity of a group of level 60-70 players? Since that mob would say be a level 65 to scale to the group it would have a good chance of aggroing the level 30 group. When it is aggroed that mob will keep it's current level until the aggro is wiped by either a group wipe or the mob is dead.
I think the idea has some potential and would make gameplay different and interesting.
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
It didn't have progression
I have to disagree with that.
With the crafting system of pre-nge SWG, crafters were ALWAYS improving their materials and products. Same with suppliers.
Combat players were often going after super rare drops of component add ins (Krayt tissue, large set NS layer drops, etc) and the exceedingly infrequent rare weapon drops.
And there was a continual progression for space equipment.
As for actually "progressing your toon", the strength of the original SWG was the flexibility, i.e. 32+2 professions to mix and match, not build up points for talents or PVP buffs or some such thing. Although they could have done some of the latter, I suppose...
Edit: Oh and yes, I do think they could exist together, I think Arche Age is looking like its trying to do so.
Thanks for your comments, they did indeed help. At the very core of the game, it's designed for themepark gameplay. The only "sandbox" attribute I wanted to incorperate was the world and how players can travel in it. I was never really a fan nor did I play much sandbox titles, but I did not realize that areas are still somewhat restricted based on skill level.
SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
It didn't have progression
Yes it did... a dozen+ skill-classes to raise, both on ground and in space, as well as tiered mob patterns with it all leading to hunts on Dath and Dant (for the most part, as high lvl mobs existed everywhere). Crafting had a progression as well, as gear learned at the end of the craft-class usually trumped the rest - even with end-all resources used in a low-tier blaster vs crappy ones in a high-end one. The only thing that could throw off that balance was an uber-rare 'legendary' item... and they broke extremely quick.
Besides, progression and economics isn't what defines a sandbox vs themepark... it's DIRECTION.
A perfect hybrid would be a world with quest-strings and many dungeons, but absolutely no markers and very little enticement to actually go there - beyond NPC dialog telling you how awesome it would be if you could find it. Exploration is key to a sandbox, and most of all, ZERO reason to go there beyond a personal whim to do so. Rewards can be part of that, sure, but otherwise you head there of your own accord. It's what spaces out a community all across the globe, rather than have everyone meet in a bottleneck because the game told them to.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
It didn't have progression
I have to disagree with that.
With the crafting system of pre-nge SWG, crafters were ALWAYS improving their materials and products. Same with suppliers.
Combat players were often going after super rare drops of component add ins (Krayt tissue, large set NS layer drops, etc) and the exceedingly infrequent rare weapon drops.
And there was a continual progression for space equipment.
As for actually "progressing your toon", the strength of the original SWG was the flexibility, i.e. 32+2 professions to mix and match, not build up points for talents or PVP buffs or some such thing. Although they could have done some of the latter, I suppose...
When we are talking about theme park elements and progression, we (or at least I was) are specifically talking about Raiding and gear progression, this is different than the kind of preogression you find in a sandbox.
The issue is, how can you do dungeons and raids for improvements and yet still not have a negative impact on the game.
If it's not done right, you end up with a system like Anarchy Online. Where the economy is so borked people have to create free player accounts just to hold their tens of billions of credits because there are not enough sinks in the game.
Otherwise, it has a combination of both player crafted items and items that are dropeed from instances and world bosses.
It's essential for a healthy player economy in a sand box to not have to compete with raiding and dungeons
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
The thread title is, Can themepark gameplay coexist with a sandbox world?The design is based on themepark gameplay elements with a sandbox world. That is what I was trying to get at. There is no mention for pvp or pve. The vision was for PVE actually and was designed for players who favor themepark over sandbox. My motto i was using was, It's an adventure, not a grind. I was trying to omit the centeralized grinding. And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised.
SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
It didn't have progression
I have to disagree with that.
With the crafting system of pre-nge SWG, crafters were ALWAYS improving their materials and products. Same with suppliers.
Combat players were often going after super rare drops of component add ins (Krayt tissue, large set NS layer drops, etc) and the exceedingly infrequent rare weapon drops.
And there was a continual progression for space equipment.
As for actually "progressing your toon", the strength of the original SWG was the flexibility, i.e. 32+2 professions to mix and match, not build up points for talents or PVP buffs or some such thing. Although they could have done some of the latter, I suppose...
When we are talking about theme park elements and progression, we (or at least I was) are specifically talking about Raiding and gear progression, this is different than the kind of preogression you find in a sandbox.
The issue is, how can you do dungeons and raids for improvements and yet still not have a negative impact on the game.
If it's not done right, you end up with a system like Anarchy Online. Where the economy is so borked people have to create free player accounts just to hold their tens of billions of credits because there are not enough sinks in the game.
Otherwise, it has a combination of both player crafted items and items that are dropeed from instances and world bosses.
It's essential for a healthy player economy in a sand box to not have to compete with raiding and dungeons
Well, one of the very few things that later SWG did well was have some "raid loot" be in the form of schematics that needed to be crafted by the appropriate crafter. ( Or even before in the original game, when the main reward from the "Corellian Corvette" instance needed to be crafted.) Which is one way to do it...
That said, by that time, the economy was so far gone because decay was removed from the game (no "need" to replace any item, ever), credit farming was officially sanctioned by SOE, and credits could "legally" be bought, it made no difference.
The true failure of SWG was in the mismanagment and lack of vision by SOE. Many of the things that people are asking for in Sandbox/Sandpark MMO play now were there in the original SWG, only never fully realized because of botched priorites and lack of focus.
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
The thread title is, Can themepark gameplay coexist with a sandbox world? The design is based on themepark gameplay elements with a sandbox world. That is what I was trying to get at. There is no mention for pvp or pve. The vision was for PVE actually and was designed for players who favor themepark over sandbox. My motto i was using was, It's an adventure, not a grind. I was trying to omit the centeralized grinding. And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised.
"And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised" lol I love that XD how much of a great way to look at it lol, its so true yet most people don't realise it ;P
The thread title is, Can themepark gameplay coexist with a sandbox world?The design is based on themepark gameplay elements with a sandbox world. That is what I was trying to get at. There is no mention for pvp or pve. The vision was for PVE actually and was designed for players who favor themepark over sandbox. My motto i was using was, It's an adventure, not a grind. I was trying to omit the centeralized grinding. And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised.
I guess you better not use the word "sandbox" then. "Sandbox" has a specific meaning and it's never a good idea to use an established description for something entirely different. From your OP I got the impression that you want a themepark with a more open world and level scaling mobs. I think that's about it or am I missing something?
Can such a thing exist? Why not? But why is it better than any other themepark design?
(Just for the record, personally, I'm no fan of themeparks and no fan of level scaling mobs.)
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I've said this many times on this forum but here goes again... There are no 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' games and there never has been. These are ideals on opposite ends of a very broad spectrum. All current and past MMOs fall in the middle somewhere. Some fall closer to one end or the other and they are considered to be 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' but in reality they are all hybrids of both concepts.
I do however see your point OP and the good news is they are working on such a game right now in Korea. If it's half of what they claim it will be ArcheAge may be the perfect hybrid a lot of us have been waiting for. It has the direction of a Thempark with all of the freedom and world building of a sandbox in a fully realized open world. I know I'm watching it's development very closely for this very reason. What they have shown so far is truly amazing.
I've said this many times on this forum but here goes again... There are no 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' games and there never has been. These are ideals on opposite ends of a very broad spectrum. All current and past MMOs fall in the middle somewhere. Some fall closer to one end or the other and they are considered to be 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' but in reality they are all hybrids of both concepts.
I do however see your point OP and the good news is they are working on such a game right now in Korea. If it's half of what they claim it will be ArcheAge may be the perfect hybrid a lot of us have been waiting for. It has the direction of a Thempark with all of the freedom and world building of a sandbox in a fully realized open world. I know I'm watching it's development very closely for this very reason. What they have shown so far is truly amazing.
Bren
I will not be anticipating this game until they announce a publisher for NA. Otherwise...Yeah
Originally posted by Brenelael I've said this many times on this forum but here goes again... There are no 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' games and there never has been. These are ideals on opposite ends of a very broad spectrum. All current and past MMOs fall in the middle somewhere. Some fall closer to one end or the other and they are considered to be 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' but in reality they are all hybrids of both concepts.
I do however see your point OP and the good news is they are working on such a game right now in Korea. If it's half of what they claim it will be ArcheAge may be the perfect hybrid a lot of us have been waiting for. It has the direction of a Thempark with all of the freedom and world building of a sandbox in a fully realized open world. I know I'm watching it's development very closely for this very reason. What they have shown so far is truly amazing.
Bren
I disagree. I think you are taking the themepark sandbox terms too literally. Carl Sagan said it best: If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. There are tons of well defined sandbox and themepark games out there. As well as hybrids inbetween.
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
The thread title is, Can themepark gameplay coexist with a sandbox world?The design is based on themepark gameplay elements with a sandbox world. That is what I was trying to get at. There is no mention for pvp or pve. The vision was for PVE actually and was designed for players who favor themepark over sandbox. My motto i was using was, It's an adventure, not a grind. I was trying to omit the centeralized grinding. And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised.
I see now sorry totally misunderstood the question. Also thought you were speaking hypothetically not that you were creating something specific. Maybe the question should be your motto: How to make a themepark less of a grind and more of an adventure (that's kind of the Million Dollar Question btw :P ). I'm not sure changing the one element you suggested in your original post is going have the effect you want. I would think it would depend on the rest of your games mechanics, progression etc.
Strangely enough ArcheAge didnt actually draw me in or atleast what I have seen of it didnt, the races seemed quit generic, the classes seems very uninventive aswell & the area's seemed very Elder scroll gone MMO :P but hey thats just my opion
I am not really sure what themepark gameplay is. Is it gear treadmill? Is it kill 10 wolves? 40 man raids? Most sandbox gamers I know aren't a big fan of these themepark elements. Now if by themepark elements you just mean character progression in form of gaining xp and gaining levels, then I could see that combined with a sandbox. But keep the first three out of a sandbox game if you want to be successful. Sandbox gamers want to mold and shape a world, they don't want to do repetitive tasks for food pellets.
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
Maybe, but luckily there are sandbox lovers who hate pvp.
Maybe, but luckily there are sandbox lovers who hate pvp.
I don't really get it. What is the point of a sandbox without pvp? You could just play a single player sandbox type game if you don't want to compete against other players.
Maybe, but luckily there are sandbox lovers who hate pvp.
I don't really get it. What is the point of a sandbox without pvp? You could just play a single player sandbox type game if you don't want to compete against other players.
True :S maybe there are a few people that dont want to compete but have friends they want to talk to on the game hence why they play a MMO sandbox not a normal sandbox ? I dno :S
Comments
SWG mixed both elements pre-NGE and it worked out fine
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
It didn't have progression
Ah sorry that the thought process wasn't as coherent as I thought, I was in a rush, was on break at work. Essentially, that a themepark zones have a level range for each. Meaning only mobs within that level range will be located there. A sandbox world means that most of the time the mobs will scale with your level.
hence the word elements
it had themed quest hubs with story progression, item rewards, titles, badges, etc.
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
No your not missing the point Mot. That is a legitimate question. Perhaps, there is a heirachy of mob types. As you level, the mobs types also scale and change their type. Sort of like a teir progression. I don't know. And I would agree that is a major concern for me as well because the world was originally designed for serveral alts to fully explore it. Also, maybe quests wouldn't be accessible in certian areas until the player as reached it's level requirment.
ok, I see you have given this some thought, but I have not seen anything in your post about PvP. Without PvP many sandbox lovers will not play, with PvP many themepark lovers will not play. And please arena/instanced pvp is just wrong, as far as I am concerned. I am a player who likes what Shadowbane and EVE offered - FEAR. Your game does not seem to offer that kind of fear, the knowing that there is a player around out toget your stuff. If you included it and I just do not see it then I apologise . Also I would rather play a game now that offers advancement through your actual actions not grinding and doing kill 10 rat type quests. Don't mind me though, I'm just a lover of sandbox games, second class MMO type.
Currently bored with MMO's.
Quest grinding sandbox? No thanks.
I have to disagree with that.
With the crafting system of pre-nge SWG, crafters were ALWAYS improving their materials and products. Same with suppliers.
Combat players were often going after super rare drops of component add ins (Krayt tissue, large set NS layer drops, etc) and the exceedingly infrequent rare weapon drops.
And there was a continual progression for space equipment.
As for actually "progressing your toon", the strength of the original SWG was the flexibility, i.e. 32+2 professions to mix and match, not build up points for talents or PVP buffs or some such thing. Although they could have done some of the latter, I suppose...
Thanks for your comments, they did indeed help. At the very core of the game, it's designed for themepark gameplay. The only "sandbox" attribute I wanted to incorperate was the world and how players can travel in it. I was never really a fan nor did I play much sandbox titles, but I did not realize that areas are still somewhat restricted based on skill level.
Perhaps you shouldn't assume on something you know very little about the inititial design :P
Yes it did... a dozen+ skill-classes to raise, both on ground and in space, as well as tiered mob patterns with it all leading to hunts on Dath and Dant (for the most part, as high lvl mobs existed everywhere). Crafting had a progression as well, as gear learned at the end of the craft-class usually trumped the rest - even with end-all resources used in a low-tier blaster vs crappy ones in a high-end one. The only thing that could throw off that balance was an uber-rare 'legendary' item... and they broke extremely quick.
Besides, progression and economics isn't what defines a sandbox vs themepark... it's DIRECTION.
A perfect hybrid would be a world with quest-strings and many dungeons, but absolutely no markers and very little enticement to actually go there - beyond NPC dialog telling you how awesome it would be if you could find it. Exploration is key to a sandbox, and most of all, ZERO reason to go there beyond a personal whim to do so. Rewards can be part of that, sure, but otherwise you head there of your own accord. It's what spaces out a community all across the globe, rather than have everyone meet in a bottleneck because the game told them to.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
When we are talking about theme park elements and progression, we (or at least I was) are specifically talking about Raiding and gear progression, this is different than the kind of preogression you find in a sandbox.
The issue is, how can you do dungeons and raids for improvements and yet still not have a negative impact on the game.
If it's not done right, you end up with a system like Anarchy Online. Where the economy is so borked people have to create free player accounts just to hold their tens of billions of credits because there are not enough sinks in the game.
Otherwise, it has a combination of both player crafted items and items that are dropeed from instances and world bosses.
It's essential for a healthy player economy in a sand box to not have to compete with raiding and dungeons
The thread title is, Can themepark gameplay coexist with a sandbox world? The design is based on themepark gameplay elements with a sandbox world. That is what I was trying to get at. There is no mention for pvp or pve. The vision was for PVE actually and was designed for players who favor themepark over sandbox. My motto i was using was, It's an adventure, not a grind. I was trying to omit the centeralized grinding. And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised.
Well, one of the very few things that later SWG did well was have some "raid loot" be in the form of schematics that needed to be crafted by the appropriate crafter. ( Or even before in the original game, when the main reward from the "Corellian Corvette" instance needed to be crafted.) Which is one way to do it...
That said, by that time, the economy was so far gone because decay was removed from the game (no "need" to replace any item, ever), credit farming was officially sanctioned by SOE, and credits could "legally" be bought, it made no difference.
The true failure of SWG was in the mismanagment and lack of vision by SOE. Many of the things that people are asking for in Sandbox/Sandpark MMO play now were there in the original SWG, only never fully realized because of botched priorites and lack of focus.
"And by the way all mmorpgs will have a grind in them, It's how well the grind is disguised" lol I love that XD how much of a great way to look at it lol, its so true yet most people don't realise it ;P
I guess you better not use the word "sandbox" then. "Sandbox" has a specific meaning and it's never a good idea to use an established description for something entirely different. From your OP I got the impression that you want a themepark with a more open world and level scaling mobs. I think that's about it or am I missing something?
Can such a thing exist? Why not? But why is it better than any other themepark design?
(Just for the record, personally, I'm no fan of themeparks and no fan of level scaling mobs.)
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I've said this many times on this forum but here goes again... There are no 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' games and there never has been. These are ideals on opposite ends of a very broad spectrum. All current and past MMOs fall in the middle somewhere. Some fall closer to one end or the other and they are considered to be 'Themepark' or 'Sandbox' but in reality they are all hybrids of both concepts.
I do however see your point OP and the good news is they are working on such a game right now in Korea. If it's half of what they claim it will be ArcheAge may be the perfect hybrid a lot of us have been waiting for. It has the direction of a Thempark with all of the freedom and world building of a sandbox in a fully realized open world. I know I'm watching it's development very closely for this very reason. What they have shown so far is truly amazing.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
I will not be anticipating this game until they announce a publisher for NA. Otherwise...Yeah
I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
I see now sorry totally misunderstood the question. Also thought you were speaking hypothetically not that you were creating something specific. Maybe the question should be your motto: How to make a themepark less of a grind and more of an adventure (that's kind of the Million Dollar Question btw :P ). I'm not sure changing the one element you suggested in your original post is going have the effect you want. I would think it would depend on the rest of your games mechanics, progression etc.
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
Strangely enough ArcheAge didnt actually draw me in or atleast what I have seen of it didnt, the races seemed quit generic, the classes seems very uninventive aswell & the area's seemed very Elder scroll gone MMO :P but hey thats just my opion
I am not really sure what themepark gameplay is. Is it gear treadmill? Is it kill 10 wolves? 40 man raids? Most sandbox gamers I know aren't a big fan of these themepark elements. Now if by themepark elements you just mean character progression in form of gaining xp and gaining levels, then I could see that combined with a sandbox. But keep the first three out of a sandbox game if you want to be successful. Sandbox gamers want to mold and shape a world, they don't want to do repetitive tasks for food pellets.
Maybe, but luckily there are sandbox lovers who hate pvp.
I don't really get it. What is the point of a sandbox without pvp? You could just play a single player sandbox type game if you don't want to compete against other players.
True :S maybe there are a few people that dont want to compete but have friends they want to talk to on the game hence why they play a MMO sandbox not a normal sandbox ? I dno :S