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Take these games and rank them on how much of a sandbox they are:
UO
Eve
Minecraft - 1,000 player server
WoW
EQ1
Second Life
SWG
Not trying to make a statement about which game is better. I'm exploring what the term 'sandbox' means to people. Like everyone else, I have my own definition but I'm sure yours is different.
Minecraft does have 1000+ player servers, chat and monsters to kill. If it doesn't fit your definition of an MMO just pretend it does for this post.
Comments
Minecraft - 1,000 player server
Second Life
UO
SWG
Eve
EQ1
WoW
SWG/EVE /2nd life/- 1 - Most Sand box of the games listed (mine craft as well but meh...seriously)
EQ1/UO - Sand box for sure but not as open as the above.
WoW - Not a sand box at all.
Of course, this is just my opinion, I am sure others will disagree.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
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Are there 1000 player minecraft servers ? i must admit its been a good few months since i played it last but from what i remember back then the largest was around 250 players.
Anyway
Minecraft - if servers that size exist
Second life - remember you can basically do anything you want in this game
Eve
UO
SWG
Wow and eq1 should not be in this list.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
Only sandbox in your list :
1. Minecraft
The rest might have some sandboxy features, except for WoW. So that list would go something like this :
Second Life
UO, SWG
EVE
(EQ1)
(WoW)
EDIT : Op is talking about sandbox, not sandbox MMO. It makes no sense for a sandbox to have a player amount requirement,
You what.. have you seen what can be done in Second life
Also what makes minecraft more of a sandbox than UO, SWG,EVE games where you can craft anything that is in the game, build buildings, territory control and so on.. they might be a different type of sandbox but they are sandox games.
yes your right he didn't mention MMOs
Major difference between Second Life and Minecraft is that you can modify Minecraft in any way possible. With Second Life you have more restrictions for that.
Most ppl only know vanilla Minecraft, but the moment you take bukkit plugins and mods for the client into account, the sandbox part of Minecraft becomes limitless. This is also why I see it as the only sandbox in the OP's list.
SWG and UO had very limited player generated content options. Roleplaying is not a sandbox feature. That is just making up without being able to create the props to support it. You can do the same in a chat client.
I don't see what there is sandbox about EVE? I really liked the PVP in that game, but being able to attack anyone is just one of the many possible sandbox features.
Uo
Eve
Swg
EQ not a sandbox
Wow not a sandbox
Haven't played second life
To add a few more games to the list
Uo - sb
Eve - sb
Swg - sb
DF - sb
Ac - hybrid
Daoc - tp
EQ - tp
Eq2 - tp
Gw2 - tp
War - tp
Wow - tp
Coh - tp
Tsw - tp
Swtor - tp
Neverwinter - tp
Minecraft
Second Life
Other Stuff
WoW
I can't really comment too much on the other stuff because I haven't played the other stuff. I would assume that Eve is up there just under Second Life, but it could be like Skyrim and mostly have an open world, with less sandbox that what I consider sandbox.
** ** **
I have played UO, but not enough to give a good commentary on how sandboxy it is.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Second life is a game all about mods and nothing else.. nearly everything you see in that game is player generated from the different areas to the different type of combat, weapons building, vehicles, dildos whatever its all something that players have made. That includes people crating stuff in 3rd party programs and importing it in or using the in game tools.. just take a look at the SL script wiki.. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal people basically program everything themselves as well using the SL script language..
As for player generated content in SWG and UO.. i cant really comment on UO as i didn't play it that much but in SWG you could build hoses small or big, a guild could build a city basically where you wanted, all items where craftable and different from one another due to the different quality levels of resources and so on.. plus there was much more to it. Yes you might have been limited to pre-designed buildings but that was it.
You don't see what is sandbox about eve?
Full on player driven economy, very in-depth crafting system, can build ships, space stations, own planets, control sections of space, no set path to follow your free to do what you want.. its a sandbox game.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
Yah, Wurm would've been a good one to include. I didn't think of it. Darkfall too.