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So is ESO a sandbox or it is just another stupid theme park but with TES lore
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Its a Sandy Themepark basically there is a overlaying storyline in process along with multiple shorter sub plot storylines alongside them is a world to explore with other story lines to discover.
So think of a sand box with a bouncy castle in the middle with lots of spades and buckets lieing around along with some slides and a swing set. Lots of things to do some more free form than others.
Hell you can't even get out of the starter areas without doing the main quest, unless you befriend someone that can port you to one of the non starter zones - who themselves would have completed the main quest up to that point to get there. By the time you get to a place where you can start to actually explore you're all ready 2/5ths from max level.
We don't even know the max level yet? the level15 was the max level of the beta...
Since they said something about 400 hours gameplay, i'm curious about what you said
lol...I don't think you even played it and how would you know what you can and can't do at 50? Everyone has their own definition of what a sandbox game is and if it doesn't match yours it doesn't mean it's wrong.
OP: If you want to know, get a beta key during the next test and find out for yourself. That is the best way to know if you will like this game or not. Asking on here isn't going to accomplish anything unless your trolling.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
As of right now 50 is the max level. We've known this for some time.
Oh I beta'd it...but I litereally had to force myself to. The whole prophet crap at the beginning was about as lame as it gets.
When you hit level 50 you have only seen probably 25/30% of the game world, if you haven't done PvP.
When you hit 50 you have two areas the same size as your faction area to go and explore in any direction you want to. You CAN make it linear following the main story, like you can play Skyrim like that.
That's my understanding after reading about the game. I'll have to wait and play to see if it's true.
EDIT: I'm not trying to make ESO a sound like a sandbox game. Like someone else mentioned ES games are not sandbox. Going anywhere in the game world is not a sandbox element IMO.
Seriously? This is quite stretching the definition of sandbox here. It would make WoW and EQ2 a sandbox for that same reason. Lots of non mandatory subquests in those games too. And probably a lot more MMO's if it comes to that. Actually reasoning like that, you would maybe end up with more sandbox MMO's then themepark MMO's.
There is nothing sandbox about it, except partially in the rvr. I'm surprised there is still so much confusion on what sandbox means. Simply, a sandbox is players creating their own content.
The two intro zones take 4-5 hours, the main zones will take anywhere from 50 to 200+ hours. The game is no sandbox, but they are certainly avoiding making a generic theme park or Wow clone unlike most other mainstream MMOs. I don't particuarly blame them, making an AAA game with a true sandbox design would be a huge risk with how used the gaming community is to being handheld through leveling these days.
A key difference with Skyrim is that XP is not tied to quest completion in Skyrim. Your progression is mainly done by doing things. Crafting, Enchanting, Alchemy and combat. And with that improving what you are actually doing, instead of just adding some generic xp. I don't see this mentioned a lot, but its one of the main reasons why Skyrim seems to offer so much freedom.
The other is that Skyrim can be modded (not talking about UI mods which don't change any gameplay or mechanics), but yeah that would be unfair to compare with when talking about a MMO
Skyrim offers so much freedom because the enemies level as you do. Gaining XP from quests does not make the game have less freedom. You could've had XP rewarded for quests and it would've done nothing to the freedom of the game.
Actually, I could buy XP from certain NPC for cash.
Its kinda a part of both.
Its themepark in the way that you have your quests and a fixed world you cant change in other ways than the creators made up before.
Then again, lets be honest, the only game that is a real sandbox is Minecraft and his clones.
The thing is you dont feel like you are in a Themepark. You have three quests you have to do: 1. The start quest in the tutorial. 2. the first quest on the starting island. After that you are free to go on. You get the choise to abort the starting Island after the first quest and get to the last one that brongs you to the main map.
From that point on which quests you take and if you take a quest is up to you. You dont just level from questing. You also level from exploring, crafting and you can also grind, which is boring in my eyes, but hey, some people like it.
When you try to just follow the Quests, you end up in an area where the quests becoem too hard for you. You have to run around, find new quests or explore. And its really rewarding to explore. You always stumble about NPCs who go "Hey, psst, wanna make some cash?" "Hey you... you there, help me...", you find Skyshards, stuff to craft... Sure its not Morrowind, Skyrim or Oblivion where you can just go everywhere, but then again it doesnt force the sandbox feeling onto you by giving you quests that make you walk from far east to far west, then north, east and back east.
The character developement is actually really unbound. You have 2 things you set from the very start: Class and race skills. Other than that, you can evolve your Character any way you want. And the nice thing is, every class has skills fit for everything. The Templer, has healing, yes, but also damage spells and tank spells. Dragonknight can tank, engage, stun... You are not bound to your choise like for example in WoW.
You get your character and what you become depends on how you play, you dont play how your character choise tells you.
So the answer? It is a Themepark. But it gives you a nice Sandbox feeling while you play. Maybe you are not totaly free, but you feel free.
People act like you only gain xp from quest, which is not true.
Sure leveling crafting doesn't level you up like in Skyrim, but in a sense that was silly.
The bottom line, crafting skill level by crafting... combat skills level by combat... and your character levels by doing things in the world..
What sand box, besides the first couple ever had "emergent" game play.
TESO has all the elements you say it doesn't.
a) Playerbased economy - players will control the market for all types of thing from crafting materials, to finished goods, etc. No different then UO, SWG, EQ...
b) Emergent gameplay - ESO has emergent gameplay, from the resource management action combat, to the any weapon using any skill you want, etc
c) Social created content - There is nothing stopping a player from hosting their own quests, events, parties, etc.... That is what they actually did when the word sandbox was defined. No one actually created content in game, it was all players driving it.
By you definition of sandbox, EVERY MMO out is a sandbox.
No the reason I wrote that is because some were talking about chosing not to do the main storyline in ESO and how that kind of is like in Skyrim. But in Skyrim it is not just a matter of chosing what questline to do. It is also a choice of doing quests at all. This is why the fact that XP is not tied to quest completion makes such a big difference.
You could play as a bandit, hiding out in caves. Using secret passage ways into cities to rob ppl's homes. This is even a way to obtain quest items and use them without even touching the quest. You can build up bounties in all major cities, kill anyone that tries to stop you and still progress your toon the way you want. This is a playstyle that doesn't even excluse you from all guilds.
The big difference is that in Skyrim, not doing quests does not hinder you in character progression. This is why you should not talk about 'choices like in Skyrim'. Because in this aspect, ESO (understandably) doesn't even come close.
Checking out gameplay vids might be helpful.
Each to their own, but personally I'd have to say its a Themepark. It might give you quite a bit of freedom, but in the end everything is already set out for you to do, it's merely a matter of deciding when you want to do it.
Straight themepark.
Unless by "sandbox" you mean choices betewen heavily scripted alternative paths. Or maybe a bit more leeway in building a character or crafting.
I did play it sadly.
I could not force myself trough enough to get as far as some reviewers managed. All i saw was themepark, all i watched in videos was a themepark. And all that also screamed carbon copy of wow. We have enough copys of that game already. I really wonder why companies still try to copy it even tho every single try failed.
Oh sure, you can mix and match some skills... that one is differend. You also can only use 5 skills at a time, making it even more mind numbing, and you get one more alliance... the rest is a straight up copy with a differend lore.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
i hate this definition because by it WoW is a sandbox. ( no i will not argue on this point cause i have done the never ending argument on it before)
i know there are lots of diffrent views on it and my personel is a open world in which you can make permant changes to it physcaly.
but that is mine not the one set in stone, in fact this argument keeps cropping up.
but that aside i can say two things for certain ESO is a theme park, and all the TES game where theme park or as i like to refer to it as a theme park where you got to pick the rides in the order you chose, but still a theme park.
rember railroad tracks are not a requirement of theme parks, they dont all ahv elittle kiddie trains to ride on.
F2P may be the way of the future, but ya know they dont make them like they used to
Proper Grammer & spelling are extra, corrections will be LOL at.
I'd say ESO is a themepark, but some of the rides have mini sandboxes built into them.
i.e. Questing is not completely freeform, but it's much more open than what typical themeparks offer.
Character building isn't extremely customizable (you can only pick from three stats and how to build your character's ability sets), but it's a more sandy way of doing it than your typical themepark.
PvP isn't totally open world with complete freedom, but it's openish.
So yeah, themepark that's got sand to play with.
It should be bannable to even consider ESO a sandbox in anyway, shape, or form.
edit- reporting those people now.