Please know that this was actually a part of my above post. :p
In case you need translations to cross-reference a true sandbox ...
... where actual children play in ...
... with EVE-ONLINE then please let me know.

Just be sure that, when I talk about a sandbox, I often talk about the real thing as perfect analogy.
---


A sandbox is somewhere children/people go to, because they want to play in a specific way: with sand.

This involves building something, because there's nothing else to do in a sandbox. I wouldn't encourage eating it
and I'd suggest not to do so, but I would let you do it so you learn by yourself why you shouldn't have done it.

So people enter the sandbox and start doing what they can do. In - i would guess, at least - the vast majority of games
this involves some sort of tutorial or introductions which I tend to skip, because I consider it as insulting to my intelligence.
I did my own research beforehand (fun! :), I don't need your ******* tutorials ... but thank you for providing the needy.

I would sit down and start playing with the sand, based on what I've learned so far.
So, like, what I can do with sand ... and what happens when I mix it with water.
And then I use too much water and everything is just a ******* mess and I'm responsible for it.

For someone to play in a sandbox it is demanded that he plays with the sand.

If he doesn't play with the sand, he's just standing around occupying space someone else would happily play in.
Someone else might just sit down and start building his castle. That's great, we all do that.
We build our castles. We destroy them again. We build them again.
Eventually we try to build with someone else, because that's a new fun way of building castles.
I like castles.
What's not okay is when one starts growing his castle bigger and bigger ...
... refusing to build together with someone else and instead demanding the sand for him.

For its inhabitants a sandbox is an "open world mostly unrestricted by mechanics".
But there's more to that than just being "open world".


The only other MMO I have ever played was ArchArge, because a friend suggested it to me. There was a claim that it is a sandbox, blabla non-linear progression, blabla. I was curious and, of course, disappointed. The reason why EVE ONLINE was the first MMO I have ever tried, is because to it was the only game that's actually a sandbox. I didn't even know Ultima Online existed.

ArcheAge was marketed as sandbox, but it's just that ... marketing. The mainstream "definition" of "sandbox" is completely bogus, because it conviniently ignores that for a true sandbox experience you need unrestricted player interaction! The ONLY game you'll nowadays find that still is true to the definition of a sandbox is EVE ONLINE. I don't count Dark Falls, it's still too young.

When you jump into an MMO with zones of varying degrees of restrictions then you're not playing in a sandbox. When all you can do is run around and hunt monsters, then you're not playing a sandbox. My personal favourite: running around in underwear picking up flowers in the woods. There is nothing sand-boxxy (HI BOXXY!) in this, at all. It only shows the "open world" nature of the game, which does not require it to be in any way or form sand-boxxy.

So, if I TL;DR this, then I guess what i consider a sandbox to be is: a sandbox. Where you go inside and play with sand. Where you inevitably play with others. Where you start building castles and maybe plot against someone with a bigger one. Or you defend your castle against the mean kid trying to stomp over it.

A sandbox is an social environment with a low amount of restrictions and high amount of player-freedom. It naturally demands self responsibility and the ability to deal with others. Any mechanic restricting player freedom is not sand-boxxy. When you can't freely engage anyone you want, anytime, then it is not a sandbox, then it's an open world.

The realism of a sandbox demands the ability to engage anyone anytime. If someone wants to go and play in a sandbox, then he needs to accept that what happens in a sandbox will happen to him. He has to accept the rules and laws of the game. When he cries about how people in the sandbox play according to how the sandbox works, then this person does not want to play a sandbox. He wants to play an "open world" game.

I miss strong, healthy communities that self regulate and make sure that everyone who wants to be a part of the community adapts to it or simply stays out. I wonder when the shift away from a strong, healthy community towards a divided one actually happened.



Oh and ... sowwy. :3

*snickers*