I prefer sandparks or basically Sandbox play with some rules or more open ended freedom driven Themeparks. I would say EQ1 and Vaguard kinda fall into this category as will Archeage. I wish I could go back and play SWG again as I think I would appreciate it more now in my old age than I did 10 years ago.
I'm kinda intrigued by this updated Darkfall that will be coming out in November, although I didn't play the original and don't typically love Full loot PVP.
Well due to your P.S. I guess I'd have to say you could play Rift or SWTOR but I don't think either are the best Themepark offering atm. I would say FFXI but they ruined it. In the Sandbox catagory I would say UO but they kind of ruined that too.
P.S. Frack your P.S. EvE for sandbox and GW2 for themepark. ArcheAge is looking good for a sandbox.
Archeage is not a sandbox mmo it's a hybrid that has both elements.If you are thinking that Archeage is a full sandbox mmo then be get ready to be dissapointed.Jake and team have never promoted the game as being a sandbox mmo it has many themepark features but also some sandbox. Archeage=hybrid. Vanguard=hybrid. Hybrid is the future and the way to go imo.
I consider anything with sandbox features in it to be a sandbox. The fact that it has a level system instead of a skill system doesn't matter. The fact that it has quest hubs doesn't matter.
I can't say that I prefer one over the other, however I think that many can agree that there are far more themeparks to choose from so there is a larger pool of quality games there. I think it is just easier to produce a quality themepark title than it is to produce a sandbox. So, I have never tried Eve (not into the sci-fi thing and that's about the gist of it) and am ignorant of any other sandbox titles for a casual like me to jump into. So, my preference for theme parks should be tempered by the fact that I have nothing against sandboxes, there just aren't many quality titles to choose from.
The asked for list of currently playing:
1) WoW: You said not to mention, but whatever, I have been playing this off and on fo 6 years now. I understand why some hate it. But they do what they do very very well. I play I get burnt out, then I quit. Then I get drawn back in again. I have fun playing it.
2) GW2: my current focus. It's not perfect. But it is the most fun I've had since trying WoW the first time back into 2006. That says a lot. Staying power is yet to be seen, but right now I am loving it. AND I can keep a WoW sub going at the same time. My one rule for MMOs is not to pay for more than one at a time.
Have played, from best to worst:
1) LotRO: the original game, not the F2P. This was the one game other than wow that I have played the longest (about 2 years off and on. Incredibly polished and very adherent to Tolkien lore. I don't have anything against the f2p model but this one made me sick. NPCs should NOT have flavor text that says "oh and hey visit our website and buy stuff, lol!"
2) EQ2: I picked this one up around t he Kunark expansion (or something). I had a ton of fun in this one, but a bit of trouble with immersion. Travel was just ridiculous. I could not find (at the time) a world map. Found some maps online, but they always involved some convoluted flow chart that made my head hurt every time I looked at it. Honestly, I don't mind zone loads, but can the developers please stick to the concept of regions and continents?
3) Age of Conan: The most gorgeous graohics of any game I have played to date. Held my attention for a bit, I felt that this world (at the time) was just too small for my taste.
4) Vanguard: I absolutely loved the concept of this game. I really really really wanted, and still would love to see this game implemented properly. However it was released in such a coded mess it was embarassing. People talk about broken games. This one was the very definition of broken. Too bad, because I loved the world and mechanics.
5) WAR: so... much... hype... with so little to offer. This was the original "WoW Killer" but turned out to be nothing but a giant version of WoW's Alterac Valley. I will give it credit for the concept of PQs though. I'm sorry but I like them, and am enjoying GW2's current iteration, however...
6) Rift: ... had nothing but PQs. I did not have fun here.
7) SW:ToR: I liked this game when it was called Dragon Age and was single player.
8) Tabula Rasa: LMFAO
9) I've downloaded several F2P asian titles out of boredom that have been mentioned on this site, and... meh
These are all my OPINION. It's alright if you don't like my choices, and is okay if you like my disliked titles.
Ok, I see lots of threads but few that are helping the community to find/enjoy MMORPG's that are avaliable out there.
Sandbox - MMORPG where players can directly impact the gameplay and experience of other players in the virtual world.
Themepark - MMORPG where you only impact your character history (like achivements, feats, text titles, pet/mount animation)
Your welcome to add your reasons for playing your current MMORPG and maeby list your top 3 MMORPG's that you think are doing better in terms of gameplay, polish, value for the $, pace of content release, and so on...
P.S: Do not bother mentioning EVE(2003), WOW(2004) and GW2(2012) in your top 3 list. Only a complete noob to the genre would not heard or know anything about these MMORPG's and there is plenty of info avaliable here on these MMORPG's.
Voted sandbox but only if there isnt forced PvP. IMO the best forms of sandbox gameplay allows the use of a flagging mechanism to differentiate those who do or do not wish to partake in PvP. An MMO like Asherons Call has the best form of sandbox elements IMO, you can either play on a red (PvP server) with no rules or a White (PvE server) where in order to go Red (or Player Killer) you msut undertake an arderous and semi-lengthy quest to turn into a PK.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
I voted for Sandbox, because I need at least a decent amount of freedom when playing MMOGs. All of the above offer freedom, although they aren't Sandbox titles at all.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Authored 139 missions in VendettaOnline and 6 tracks in Distance
Ok, I see lots of threads but few that are helping the community to find/enjoy MMORPG's that are avaliable out there.
Sandbox - MMORPG where players can directly impact the gameplay and experience of other players in the virtual world.
Themepark - MMORPG where you only impact your character history (like achivements, feats, text titles, pet/mount animation)
Your welcome to add your reasons for playing your current MMORPG and maeby list your top 3 MMORPG's that you think are doing better in terms of gameplay, polish, value for the $, pace of content release, and so on...
P.S: Do not bother mentioning EVE(2003), WOW(2004) and GW2(2012) in your top 3 list. Only a complete noob to the genre would not heard or know anything about these MMORPG's and there is plenty of info avaliable here on these MMORPG's.
The top sandbox i've ever played is Darkfall. For the owpvp with consequences and a total sandbox...very little compares to Darkfall.
None of the above. I don't care whether a MMO is a theme park or a sandbox, I want one that is more of a virtual world than not and has territory control, PVP and castle siegeing as the primary "end game".
Haven't been too many of those in recent years, at least not that I consider of sufficient quality to make them worth playing. (Hence I've returned to one of the 3 unmentionable titles)
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
75% would play a sandbox over a themepark, which just further proves that the themepark model is far from popular.
No, not so much. 75% of people claim they would play a sandbox, but I'd wager most of them are actually playing themeparks. Personally, I'd rather play a sandpark but since nobody makes good sandparks, or sandboxes for that matter, I don't. If I'm going to play, I'll play a themepark because I live in the real world, not some fantasy where they actually make decent sandboxes.
As a sandbox fan you were playing Eve, waiting on Dark Fall, Mortal Online, Earthrise, Fallen Earth. All ended up being terrible.
Perpetuum the "Eve Online with mechs" was a failure, Saga of Ryzom returned and died in under six months.
As a themepark fan you had WoW... Games like Lotro, WAR, AoC, Aion, FFXIV, RIFT, SWTOR, TERA, TSW are all either dead with a 80% population drop off or Free...
GW2 ended up being good but now i find myself simply keeping it on my HDD because it doesn't have a sub fee...
Sorry OP but I can't recommend anything... Not in the mmorpg genre.
maybe we should all leave this genre, Single player RPG and Action-Rpg seem to be doing much better at the moment.
Go play Skyrim, Dark Souls, Torchlight 2 or Path of Exile and give these sad developers of the mmorpg genre a decade to work out their issues.
The best I play now are TSW, Vanguard, Fallen Earth
Of these fallen earth would be the closest to a sandbox but it has a million quests so sandbox does not really fit. There are no games I hate, there are some that do or did not fit with my playstyle like WOW, EQ and EQ2, SWG, Eve etc but even in those there were a few things I liked, just not enough to play for very long
I am a bit unusual in that I prefer a good mix of the two. I love the story, design accessabilityand easability of the themepark. Things like Mail Boxes, Auction Houses, group finders, local meeting/gathering points, skill/talent trees, meaningful gold sinks, and factions.
Add that into the things I like I about a Sandbox such as skill based class systems, open world zoneless seemless worlds, non instanced dungeons, player housing, dynamic loot systems, and skill based gameplay. (i.e. beaing able to tackle content based on my skill and not on arbitrary numbers).
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Both are fine when done right seeing as how i've enjoyed both themepark and sandbox games. I'd like to see another decent sandbox released though given what few are good are really old and played through at this point.
Top 3 games would be EQ1, DAoC, and...I don't know. FFXI I guess, but it's a toss between a lot of other games.
People want sandbox games that wll be played as themeparks. That's why they're waiting for sandbox but playing themeparks.
Let's take Darkfall. The game was great. But it's an open world pvp with full loot and very little safe place. And people hate such games. They want sandbox games are being played like WoW: to lose nothing when dying and be able to kill mobs in safe instances. But nobody makes such games.
ive tried other MMo's but they all seem quest based which will keep me interested for about a day or two tops. i cant stand the whole "go kill this and come back, now go retrieve this and come back, ok now go bring this over there and come back". seems empty and dull. plus if you stop playing for an extended period of time and pick it back up i feel like i am lost in the story line and it becomes even less interesting.
Ultima Online will always keep my attention because i could never accomplish everything in the game within my lifetime plus the gameplay is mostly based on the people you play with rather than a set path that everyone must go down. WIth UO basically they say heres 1000;s of items that can interact with one another a giant f-in map and a complex gear vs envrinment system. go have fun. i sport 5 different armor suits and switch between about 5 different weapons depending on which envronment i feel like heading into. not to mention an incredible crafting system, and custom house building. a virtue system. a faction pvp system. a safe haven for noobs and several common meeting grounds for the pro pvp'ers. noob guilds for beginners and guilds that will train you to be a killing machine. its got it all.
I've played mostly themeparks but remain hopeful that a Sandbox game will be entertaining enough in the future, so keeping an eye on a few Sandbox style games, ArcheAge, WoD, The Repopulation, Pathfinder Online, maybe one of those will have something special.
So, voted Themepark.
Top 3
1.EverQuest
2.City of Heroes
3.World of Warcraft
Currently playing The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic
I will always prefer sanbox mmorpg's over crappy themepark wannabe's. The themepark genre is dead, they have axed it to death in every way possible. In fact I won't even play themeparks anymore.
I'm just completely sick of the boringness. I might as well race snails rather than playing themeparks which haven't done anything revolutionary or new, or inspiring to the genre.
Comments
Indeed it is. Probably the best game world in MMORPG history.
I prefer sandparks or basically Sandbox play with some rules or more open ended freedom driven Themeparks. I would say EQ1 and Vaguard kinda fall into this category as will Archeage. I wish I could go back and play SWG again as I think I would appreciate it more now in my old age than I did 10 years ago.
I'm kinda intrigued by this updated Darkfall that will be coming out in November, although I didn't play the original and don't typically love Full loot PVP.
I consider anything with sandbox features in it to be a sandbox. The fact that it has a level system instead of a skill system doesn't matter. The fact that it has quest hubs doesn't matter.
My theme song.
I picked Sandbox, even though the only one I play is Eve. FFXI (pre-Aht Urghan) is my favorite MMO of all time. I'm most looking forward to Archeage.
1. FFXI
2. Eve Online
3. Guild Wars 2
Themepark players can't vote they are waiting in line for raids, and frantically mashing 1,2,3,4,5.
"I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"
I can't say that I prefer one over the other, however I think that many can agree that there are far more themeparks to choose from so there is a larger pool of quality games there. I think it is just easier to produce a quality themepark title than it is to produce a sandbox. So, I have never tried Eve (not into the sci-fi thing and that's about the gist of it) and am ignorant of any other sandbox titles for a casual like me to jump into. So, my preference for theme parks should be tempered by the fact that I have nothing against sandboxes, there just aren't many quality titles to choose from.
The asked for list of currently playing:
1) WoW: You said not to mention, but whatever, I have been playing this off and on fo 6 years now. I understand why some hate it. But they do what they do very very well. I play I get burnt out, then I quit. Then I get drawn back in again. I have fun playing it.
2) GW2: my current focus. It's not perfect. But it is the most fun I've had since trying WoW the first time back into 2006. That says a lot. Staying power is yet to be seen, but right now I am loving it. AND I can keep a WoW sub going at the same time. My one rule for MMOs is not to pay for more than one at a time.
Have played, from best to worst:
1) LotRO: the original game, not the F2P. This was the one game other than wow that I have played the longest (about 2 years off and on. Incredibly polished and very adherent to Tolkien lore. I don't have anything against the f2p model but this one made me sick. NPCs should NOT have flavor text that says "oh and hey visit our website and buy stuff, lol!"
2) EQ2: I picked this one up around t he Kunark expansion (or something). I had a ton of fun in this one, but a bit of trouble with immersion. Travel was just ridiculous. I could not find (at the time) a world map. Found some maps online, but they always involved some convoluted flow chart that made my head hurt every time I looked at it. Honestly, I don't mind zone loads, but can the developers please stick to the concept of regions and continents?
3) Age of Conan: The most gorgeous graohics of any game I have played to date. Held my attention for a bit, I felt that this world (at the time) was just too small for my taste.
4) Vanguard: I absolutely loved the concept of this game. I really really really wanted, and still would love to see this game implemented properly. However it was released in such a coded mess it was embarassing. People talk about broken games. This one was the very definition of broken. Too bad, because I loved the world and mechanics.
5) WAR: so... much... hype... with so little to offer. This was the original "WoW Killer" but turned out to be nothing but a giant version of WoW's Alterac Valley. I will give it credit for the concept of PQs though. I'm sorry but I like them, and am enjoying GW2's current iteration, however...
6) Rift: ... had nothing but PQs. I did not have fun here.
7) SW:ToR: I liked this game when it was called Dragon Age and was single player.
8) Tabula Rasa: LMFAO
9) I've downloaded several F2P asian titles out of boredom that have been mentioned on this site, and... meh
These are all my OPINION. It's alright if you don't like my choices, and is okay if you like my disliked titles.
THE QUESTION IS: ARE YOU HAVING FUN?
Voted sandbox but only if there isnt forced PvP. IMO the best forms of sandbox gameplay allows the use of a flagging mechanism to differentiate those who do or do not wish to partake in PvP. An MMO like Asherons Call has the best form of sandbox elements IMO, you can either play on a red (PvP server) with no rules or a White (PvE server) where in order to go Red (or Player Killer) you msut undertake an arderous and semi-lengthy quest to turn into a PK.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Best games I played so far:
1. Lineage II (by far the best)
2. DAOC
3. Planetside
I voted for Sandbox, because I need at least a decent amount of freedom when playing MMOGs. All of the above offer freedom, although they aren't Sandbox titles at all.
I prefer Sandboxes.
My top 3 MMOs, per the OP's wishes:
1. Vendetta Online (currently playing)
2. Kingdom of Loathing
3. Urban Dead
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
The top sandbox i've ever played is Darkfall. For the owpvp with consequences and a total sandbox...very little compares to Darkfall.
None of the above. I don't care whether a MMO is a theme park or a sandbox, I want one that is more of a virtual world than not and has territory control, PVP and castle siegeing as the primary "end game".
Haven't been too many of those in recent years, at least not that I consider of sufficient quality to make them worth playing. (Hence I've returned to one of the 3 unmentionable titles)
Perhaps DFUW will surprise me.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
No, not so much. 75% of people claim they would play a sandbox, but I'd wager most of them are actually playing themeparks. Personally, I'd rather play a sandpark but since nobody makes good sandparks, or sandboxes for that matter, I don't. If I'm going to play, I'll play a themepark because I live in the real world, not some fantasy where they actually make decent sandboxes.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
The mmorpg is in such a sad state right now.
Man... so many disappointments.
As a sandbox fan you were playing Eve, waiting on Dark Fall, Mortal Online, Earthrise, Fallen Earth. All ended up being terrible.
Perpetuum the "Eve Online with mechs" was a failure, Saga of Ryzom returned and died in under six months.
As a themepark fan you had WoW... Games like Lotro, WAR, AoC, Aion, FFXIV, RIFT, SWTOR, TERA, TSW are all either dead with a 80% population drop off or Free...
GW2 ended up being good but now i find myself simply keeping it on my HDD because it doesn't have a sub fee...
Sorry OP but I can't recommend anything... Not in the mmorpg genre.
maybe we should all leave this genre, Single player RPG and Action-Rpg seem to be doing much better at the moment.
Go play Skyrim, Dark Souls, Torchlight 2 or Path of Exile and give these sad developers of the mmorpg genre a decade to work out their issues.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
The best mmo I played was Shadowbane,
The best I play now are TSW, Vanguard, Fallen Earth
Of these fallen earth would be the closest to a sandbox but it has a million quests so sandbox does not really fit. There are no games I hate, there are some that do or did not fit with my playstyle like WOW, EQ and EQ2, SWG, Eve etc but even in those there were a few things I liked, just not enough to play for very long
I would say Im both,a Sandpark player..
EQ1
Daoc
Vanguard
currently playing GW2,TSW,and VG
I am a bit unusual in that I prefer a good mix of the two. I love the story, design accessabilityand easability of the themepark. Things like Mail Boxes, Auction Houses, group finders, local meeting/gathering points, skill/talent trees, meaningful gold sinks, and factions.
Add that into the things I like I about a Sandbox such as skill based class systems, open world zoneless seemless worlds, non instanced dungeons, player housing, dynamic loot systems, and skill based gameplay. (i.e. beaing able to tackle content based on my skill and not on arbitrary numbers).
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Both are fine when done right seeing as how i've enjoyed both themepark and sandbox games. I'd like to see another decent sandbox released though given what few are good are really old and played through at this point.
Top 3 games would be EQ1, DAoC, and...I don't know. FFXI I guess, but it's a toss between a lot of other games.
Currently playing Vanguard and Ryzom.
People want sandbox games that wll be played as themeparks. That's why they're waiting for sandbox but playing themeparks.
Let's take Darkfall. The game was great. But it's an open world pvp with full loot and very little safe place. And people hate such games. They want sandbox games are being played like WoW: to lose nothing when dying and be able to kill mobs in safe instances. But nobody makes such games.
I voted Sandbox cause the only MMo i will play is a sandbox game
#1. Ultima online (free server)
ive tried other MMo's but they all seem quest based which will keep me interested for about a day or two tops. i cant stand the whole "go kill this and come back, now go retrieve this and come back, ok now go bring this over there and come back". seems empty and dull. plus if you stop playing for an extended period of time and pick it back up i feel like i am lost in the story line and it becomes even less interesting.
Ultima Online will always keep my attention because i could never accomplish everything in the game within my lifetime plus the gameplay is mostly based on the people you play with rather than a set path that everyone must go down. WIth UO basically they say heres 1000;s of items that can interact with one another a giant f-in map and a complex gear vs envrinment system. go have fun. i sport 5 different armor suits and switch between about 5 different weapons depending on which envronment i feel like heading into. not to mention an incredible crafting system, and custom house building. a virtue system. a faction pvp system. a safe haven for noobs and several common meeting grounds for the pro pvp'ers. noob guilds for beginners and guilds that will train you to be a killing machine. its got it all.
I've played mostly themeparks but remain hopeful that a Sandbox game will be entertaining enough in the future, so keeping an eye on a few Sandbox style games, ArcheAge, WoD, The Repopulation, Pathfinder Online, maybe one of those will have something special.
So, voted Themepark.
Top 3
1.EverQuest
2.City of Heroes
3.World of Warcraft
Currently playing The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic
2 eve
3 coh or planetside cat decide
Currently playing gw2
^ true that^
I will always prefer sanbox mmorpg's over crappy themepark wannabe's. The themepark genre is dead, they have axed it to death in every way possible. In fact I won't even play themeparks anymore.
I'm just completely sick of the boringness. I might as well race snails rather than playing themeparks which haven't done anything revolutionary or new, or inspiring to the genre.
Fallen Earth
Vanguard
SWTOR