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Age of Wushu: sandbox or theme park?
mindw0rk
Member UncommonPosts: 1,356
in Age of Wushu
On other forum I had a dispute about what exactly type of MMORPG is AoW. Sandbox? Theme park? Or maybe a rare hybrid? Im interested in opinions of people who played the game for more then few hours. Please share your thoughts and vote.
Comments
The world is pretty static but within the given frameworks there's a lot of freedom and many different activities to choose from. Most of them are well-designed, balanced and fun.
There is no forced direction to take, no level brackets, no artificial safe zones, etc. The economy is totally player-driven (player stalls in game).
So it's not a sandbox like Wurm, Xsyon or Salem are sandboxes - you can't cover the map with houses or terraform. On the other hand it has about 1000 times the content and polish of those games.
I'd say EVE is the most similar game on the market atm.
I currently classify it as a 'sandpark.' The core systems in the game are all sandbox-fare (economy, skills, pvp system, primary content, etc) with some themepark elements such as the missions themselves.
I voted mix,
I see sandbox as some nebulous term that as soon as someone starts to define it they also start to leave out a lot of games that we consider sandboxish
No zones (well that leaves out SWG because the planets were massive zones)
No travel restrictions (there goes EvE with its funnel point jump gates)
No transition between areas (which leaves out Eve and SWG but oddly enough would include old world WoW)
No skill caps (that leaves out SWG and UO)
No factions (SWG and the original Darkfall)
Must have player housing (Again Eve goes out the window)
I just know it is not a themepark because we have a good definition of that. A Themepark funnels you from appropriately leveled content (and areas) to the next place you are suppose to be over and over again..some have one rail (Rifts and TSW) some have multiple rails (WoW) but they are all about guiding you through the content, and this doesn't do that.
This is not even close imo. Sandbox all the way. Here's the main reason.
I can do anything I choose, and my progression will continue. 100% freedom.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
and none of those have nothing to do with sandbox. Sandbox only means freedom of choice and non-linear gameplay. Those things are just systems in a game design and all 3 can be in themeparks as well as sandboxes.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
You can't stop this one man. Wushu is rolling, and for good reason.
Example of a sandbox: Wurm Online
Example of a non sandbox: World of Warcraft
Can't randomly kill stuff in Wurn even if I wanted to
Can't build a house in WoW even if I wanted to
If the world is a mostly blank world other that a starter zone and you have the means to alter it. Like physically make a mountain out of what used to be a flat land then it's a sandbox. Think of it like a real sandbox where you can make anything you want.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Not trying to stop any thing. I tried the game, lasted about 45 mins and found it to be so terrible it warranted removal from my hardrive. Its nice you like it, but I think the hype surrounding something just because its considered a sandbox is so overblown its freaking nauseating. And you're one of the loudest and most ardent haters of GW2 on these forums and you have the gall to say this to me? LOL.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
That doesnt make it a sandbox. That just makes it a freeform themepark.
Sandboxes mean there is player created content, and consequently an infinite quantity of things to do. Age of Wushu doesnt lead you like some other popular themeparks, but there is nothing really sandboxy about it.
There is a control map/territory and you can also tax the town or map where your guild controls, which is why people seem to think it is a sandbox. But I wouldnt really classify that as a sandbox element. I mean, GW2 has territory control which rewards you with buffs, but noone considers that game to be a sandbox. TSW also has territory control PvP with benefits, but again, not a sandbox.
Unless there is some player created content which I haven't seen yet? But unless there is player generated content, it isnt a sandbox.
Please just stop. These silly definitions of systems within a game doesnt mean squat. Freeform is the essence of what makes a sandbox, sandbox does not and will never mean player created content. Never has never will. It boils down to freedom and linearity, thats it, end of story PERIOD.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
Can you play a heavily crafting focused character, like you can in EVE?
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Think about it. What do kids do when they play in their sandboxes? They create their own "content". That's where the term originally came from. If you can't make stuff in it, how's it a sandbox?
Besides, many games are non-linear. GW2 is. You could level up to lvl 80 in Queensdale. In fact, that's why some people said it's a themepark that requires sandbox thinking ("I'm going to go where I want and where I won't get killed" instead of "I'm going to follow that arrow"), but it's definitely not a sandbox.
You also have to remember we're not playing the full game yet. Age of Wushu that is and don't have all the potential players we might have in the end after release.
Player generated content comes in many forms. I can generate some content for you once the servers come back..
PM before you report at least or you could just block.
Uh yes, thats exactly what it means. Just because people such as yourself have decided that sandbox is 'anything that doesnt resemble WoW' does not make it so. If Age of Wushu is a sandbox, so is GW2 and TSW.
Sandbox means player generated content. Full stop. End of story. PERIOD.
Yes you can. All the good stuff is player made and the market is an actual in game marketplace with online players selling stuff from their own stalls (you can also have offline stalls up if you're a VIP player).
You can only learn one craft though so you'll always depend on other players (which is good imo since it makes for a working economy).
A sandbox is a game that gives you the tools but dont tell you what you must do with the tools.
eve is a sandbox it sets the box and some tools, the player made content is the kicking down of each others sand castles or what ever.
Sandbox and themepark are just arbitrary terms that people have started to over-use in a ridiculous way; they're not definitions set in stone.
If you get too hung up on whether a game conforms to your idea of a sandbox or not, you'll miss out on some great games.
When reading threads like this I always have the same thought "sandbox idiots are the only reason sandboxes dont gain popularity"
Man I would rather play with the average wow-tard than the kind of person who cries "OMFG IT HAS A QUEST ALL SANDBOX IS GONE KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT WITH FIRE AMFFFGAGGGGARAAAAGE" and get so angsty over it, when the basic definition of a SB calls for choice, and they want choices gone because um, I don't know why, other than they are idiots.
So you tell us EVE online isnt sandbox?
ummm..No, he actually doesn't say that mindwOrk.
That is actually your mindwOrking against you.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
no they are not arbitary terms being thrown around.
Themepark is where you get lead from quest to quest, raid to raid, every thing is struktured in a way that leads you around the "park".
Sandbox is in referance to being given a bunch of tools and being told have a go at it!