What does "sandbox game" mean to you?

[Deleted]

To me a sandbox game is one where it is not restricted by classes but rather skill based and it does not tell you in the slightest where to go set in an open world i.e old school runescape.

[melodramocracy]

My definition:

There are quests, but your hand isn't held through them. Players have no real class / profession limitations, have the ability to carry out impactful world changing (in simple example terms, town takeovers, or land ownership), actual risk, actual decision and consequence, multiple ways to attain experience / power (or lose it), and most importantly, the ability for players to not only exhibit bad behavior, and for other players to police said bad behavior.

In short, I don't think many true sandbox games exist.

[ddsad2212]

I think it has a different meaning depending on game genre. For example I think in an RPG it should mean, there is no set path, things happen as though the world around you is alive. Something that is here now is not there tomorrow. If that made any sense lol

[ironik]

I've always thought the term 'sandbox' referred only to the environment you played in. What I mean to say is that your character(s) are dropped into living breathing world. An example: GTA had random pedestrians/traffic, certain things available only at certain times of day, being able to affect how NPCs react to you(TES games do all these things on a MUCH grander level, though), etc. Also to me, it means no 'zones'. The whole world is ONE zone. /2cents