View Poll Results: Which type of MMORPG do you prefer?

Voters
141. This poll is closed
  • Sandbox

    101 71.63%
  • Themepark

    40 28.37%
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  1. #1

    Sandbox vs Themepark

    What type of mmorpg would you rather play?

    I have not added a both option because I want to know if you absolutely had to choose between them which would it be.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Sandbox, no contest. Not only are Themepark MMOs boring but they also kill all immersion and usually the need to interact with others as well.

  3. #3
    Sandbox which is why I still havent found another MMO that was as much fun as I ever had in Ultima Online. If my housing vendor was low on goods I could log on my GM Miner/Blacksmith and gather mats and craft armor. Then log over to my GM alchemist and make potions. If I felt like being an ass I logged my sneak PK. I would wear a deathrobe over my armor and look into people's bags, which flagged you gray and attackable. When they attacked me thinking I was just some n00b who recently rezed, I just killed them and jacked their loot. So much more fun than going full PK and going red cause they were the aggressor so you could kill anyone without getting murder counts. If I felt adventurous I would log my GM treasure Hunter and decode maps and dig up all levels of maps. Or I would take my bard into Destard to provoke Dragons on each other. Or if I wanted some good PvP action I could log on my fencer and take part in some guild or order/chaos wars. I hate having a game tell me go here and kill that. It takes away all of the fun. Id love to see a GTA MMO which obviously would be sandbox and would be so awesome.

    But I dont think a company will ever make a successful Sandbox MMO again because today's gamers are sheep. Just look at how successful WoW is. People have become so complacent they have to be told where to go and what to kill and then need addons to tell them how to do it. Anything that goes against that is considered fail.
    Last edited by Lilly32; 2012-12-29 at 01:11 AM.

  4. #4
    I lean more in favor of theme park, but would enjoy best of both worlds combined.
    Last edited by Libram; 2012-12-29 at 01:41 AM.

  5. #5
    I thought this was games in general so I voted theme-park

  6. #6
    sandbox.

    maybe 75% sandbox, 25% theme park?

    i don't see any sandbox mmos happening anytime soon though (are there?). it would require active, engaged community anyway, otherwise it just wont work and die slow death imo.


  7. #7
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Lizbeth View Post
    Sandbox, no contest. Not only are Themepark MMOs boring but they also kill all immersion and usually the need to interact with others as well.
    Sandbox all the way. And intriguingly for the exact opposite reason; theme park seem to always have some element that force me into big groups (I can live with and at the moment actually enjoy the 8 man raids of SWTOR, 25 man WoW LFR is inacceptable) to progress when I want to have a CHOICE about it.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by joeyray View Post
    sandbox.

    maybe 75% sandbox, 25% theme park?

    i don't see any sandbox mmos happening anytime soon though (are there?). it would require active, engaged community anyway, otherwise it just wont work and die slow death imo.
    Pathfinder Online, Everquest Next, Age of Wushu, Archeage- all coming in the next couple years.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Eldryth View Post
    Pathfinder Online, Everquest Next, Age of Wushu, Archeage- all coming in the next couple years.
    Don't forget DF:UW that will launch soon.

  10. #10
    Sandbox hands down. It's what I was brought up on and think it's what an MMO is supposed to be.

  11. #11
    I prefer a mix of both such as in Guild Wars 2. Forced to choose, theme park.

    The structure of a "theme park" MMO is inherently appealing to me. Also I am less likely to care about non-gameplay elements like immersion, story or world exploration sandbox MMOs sorta bank on.

  12. #12
    Scarab Lord Buckwald's Avatar
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    I was just thinking about this. Most of my gaming has been standard RPGs where the characters have classes and function a certain way. Now, translate that to an MMO... I was attracted to the themepark MMOs. I started with EQ, FFXI and WoW. I tried SWG and I was turned off by how open it was, it was a bit overwhelming at the time I started and that pretty much turned me off to any game with the word "sandbox" attached to it. Now, fast forward 6 years and I can't stand Themepark MMOs. None of them have kept my attention for more than a few months. You have these MMOs coming out with "innovation" that I've seen done over and over again. Had pretty good hopes for GW2, that lasted 2 weeks.

    I don't have time to dedicate to raiding as much as I used to, so I'd like to be able to hop in and do what I need to do without thinking "Oh man, I need to be VP capped! Let me do 3 Dungeons and an LFR!" I'm currently playing Fallen Earth, and while it has the feel of sandbox, it's turning out to be a little TOO themepark for me.

    After "catching up" and playing the Fallout Series and The Elder Scrolls as much as I have in the past year, I am a true believer that "sandbox" is the way to go. You can have the standard PvE progression but at the same time have different progression models. If I want to craft my way to level XX then I should be able to. I like knowing that I can play how I want, when I want with what skills I want. "Classes" is starting to become an evil word to me. Yes, I'm pretty sure I would end up in a standard class should I play, but hey, that was my choice and not the developer saying "Hey, pick one". Which is why I'm torn between ESO. I love the series so much, but it's a themepark, a dirty slutty looking themepark that I want.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Fencers View Post
    I prefer a mix of both such as in Guild Wars 2. Forced to choose, theme park.

    The structure of a "theme park" MMO is inherently appealing to me. Also I am less likely to care about non-gameplay elements like immersion, story or world exploration sandbox MMOs sorta bank on.
    I don't really think of GW2 as a sandbox at all. The closest thing it has to sandbox is dynamic events, where you just change state 1 into state 2 and eventually it reverts to state 1. There is nothing you can do to really affect another player's experience, or do something *outside of the box* that the developers intended as the way to play the game.

    A sandbox like Ultima Online, your experience is (well, was, before they turned it in WoW 0.5) pretty much entirely crafted by the actions of other players. You had regular enemies, you had neighbours who could be neighbours from hell or a great buddy, evil players who were the bane of your existence, a local blacksmith you went to for business and half the time ended up making friends with. The dynamic events were the player conflict, they were truly DYNAMIC and unique... and 2 stories from the same content were never the same... sigh
    Last edited by nightshark; 2012-12-29 at 06:53 AM.

  14. #14
    Scarab Lord Leih's Avatar
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    I like to have goals.

    Sandbox games are kinda fun for a while but as someone who has no interest in PVP-play, once I've had a look around and seen the world and what sort of things there are to do... it grows kind of stale after a while.

    Of course, I'd like to play a bit of both styles. But I think a well produced and regularly updated "themepark" mmo just stays interesting for longer as long as the goals keep coming.

    Maybe if a sandbox game had enough content and updates that kept it fresh, but they never do. Usually it's just "here's a world. You've seen it all? Well... uhm... see it again? I dunno!"

  15. #15
    Bloodsail Admiral MuricaIsDead's Avatar
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    EVE Online. nuff said.

    It's the only true sandbox left and it's still gaining subs after 10 years.

  16. #16
    A well made sandbox.

    One that isn't a space ship as your avatar.

  17. #17
    Bloodsail Admiral MuricaIsDead's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doozerjun View Post
    A well made sandbox.

    One that isn't a space ship as your avatar.
    someone obviously hasn't paid attention to what's been going on in EVE for a while...

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Eldryth View Post
    Pathfinder Online, Everquest Next, Age of Wushu, Archeage- all coming in the next couple years.
    you left out the part that they will all be leaving shortly after arriving also. the problem with a majority of "sandbox" mmo's is that unless you have Mr. Roger's imagination they become boring quickly. you can only pretend that you are playing a fun game for so long before you give up.

  19. #19
    sandbox isn't great because its got catpee in it sometimes but then again themeparks have prepubescent children puking all over

  20. #20
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by slimj091 View Post
    you left out the part that they will all be leaving shortly after arriving also. the problem with a majority of "sandbox" mmo's is that unless you have Mr. Roger's imagination they become boring quickly. you can only pretend that you are playing a fun game for so long before you give up.
    I don't see any reasons for sandbox mmo's needing more imagination or becoming boring fast. On the contrary, you're free from the hamster wheel the developers push you into in themepark mmos and have a lot more to do with less regulations and more rewards.

    The problem with themepark MMOs is that the developers don't want anyone to get ahead and try to push everyone to the same "gray mass" level using caps, nerfs to old content, daily limits etc. It's boring and feels pointless. The main reason I got into MMOs was because it made playing with others matter and I didn't lose what I achieved. In theme park these elements are mostly gone.

    You just sign up for this and that using some tool and dont have to talk to anyone and nothing you do matters. New expansion.. even new patch in some reduces you back to the same level with even new players so why put any effort into anything at all. I could understand if it was fun but all MMOs are about grind and that's never fun.

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