Some Assembly Required: Is the sandbox dead?

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, A Tale in the Desert, Darkfall, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Ryzom, Wurm Online, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, Free-to-play, Dawntide, Xsyon, Post-Apocalyptic, Perpetuum, Miscellaneous, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Crafting

Let's face it, folks, 2011 has been a fairly bad year for sandbox MMORPGs. Whether we're talking about the premature (and, ahem, forced) demise of Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online's public relations disasters and its capitulation to the cash-shop-in-a-sub-based game fad, or Earthrise's rough launch, there hasn't been a lot to celebrate for fans of non-linear MMO gameplay in quite a while.

I've even had several friends ask me point blank: Is the sandbox dead? The short answer is not just no, but hell no. Join me after the cut for a few bright spots as we look to the future, take stock of the present, and try to forget about the past.

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Some Assembly Required: Is the sandbox dead? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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