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For

years, computer role playing games (CRPGs) were all

about playing a character or controlling a party in an expansive world,

rife

with danger and adventure. Whether that adventure took the form of

gathering

resources for crafting, exploring dank dungeons, or fighting for your

life

against a seemingly constant stream of monsters (seriously…

just how many rats

are in those sewers?!), the games were huge and took forever to play

through.

When

MMORPGs evolved from the text-based MUDs that

birthed them, they followed the same path as the CRPGs that came before

them.

Meridian 59, Ultima Online, EverQuest – they all were massive

worlds full of

danger. Rather than guide players through a set of predetermined

experiences,

the development teams created these games to allow players to live out

their

fantasy of playing a character seeking fame and fortune with their

friends.

Just like everything else, these games eventually began to evolve and

it wasn’t

long before the theme park MMO was born.

Theme

park MMOs are designed to set players on a set of

rails, guiding them through the content of a game. Some people consider

this a

bad thing, but there are a lot of advantages it gives to developers.

One of the

biggest advantages to this method of game creation is that it allows

the

development team to create a very elaborate story or setting to deeply

enhance

the experience a player has. Whether this is through scripted events,

quests,

or mini-cut scenes, all of these things and more can be created knowing

they

won’t go to waste when a player travels along a designated

adventure path. The

biggest disadvantage of this style is that it limits player choice

while

adventuring.

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Sandbox

MMOs are nearly the complete opposite of this.

Rather than choosing a predestined path for players to follow, this

development

style allows for the creation of an open world in which players are

free to

discover their own adventure at their own pace. The style of gameplay

has its

own advantages, the largest of which is player freedom. Players are

free to go

where they please, get into whatever trouble they find, and create

their own

adventures. The biggest disadvantage of this style is that players can

easily

become overwhelmed with too much choice, making them feel lost.

Early

games such as Ultima Online and EverQuest followed

the sandbox school of development. When World of Warcraft came along

and

dominated the market with its theme park style of gaming, this method

quickly

became the law of the land for most future games. For the longest time,

“sandbox”

was a four-letter word to most development teams. Players had shied

away from

open and expansive worlds in favor of smaller guided experiences for so

long

that the few independent sandbox MMOs that released fared poorly. As a

result,

sandbox MMOs looked as though they were going to go the way of the Dodo

in

short order.

It’s

inevitable that everything in life eventually

becomes old or boring and as a result, it was only natural that players

of

theme park MMOs have begun to cry for something different. In response,

there

are definitely some new games coming next year that are looking to

alter the

course of MMO history and introduce players to completely new concepts

(more on

later this week).

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So

which is the better gaming method? While I will gladly

give theme park MMOs their due as something new and interesting at one

point in

time, in the end, they’re just far too limiting to win this

battle. I’m not a

fan of being put on a set of rails, even if there are multiple rails to

choose

from. I want the freedom to go wherever I want to. At the same time,

that means

I also want to be able to get into as much trouble as I want to. Part

of the

thrill of an MMO is taking your character into an area of the game that

it

clearly has no business being.

EverQuest

was great at this, as was Vanguard. Both games

allowed you to roam the land freely. If you wanted to be cautious, you

were

able. If instead you wanted to try and sneak your way into a zone of

ever-impending death, you were welcome to do that as well, but

you’d better be

prepared to accept the consequences. One of my favorite memories of

Vanguard

was seeing a ruined city, high atop the edge of a cliff far off in the

distance. At the time, I had no quests for it and it was well above my

level

range. Even so, I spent a week fighting and sneaking my way towards it.

The

thrill I felt when I finally set foot inside the edge of that city

resonates

with me even now.

That’s

the magic a sandbox MMO can give that a theme park

game never will. It may take extra effort on the part of a player to

create

reasons to explore and push further for themselves, but trust me when I

say it

is well worth the effort. Times are changing and the sandbox is

becoming a

welcome site to gamers new and old alike. If you think I’m

wrong and you prefer

theme park MMOs instead, let us know why in the comments below.

You’re also

always welcome to href="https://twitter.com/Dalmarus">hit me up on

Twitter

any time as well.