Whats the problem with Sandboxes?

[LateX'Dog]

As the title says, what is the problem with Sandboxes?

Why are companies not making them?

I personally see more re playability, less developmental costs and less oversight.

But what am i missing? Why are we not seeing more of them, but instead seeing more theme parks?

 

[barmyllama]

Because publishers like to think they know what we want to play and so they want to tell us how to play as well.

Plus I think a lot of developers are frustrated film makers. Every gameplay trailer you see is played in a pre planned way so it looks more cinematic.

 

[FrenchTart]

They're gritty and it all gets in your shoes.

 

[Ceryndrion]

Developers themselves have lots of great ideas for games that would be awesome.
The marketing department, have no figures for potential sales of sandbox games, so return "According to our numbers, this project will have ZERO sales"
Management, being management, look at the marketing projection and return "no sales? this is a stupid idea.. make another franchise game because sales projections for that are high".

This is one of the reasons that Star Citizen exploded.. CR went to the publishers, they looked at potential sales figures, had no data for the style of game, so told him it would never sell.. He went crowdfunded, and so far, over three hundred thousand people have pre-purchased the game.. Of course, the publishers, are now kicking themselves..

 

[LateX'Dog]

Developers themselves have lots of great ideas for games that would be awesome.
The marketing department, have no figures for potential sales of sandbox games, so return "According to our numbers, this project will have ZERO sales"
Management, being management, look at the marketing projection and return "no sales? this is a stupid idea.. make another franchise game because sales projections for that are high".

This is one of the reasons that Star Citizen exploded.. CR went to the publishers, they looked at potential sales figures, had no data for the style of game, so told him it would never sell.. He went crowdfunded, and so far, over three hundred thousand people have pre-purchased the game.. Of course, the publishers, are now kicking themselves..

Interesting, thanks for the post.

 

[Newbie007]

Same **** management & devs of the same old failed thempark MMO's are constently rehired and so churn out the same failed themepark MMO's, rinse and repeat.

 

[redstar1]

This is one of the reasons that Star Citizen exploded.. CR went to the publishers, they looked at potential sales figures, had no data for the style of game, so told him it would never sell.. He went crowdfunded, and so far, over three hundred thousand people have pre-purchased the game.. Of course, the publishers, are now kicking themselves..

Most likely, but if the game had been publisher funded it would not be anything like the game we are likely to get as any publisher would have restricted the budget and placed much greater time constraints on it.

As it stands the game is well funded and seemingly well managed. Looking forward to it.

 

[Rezident]

I thought there were a few around like GTA, Saints Row is a sandbox isn't it? Might get that. I liked Just Cause 2, it was great fun.

 

[BubbySoup]

Sandbox games tend to be harder to manage once they are released (certainly in the MMO market at least) as no matter how many developers and testers you throw at a sandbox game once it's out in the wild, someone, somewhere will figure out an exploit or take advantage of a certain feature they didn't think of and then they are faced with having to patch the game (rapidly if it's multiplayer/MMO).

Not so bad in single player sandbox environments, but bad in multi player where hordes of pitchfork/torch wielding mobs take to the forums to demand roll backs, item compensation, money etc - all bad press for your game.

Much easier to tell players how to play.

 

[Suarez7]

Most sandboxes lack gameplay and things to do, JC2 perfect example, massive map but the missions consist of go here blow this up, kill this guy. Makes it feel empty imo.

 

[Zethor]

Sandboxes were considered niche games until Minecraft brought them to the masses. Most big companies respond slowly to changes in the market, which explains why we don't have an AAA true sandbox yet.

I'm sure this will change in a couple of years.

 

[LateX'Dog]

Most sandboxes lack gameplay and things to do, JC2 perfect example, massive map but the missions consist of go here blow this up, kill this guy. Makes it feel empty imo.

I think JC2 was a theme park in a sandbox. Not a true sandbox, where the content is developed around the sandbox.

 

[LateX'Dog]

Sandbox games tend to be harder to manage once they are released (certainly in the MMO market at least) as no matter how many developers and testers you throw at a sandbox game once it's out in the wild, someone, somewhere will figure out an exploit or take advantage of a certain feature they didn't think of and then they are faced with having to patch the game (rapidly if it's multiplayer/MMO).

Not so bad in single player sandbox environments, but bad in multi player where hordes of pitchfork/torch wielding mobs take to the forums to demand roll backs, item compensation, money etc - all bad press for your game.

Much easier to tell players how to play.

I don't think you would get negative press. If you respond correctly to the bugs, then you can generally address them without much backlash.

I think sandboxes are more about little and often, rather then sweeping. If an exploit creates a new style of game play, then correctly patch that into the game. If a exploit causes harm, fix it as fast as possible and carry on.

 

[Sleepery]

The fact that they seem to have become synonymous with open PvP. Whenever the word 'sandbox' is mentioned, there's always a small but very vocal element that demands that there must be full loot open world unrestricted PvP for it to be a proper sandbox.

Mortal Online and Darkfall Online have dispelled the myth that there are millions of players just dying to throw money at an open PvP sandbox. Give me something like the old SWG, where I can build a city out in the dunes and set up shop without having to worry about some asshat burning it down while I'm offline

 

[LateX'Dog]

The fact that they seem to have become synonymous with open PvP. Whenever the word 'sandbox' is mentioned, there's always a small but very vocal element that demands that there must be full loot open world unrestricted PvP for it to be a proper sandbox.

Mortal Online and Darkfall Online have dispelled the myth that there are millions of players just dying to throw money at an open PvP sandbox. Give me something like the old SWG, where I can build a city out in the dunes and set up shop without having to worry about some asshat burning it down while I'm offline

Wasn't SWG completely open world PvP? Or did you have to flag your self? I can't remember, as i didn't play it for too long.

I don't think MO and DO dispelled the myth at all, i think they where low budget attempts and ended up being half baked. I think if a large developer took a stab at it, it would end up quite profitable.

 

[Kippered]

The Repopulation

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18410190&highlight=repopulation

High hopes.

 

[Kippered]

Wasn't SWG completely open world PvP? Or did you have to flag your self? I can't remember, as i didn't play it for too long.

I don't think MO and DO dispelled the myth at all, i think they where low budget attempts and ended up being half baked. I think if a large developer took a stab at it, it would end up quite profitable.

You had to flag yourself. Overt/Covert

 

[krooton]

Because, whilst there is a core of die-hard sandbox fans, most gamers are ADHD prone get bored when left to their own devices for too long.

I tend to get bored of every sandbox game I play, and as such prefer a more story-progression based style. The Witcher 2 and Bioshock Infinite both captured me due to their stories and characterization. As pretty as they were, I eventually tired of Far Cry 3 and Just Cause 2 as I just ended up wandering around aimlessly. Same thing happened with Oblivion.

 

[Woden]

Wasn't SWG completely open world PvP? Or did you have to flag your self? I can't remember, as i didn't play it for too long.

I don't think MO and DO dispelled the myth at all, i think they where low budget attempts and ended up being half baked. I think if a large developer took a stab at it, it would end up quite profitable.

SWG you had to flag yourself or jointhe Rebbels or Empire.

Eve online is almost a true sandbox, open PvP (with consequences in "hisec"), almost every item you buy is built by another player. But it is a niche mmo.

 

[[RB]]

Because, whilst there is a core of die-hard sandbox fans, most gamers are ADHD prone get bored when left to their own devices for too long.

I tend to get bored of every sandbox game I play, and as such prefer a more story-progression based style. The Witcher 2 and Bioshock Infinite both captured me due to their stories and characterization. As pretty as they were, I eventually tired of Far Cry 3 and Just Cause 2 as I just ended up wandering around aimlessly. Same thing happened with Oblivion.

I'd go with this.

In SWG, the quests were all the same (go here and kill x), no achievements, no progression (other than the professions you chose and trying to unlock Jedi), no storyline and no real 'goal'.

The entire player experience was determined by the people you met in the game and the effort the playerbase put in (resources, crafting, setting up towns, guild rivalry etc...)

If you found yourself on a server with low population you could find yourself flying on a speeder around an entire planet and not see one player.

I look upon SWG with very rose tinted glasses as the people I met made my experience amazing but I suspect if the Star Wars theme had been removed and I hadn't found myself amongst fun people, I would have dropped it like a hot potato.

You only have to look at the way WOW has adapted over the years to see the shift from Massively to Not-so-Massively (you can play on your own if you want, just give us your cash!). I suspect having an asset that is entirely dependant on the playerbase is a very risky investment in the publisher's eyes ...