Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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- 10,716
Well, it's simple. If you're going to throw away all your efforts in how the game is played, you can still keep all the arts assets you've made since you're keeping the same world/IP as the home of your game.
EQ Never
- Thread starter Convo
- Start date
Mr Creed
Too old for this shit
- 2,395
- 289
So far the engine is only used for PS2 which is first person (only in vehicles can you switch to a fixed 3rd person view), so there is at least precedent for them designing first person environments in it. Also PS2 makes money with cosmetic changes to your character (different helmet etc) and emphasizes different gun looks while strictly sticking to FPS gameplay.
Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
- 2,881
- 2,166
Imagine a large room with lots of chairs. There are two aisles set up with microphones. After the presentation they will ask people to line up and ask questions. Then it will depend on the size of the crowd whether or not you'll be able to ask a question.
When I did press on SWTOR at PAX, you had time just for 1 question.
When I did press on Defiance at NYCC, there were like 12 people there and I could ask a million questions.
Just be prepared for people to ask a million retarded, neckbeard questions ranging from lore and whether or not they will be able to buy their own pony.
No. Most people don't know what a sandbox really is. People here still call the original EQ a sandbox which is wrong.
Themepark is WOW. Each zone has a level range, you get pushed from zone to zone as you level. EQ did it with mob cons. WOW did it with quest hand holding. (Games like TSW, AOC, Rift, SWTOR, Wildstar, GW2 etc. are all themeparks)
Sandbox is more like UO or EVE (or if you want to get nerdy, ATiTD). Games like Darkfall have some sandbox features in them with building cities and towns and skill building. Essentially a Sandbox is a game that gives you tools to do things, and then says go do them and isn't just a level/gear based treadmill game.
If the majority of a game's gameplay is Kill MOB -> Gain Loot/XP -> Gain Level and repeat it's most likely a themepark.
Byr
Potato del Grande
- 3,964
- 5,649
I agree with this description. I think people have blurred the line on EQ because compared to games like Rift and EQ2, it felt completely open. You can start in a variety of cities, branch out in a few directions and accidentally end up in a zone full of death as a noob. It's still very objective driven in that your goal is to obtain that level cap, but modern MMOs have streamlined the process so much it's claustrophobic. But yeah, EQ is more themepark than most people care to admit.
When I think sandbox, I think being able to do anything I want (within reason). I think being able to play the role of someone that isn't destroyer of monsters is an option from day one to day servers shutting down. I imagine player communities and cities are a big deal. Creating a character isn't reduced to "pick class, grab ? quests, reach end game." In fact, I'd imagine the end and beginning game concepts are largely thrown into the trash.
The idea of a sandbox is that you control the territory and define the limitations; and the idea of a themepark is that you pay for the price of admission and are treated to predefined thrills.
Watched their youtube trailer, looks like a pretty neat concept. It reminds me a bit like ATiTD.
Byr
Potato del Grande
- 3,964
- 5,649
If it had more money and support behind it, its a game i could play for years. Sadly its 2 guys in a basement.
Genjiro
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 5,218
- 5,066
How so? You were shoved out the door with a starter zone just like Eve, then you were left to your own devices. It was even far more of a sandbox experience if you played on a server like Sullon Zek, because just like Eve, you controlled everyone elses progression through any means possible (training, pvp) -- even other guilds on our side. We anal fisted everyone and didnt allow anyone to even raid anything remotely current at the time. And just like Eve, we had shit where multiple guilds would form up to try and counter us since they couldn't do it alone. Unlike pretty much every other game, in that world the second your character entered the world until you logged out, you were not safe. Not in dungeons, or cities, or raiding, or anywhere. That's as "sandbox" as you are going to find in a fantasy mmorpg.
Arden
Blackwing Lair Raider
- 2,881
- 2,166
I probably missed it, but has it been confirmed this will be FTP station store pay to win bullshit? Somebody please save my Friday and say no.
It's going to be F2P. Sorry dude, that's the industry standard for every MMO not aiming for the niche.
So the analogy is a sandbox, four boards and sand, that you find in playgrounds. That said, Minecraft or Second Life are the MMOs most like a sandbox since you the player can create stuff.
Soygen
The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
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- 45,202
Ravishing
Uninspiring Title
- 8,456
- 3,577
Original EQ was a sandbox. There were no rails, nothing was required, there were no limits. You explored and made your own goals. As the game expanded it was put on rails more and more. Of course EQ isn't as much of a sandbox as Minecraft where you actually create the world you're in, but in terms of gameplay, Original EQ is certainly a sandbox game.
I would say Plane of Power and beyond is when EQ started to abandon the Sandbox
It's really not though, and I love EQ. It launched without rails, but by the vary definition of what a sanbox (IRL) is, EQ doesn't fit the bill. It's more like getting dropped into a park laid out with deathtraps around many corners. The playground is home to mildly challenging creatures oh and also an island of fucking grim reapers.
But the structure is defined and there's nothing you can do to alter the terrain.
In a sandbox, I'm given a very loose set of boundaries and maybe some tools, but the layout and design (and what you do within it) is up to you.
But the structure is defined and there's nothing you can do to alter the terrain.
In a sandbox, I'm given a very loose set of boundaries and maybe some tools, but the layout and design (and what you do within it) is up to you.