Post by Morreion on Apr 28, 2010 6:53:29 GMT -5
Freedom Without Direction – The Risk of Sandbox MMORPGs (We Fly Spitfires)
Gordon makes a good point here- sandboxes are scarce because of the steep learning curve and the relative lack of direction and goals compared to theme parks that put you on rails to do what they tell you to do. The fact that sandboxes can be so much more than theme parks IMHO comes with this risk.
“Freedom is completely relative. If you don’t desire something, it doesn’t matter if you’re not free to achieve it. Freedom only matters if there’s something you want. Thus freedom is meaningless without direction.”
-Random Drunk Bloke
-Random Drunk Bloke
Let’s look at EVE Online, for instance. When I first started playing it, I was preoccupied with learning the game and understanding how it works. After a little while, however, I found myself looking at the big picture and trying to decide what I wanted to accomplish. I had read about huge intergalactic wars between corporations, the assassinations of powerful leaders and the undermining of player sovereignties through espionage and deceit. I wanted a piece of that action but I had absolutely no idea how to get there, thus all of the freedom that I had in EVE was utterly meaningless because I lacked direction. In fact, it wasn’t until that I created my own personal goals that I could appreciate the freedom I had been granted to achieve them.
I think this is the big risk with sandbox MMOs and any sort of virtual worlds. Giving the player freedom alone isn’t enough, they have to have goals and a direction to go in. Without that, any freedom is completely meaningless because they have no motivation or needs.
It’s undoubtedly a tough thing to balance and probably one of the reasons why we see so few sandbox MMOs these days. The unsuccessful ones, like the original Star Wars: Galaxies, failed because they had grand ideas but were unable to deliver on both the smaller goals and overarching direction for the player. Who cared if you could mine your own resources and have dozens of the different professions – there was nothing worthwhile to accomplish by doing so.
I think this is the big risk with sandbox MMOs and any sort of virtual worlds. Giving the player freedom alone isn’t enough, they have to have goals and a direction to go in. Without that, any freedom is completely meaningless because they have no motivation or needs.
It’s undoubtedly a tough thing to balance and probably one of the reasons why we see so few sandbox MMOs these days. The unsuccessful ones, like the original Star Wars: Galaxies, failed because they had grand ideas but were unable to deliver on both the smaller goals and overarching direction for the player. Who cared if you could mine your own resources and have dozens of the different professions – there was nothing worthwhile to accomplish by doing so.
Gordon makes a good point here- sandboxes are scarce because of the steep learning curve and the relative lack of direction and goals compared to theme parks that put you on rails to do what they tell you to do. The fact that sandboxes can be so much more than theme parks IMHO comes with this risk.
