Jump to content

Sandbox and scripted games


Nox
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've played in scripted plot games (scripted to various degrees) but I've never played in a sandbox game. 

 

The benefit to a scripted plot is an easy to follow storyline and everyone follows the dots to the end.  In my opinion, the bad thing about a scripted plot is the feeling that the story is moving along on rails and I don't need to post because nothing my character does makes a difference.

 

From reading the mention of sandbox games other places, I get that liking or disliking sandbox games is a matter of personal preference, but what are some benefits and pitfalls to this type of game?

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I've never played on a sandbox site, just ones with some degree of guided plot.

 

I was wondering, of those who have played on sandbox sites, what have been the pros and cons? 

 

I imagine one difficulty might be having a dozen players all going in a dozen different directions at once and no one really playing - together - . But I could be wrong, I have no actual knowledge to base that impression on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on your definition of "Sandbox". I personally wouldn't consider a site who's "plot" consists of "X and Y are trying to kill each other/takeovercity/etc" to be scripted - it's just part of the environment. To me a scripted site is one that has "You have to go through x-y-z for ultimately THIS ending"; not a site that has "universe rules" that need to be followed (for example, any fandom RP - the rules of the canon universe are just tools to play with in the sandbox)

 

Alternatively, if a group of players all come together and start running on a random plot they created that affects the environment presented for other players, does that mean the site is no longer a sandbox now that somebody created a plot, regardless of how open ended the plot is?

 

Essentially, I believe that anything with an Open-Ending qualifies as sandbox. The Sandbox having a THEME to it shouldn't change the fact that its the player's choice what happens.

  • I read this! 2

 

OnyxSiggy1.jpg.c76f2c1acc64a865bdf5164f4c085020.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, not an RP example, but when I think of a sandbox, I think of EVE Online. It's a MMORPG in space, where you fly ships and shoot things, be they other players or NPC's. Which does not even do it justice because you can do SO. MUCH. just on a whim! You could run missions. You could be a pirate and kill the people running missions. You could go out into the sectors where the law is nonexistent and carve out your own chunk of space, and then fight other people who did the same thing. You can run a corporation, or be the person who sneaks into a corp and destroys it from within. That's not even scratching the surface. The galaxy is literally your oyster. But there's still some overarching story. The races, the interactions between them, a slowly-evolving war story, all of the parts are there, but they don't necessarily impact your day-to-day playing.

 

I could never get into EVE. Waaaaaaay too much math (I don't wanna think while I game, GOSH). :-P But for me it was mostly that the sheer scope of it was paralyzing to me. When I had so many choices, what was to stop me making the wrong ones? That's how sandbox games are for me, but worse. EVE had gameplay rules to guide what you can and cannot do. RP is far more fluid than that. And I'm the sort of person who needs to know where the walls and boundaries are before I can start to push them.

 

But the question: sandboxes give the players a great deal more control, which is absolutely a thing that a lot of people love. A lot of folks aren't like me and like to see where the lines are, but will instead feel claustrophobic when hemmed in too much. They like taking a more direct hand in things. The fantastic thing about this is that it does tend to lead to a lot more creativity and spontaneity. Let people build their sand castles and some of them will be mighty indeed. But then a lot of the time they... aren't. So it's a bit of a risk. And of course, if things aren't going where the staff likes, it may irritate them, which in turn can sap their desire to work on something they've come to dislike. 

 

With something more scripted, it's like, the board admin has some story they want to tell, and they're going to go through it with us! I was on a site for a while where players ran missions that were basically DM'd by the staff, and that was cool. They used NPC's to guide us through to our ultimate goal for victory \o/ It was absolutely a more structured environment, at least during mission time. It's nice, a lot of the time, to have a goal laid out. A lot of players respond to that. But... what if your staff are terrible storytellers? What if they just flake and don't want to put in the effort that such a structure requires? It's a LOT more work on staff, which can burn them out, in which case there's no one at the helm and the story stops.

 

After thinking about it, the site I'm on is somewhere in-between. It's not HEAVILY structured, but there is a lot of lore laid out, there are site plots and mini-plots, lots of events (which are occasionally a bit guided). I feel like the middle-ground works for me. There's structure, but I still have the room to make what I like and spread my wings.

  • I read this! 3
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Kittenmitten said:

Okay, not an RP example, but when I think of a sandbox, I think of EVE Online. It's a MMORPG in space, where you fly ships and shoot things, be they other players or NPC's. Which does not even do it justice because you can do SO. MUCH. just on a whim! You could run missions. You could be a pirate and kill the people running missions. You could go out into the sectors where the law is nonexistent and carve out your own chunk of space, and then fight other people who did the same thing. You can run a corporation, or be the person who sneaks into a corp and destroys it from within. That's not even scratching the surface. The galaxy is literally your oyster. But there's still some overarching story. The races, the interactions between them, a slowly-evolving war story, all of the parts are there, but they don't necessarily impact your day-to-day playing.

 

I could never get into EVE. Waaaaaaay too much math (I don't wanna think while I game, GOSH). :-P But for me it was mostly that the sheer scope of it was paralyzing to me. When I had so many choices, what was to stop me making the wrong ones? That's how sandbox games are for me, but worse. EVE had gameplay rules to guide what you can and cannot do. RP is far more fluid than that. And I'm the sort of person who needs to know where the walls and boundaries are before I can start to push them.

 

But the question: sandboxes give the players a great deal more control, which is absolutely a thing that a lot of people love. A lot of folks aren't like me and like to see where the lines are, but will instead feel claustrophobic when hemmed in too much. They like taking a more direct hand in things. The fantastic thing about this is that it does tend to lead to a lot more creativity and spontaneity. Let people build their sand castles and some of them will be mighty indeed. But then a lot of the time they... aren't. So it's a bit of a risk. And of course, if things aren't going where the staff likes, it may irritate them, which in turn can sap their desire to work on something they've come to dislike. 

 

With something more scripted, it's like, the board admin has some story they want to tell, and they're going to go through it with us! I was on a site for a while where players ran missions that were basically DM'd by the staff, and that was cool. They used NPC's to guide us through to our ultimate goal for victory \o/ It was absolutely a more structured environment, at least during mission time. It's nice, a lot of the time, to have a goal laid out. A lot of players respond to that. But... what if your staff are terrible storytellers? What if they just flake and don't want to put in the effort that such a structure requires? It's a LOT more work on staff, which can burn them out, in which case there's no one at the helm and the story stops.

 

After thinking about it, the site I'm on is somewhere in-between. It's not HEAVILY structured, but there is a lot of lore laid out, there are site plots and mini-plots, lots of events (which are occasionally a bit guided). I feel like the middle-ground works for me. There's structure, but I still have the room to make what I like and spread my wings.

 

I joined a new site recently which is more of a panfandom and original rp site and they allow d20 games on there, such as Dnd, where non-staff members can run a game if they want to. As I started out role-playing Dnd, a Dnd game is something which very much appeals to me, but when I looked on the ones that they had on there, I found that one of the non-staff members who were running one had flaked and another which I would have been interested in joining, didn't have enough members interested in it to even start. (I found this problem occurring on a Star Wars fan site which has GM/DM run games. I suppose in someways these games could be considered scripted as they have a GM running them. Now, although I'd like to join in with one of those, I'm reluctant to do so because what if the person running it disappears? I'd trust a staff member on a site more to run one of these types of games because as staff, they are more likely to stick around and see it though.

  • I read this! 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

For me, it depends on the genre. Some genres need at least a skeleton of a plot. Such as some lore for a land. It gives guidelines and some reality to a new place. It lies down a foundation. However, there are a lot of detailed plots out there, and in that case, it seems as though my character has little wiggle room. Like being guided on a pre-determined story when I want to create it myself. That's why I prefer the sandbox way so that multiple of these plots can be created by the members themselves based on the characters that they created. It adds more variety and more possibilities. So, it really depends on the genre and that genre's needs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.