ED - sandbox or themepark?

[Ziggy Stardust]

That definition makes sense to me, the other definition that implies that a sandbox game must be void of all progression does not.

I admit I just typed it in google and posted the first result.

Which was at least more accurate than the OP's definition.

 

[lenna]

IMO, that definition can be applied to modern themepark games as well. What makes one game sandbox is not the freedom to roam around and approach different content as you see fit, but complex inter-connected structure where all, or most, gameplay elements, mechanics and features affect each ather in meaningful and apparent way.

Actually, it can't really - Theme Park games restrict your progression based on your initial choices. In ED this is far from the case, you can flip-flop with-in reason between roles in the game, assuming you have the in-game credits to do so (but many Sandbox games impose resource restrictions wrt what you can and can't do) and have not annoyed the wrong people (c/f optional Political elements of a sandbox game). The location of your assets can also restrict what you can or can't do at any given time but you decide where those assets persist (with-in reason) so that hardly qualifies as a Theme Park class railroading restriction.

 

[nexxo]

Good grief.

OK, remember when you were a little kid? During those hot summer holidays that seemed to last forever? You'd wrap up some sandwiches and a flask of lemonade for provisions, find a stick for a sword and you'd go off with your friends, exploring in the countryside. Adventure time! You'd be gone all day, looking for tadpoles, prowling dark woods, finding blackberries and beech nuts, building fortresses and finding pirate dens. There'd be treasure everywhere: interesting looking shells, stones, whatever. You didn't need props; you didn't need objectives; you'd use your imagination and weave your own narrative as you went along.

That is Elite Dangerous. It's not a theme park. It doesn't offer readymade entertainment served on a plate in bite size pieces: there are no rides and no rehearsed shows. It's the woods. You grab a stick and go exploring, write your own adventures, find your own treasures. Now off you go!

 

[Zmaj od Bosne]

Is ED sandbox or theme park type of game?
In short:


Theme park is game where you can find different activities (rides) that provide a specific type of fun. You can repeat a ride as many times as you want, it will always play out roughly the same (win - lose, random drops).
A mission to kill XY. You search USS/SC, you engage him, you kill him or die trying, you collect the reward. 5 mins after, you may find XY flying around and later get a mission to kill XY again. Practically repeat the ride.
You go to a EZ and you enter a ride of killing an endless wave of hostile ships. You can stop to collect reward and then repeat the ride.
Theme park before you interact with it: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/31/article-2181649-140948A2000005DC-846_634x396.jpg
Theme park after you interact with it: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/31/article-2181649-140948A2000005DC-846_634x396.jpg


Sandbox is a game where you have some in-game tools to build in game content for yourself or for a group of players. (the internet and forums are NOT in game tools, imagination is NOT an in-game tool) The sandcastles the players may build can be different each time you check. A simple sandbox may be an item you craft and sell to others. A house or base you build and show to others or use it for story purposes. A script to make AIs act or events unfold in a certain way etc. The sandbox MMO is ultimately only ever as strong as the tools that it provides to the players. The size of something does not make it a sandbox by default. You can build huge theme parks.
Sandbox before you interact with it: http://www.idea-sandbox.com/assets/images/sandbox_graphic_baby_blue.png
Sandbox after you interact with it: http://cleeng.com/open/images/brown-sandbox.jpg

It seems to me that ED is the anti-thesis for a sandbox.
ED does not give any power to the player. Heck it even impedes simple conversation and gatherings.
It was stated many times that pilots or a group of pilots should be small and meaningless in the great universal scale. Pilots should not be able to build anything or have an effect on anything. No player built bases, corporations etc. Emergent gameplay, like blockading, cornering market is not possible at all.
The ships you build for yourself are reset after sale.
The enemies you kill simply respawn. You kill for the sake of killing (killing ride).
The materials you transport are not needed or used. You transport for the sake of transporting (shipping ride).
The stellar cartography data you gather is not shared with anyone. You scout systems for the sake of it (scouting ride).
The fact that you can take multiple rides in any order does not make something a sandbox. A theme park can have many different rides and you can ride them in any order and as many times as you so desire.

If you feel ED is a sandbox, can you please share the last sand castle you built in it?

Great post. Really hits the nail on the head.

 

[Vindris]

Who cares. It's fun.

 

[nexxo]

That is all.

 

[Pendra]

Good grief.

OK, remember when you were a little kid? During those hot summer holidays that seemed to last forever? You'd wrap up some sandwiches and a flask of lemonade for provisions, find a stick for a sword and you'd go off with your friends, exploring in the countryside. Adventure time! You'd be gone all day, looking for tadpoles, prowling dark woods, finding blackberries and beech nuts, building fortresses and finding pirate dens. There'd be treasure everywhere: interesting looking shells, stones, whatever. You didn't need props; you didn't need objectives; you'd use your imagination and weave your own narrative as you went along.

That is Elite Dangerous. It's not a theme park. It doesn't offer readymade entertainment served on a plate in bite size pieces: there are no rides and no rehearsed shows. It's the woods. You grab a stick and go exploring, write your own adventures, find your own treasures. Now off you go!

Check your game folders. You can find all the rides there in a neatly named and sorted manner. EZs provide the readymade entertainment served on a plate in bite size pieces.

Building fortresses and pirate dens usually included building something. Or at least personalizing the place with stuff. That part is sadly lacking.

 

[schildawg]

I always thought "Sandbox" meant games where the developer spent so much development on the game systems, they didn't have any budget left to add any actual content =D

 

[Space Fan]

Meaningless poll, akin to:

A: Whales are fish
B: Whales are insects

It needs 2 more options: the first is:

C: neither

and the fourth:

D: I refuse to take part in a poll, whose creator expects me to make some effort in thought, when he hasn't bothered to think for a few moments about it himself.

 

[nexxo]

Check your game folders. You can find all the rides there in a neatly named and sorted manner. EZs provide the readymade entertainment served on a plate in bite size pieces.

Not as many as you think. My games are:
1. Weird
2. Exploration, much of it open ended.

Building fortresses and pirate dens usually included building something. Or at least personalizing the place with stuff. That part is sadly lacking.

Patience, young Padwan. Didn't you hear about Horizons?