With the allowance that the term sandbox will, by necessity, be somewhat abused, let there be words!
My thought is that something like the Portal Corporation could be used to provide a limited sandbox experience. As an example, let us presume a fairly typical Edgar Rice Burroughs setting. There are the primitive humans and the 'others'. (That is not to say that there could not be a third or even fourth group, but that is a bit much for merely illustrative purposes.) The PC putters around, punches a few dinosaurs, and might come across someone. Perhaps the person needs help, or merely sends the PC to the nearest village/city. The PC explores the place a bit, decides he likes the place, and develops a To Do list.[color=red]*[/color]
We shall assume that, in the course of checking off the items on the list, the PC will encounter the other group.[color=red]**[/color] The PC might bang some heads (perhaps as a direct or indirect result of the To Do list), or they might talk to them, or both. The PC decides he likes them, as well, and also helps them out. Or not. Cue a variety of scenarios for the PC's actions to take, from a middle ground to the extreme. By necessity the PC will eventually exhaust their time and/or options and goes back to the future (or wherever).
Next, we shall assume that Portal Corp can only find/open another portal to that place 50 years (or 150 years, or 500 years) in the future. The setting has changed based on the PC's earlier actions. Perhaps the PC themselves has become a mythical or legendary figure who is loved/reviled. Maybe there is now war between the two groups. And an invader. Or there is peace between the groups. And an invader. Or one of the groups was wiped out. And there is an invader. Perhaps there are (also) intelligent dinosaurs.[color=red]***[/color] Maybe both groups were wiped out and replaced by a highly advanced dinosaur civilization.[color=red]****[/color] Naturally (no pun intended) there is also the requisite volcano that is about to explode and kill everyone.
The PC returns! Portal Corp finds one more portal, another Y years in the future of that place. The PC thinks, "Why not? How much more damage could I possible do?" The PC discovers...
Well, you get the idea.
I presume this would involve quite a bit of work, especially if the PC's actions factor along different scales and allow for non-binary results. This leads in to the obvious question:
Is it worth the bother (i.e. would people enjoy this type of content/story arc)?
Given the limited scope, would such an idea be better served by the themepark/quest hub paradigm?
Thoughts or questions in general?
[br]
[color=red]*[/color] One actually has to go around and talk to people and look for things to do. No convenient collection of exclamation marks standing by a town crier who's shouting, "OMG quests here!"
[color=red]**[/color] This touches on the 'how' problem. A normal mission map might feel too cramped, while a separate (mini-)zone would probably exceed the scope of the idea.
[color=red]***[/color] OMG dude, what did you [i]do[/i]?!
[color=red]****[/color] Okay, seriously, we're never letting you go through another portal.[color=red]*****[/color]
[color=red]*****[/color] Well, a dinosaur civilization is kinda rad. We'll think about it.
- - - - -
[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
I love sandboxes, but I love it more when the player can create their own content: from races or obstacle courses, puzzle and riddle mazes, or just plan old PvP zones, or your own personalized "You will never beat this raid, Muhaha!"
I just love what Carbine have said about their raids: They DO NOT plan to make them easier unless there is something *seriously* wrong with their balancing (as in an ability fires off 10x more often than it should, that kind of thing).
Once the Raid is as it should be, they wont be making it easier. Infact, some of the raids will change what bosses you fight on a *weekly* time table (across all servers, the boss setup will be the same).
I love the idea, Darth. Sounds like all we really need is branching arc technology to make this work, which of course could have application in the rest of the game as well, so it wouldn't be a development effort that applies only in one narrow area. This would simply be a time-travel-based application of it -- something I find quite interesting. I've always liked the idea of re-visiting a map that has been modified through events/actions/time. Kinda like Cimerora in the Incarnate arc, or the old Hexen FPS, where you'd visit a map of an ancient ruin and then travel back in time to when it was still newly constructed.
While I'm waxing reminiscent, your example has me fondly remembering Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire.
Spurn all ye kindle.
Right, the basic structure of branching story lines is nothing new. The complexity, and thus the difficulty, comes into play with how variable they are and how they interact. A potential comparison is to the scientific advancement system in the Civilization games, where at certain points the scientific advancement will unlock technologies. Without getting hung up on the term, one could view it as faction standing that is followed across several bars. Advance one bar and a certain result is triggered that will have an impact on the next visit. If the PC's action advance it farther, another result is triggered (or unlocked, if one prefers). Another action/activity will impact another bar, which will trigger its own results and interact with one or more other bars/events.
Simplistic example: PC shows the natives how to find (mine) and smelt metals. They will eventually learn to make better and stronger tools (including weapons). PC did not show or help the natives with any information about farming. On the next visit the natives are a militaristic/raider society because they had to begin stealing from their neighbors in order to survive.
If the mission architect allows players to build missions with such variables that would be great, although I suspect that this may demand more space than MWM is comfortable making available on a per mission / story arc basis.
- - - - -
[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!