So people have been referring to this game as "themepark MMO" but recently I've been questioning if that term really fits. Themeparks are marked by developer driven gameplay. They set you on a path and you ride the rides. To some extent, that seems to be true for this game's initial PvE experience. There are leveled zones that the player progresses through in sequence, completing content and then moving past it.

On the other hand, it seems to differ from traditional themeparks in important ways. To begin with, its been said that there are no obvious signs (other than a small load) that you are moving between zones. Things like the big blue energy gates in GW2 make it very obvious that zones are separate from each other. Without those, the world is going to feel much more integrated and "sandboxy" if you will. Just the perception that the world is continuous is an important change in my mind.

More to the point, player actions are not placed "on rails" by the developer. To continue in the main story, you will have to complete certain missions before you can get to later ones. But that was true of Oblivion and Skyrim as well (though not Morrowind.) Much of the rest of the content, such as side quests, dungeons, and exploration, is optional. Players choose where to go and in what order they wish to complete the content. Exploration is entirely up to you, but you are rewarded for scrutiny with skyshards and Mundus stones.

The question for me is, are leveled zones really what differentiates a sandbox from a themepark? If that's true then Morrowind is a themepark RPG. In that game, enemies did not scale to your level. Their stats were fixed. And some areas had more difficult enemies and content than other areas. Woe be to the level 1 Morrowind player who ventures into Red Mountain. Yet, Morrowind is in many ways the most "sandboxy" of the Elder Scrolls games (as mentioned earlier you can complete the main quest without doing almost any of the prerequisites.)

On top of all that, the things that can be claimed to be "themepark elements" only really apply to 1/4th of the content. Your initial PvE play through in your home faction has leveled zones, your PvE in Cyrodiil, 50+, and 50++ do not. Cyrodiil scales everyone to level 50, is a contiguous zone, and does not lock any content based on player level (after you're allowed to enter at level 10.) It is, in every sense of the word, a sandbox. That's not even to mention PvP (which is an inherently player driven activity) or destructible environments (a staple of sandbox games.) Many of the same things can be said about 50+ and 50++. Once you enter a second Alliance zone, all content is scaled to level 50. That means there is literally nothing stopping you from completing all content in that Alliance's territory in whatever order you choose.

For what its worth, I'm apparently not the only person who thinks this way. Several recent gameplay impression articles have described the experience as "open world" (such as http://gamerpvssyr.com/2013/08/05/preview-the-elder-scrolls-online-from-quakecon-2013/

I think ESO is best viewed as a hybrid between a themepark and a sandbox. And I think that's great. By taking the more focused and meaningful story of a themepark and combining it with the player freedom and world immersion of a sandbox, ESO will have an edge over both traditional themepark MMOs and upcoming sandbox titles like EverQuest Next, Black Desert, and ArcheAge.

Do you agree?

I've always considered ESO as a hybrid of the two different styles. Yeah, there are a lot of themepark elements to the game, but there are some sandbox type elements to it too. And that's basically what the TES series of games are like, they are hybrid games too. They aren't fully sandbox, because there are still elements of themepark in them.

Sandpark? Themebox?

Sandthemeparkbox.

But yeah ESO clearly has elements of both styles. The RvR style PvP in particular with keep sieges and destructible walls and needing to rebuild walls and the open style class system are very much sand box elements. The lvling and quest lines are themepark but less linear and on rails as some past MMO's. So to me it seems like ESO is trying to implement the best of both while reducing the bad of both as well.

ESO is Themepark, but I see a lot of people being confused because ESO is also open world and allows you certain choices - which is irrelevant.

Themepark simply means that all the content that players can experience is pre-made by developers. So for example, you can have a choice at to do Quest A or Quest B, but both Quests are pre-made by developers. Open World has nothing to do whether a game is Themepark or Sandbox. Just like in a actual Themepark, there is an open world to explore and choose the rides you want to go to, but once you are in a particular ride, those rides are pre-made.

By contract, in Sandbox games, the players can create their own content. For a example in a Sandbox game you may be able to build your own castle, the way you like it, and raise an army and attack other players' castles and conquer them. Or create your own trade company and build ships and trade with other players and NPCs.

ESO is Themepark because all the content we will experience is created by the developers. You are free to choose which quest to do first, but all quests are pre-made. Even the AvAvA is scripted: there will be specific keeps that developers have created and specific objectives that developers have created. Thus ESO is Themepark.

If you want a Hybrid game, check out Everquest Next.

Edit: To respond to Pangscar's post about rebuilding a broken wall. That's not a Sandbox element. You will only be able to fix a broken wall the way it was created by developers. You will not be able to build your own keep and make your own walls. It would be cool if you could though.

By that definition none of the Elder Scrolls games are sandboxes, which is what they are always classified as.

And this game does have player created content. Its called PvP. All of the interactions and all of the tension is player created. The developers give you the world (the sandbox itself) and the tools (like a shovel, a rake, and a bucket with a sifter on the bottom) and you just play.

This vid gives a nice breakdown of the differences, I'll link right to the time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvK8fua6O64&t=3m22s

The point of a sandbox isn't that developers don't build anything or give you anything to do. Its that they don't give you direction.

From what we know so far, how much of a sandbox is ESO in reality? Yes you can roam freely but are restricted by leveled zones. I personally wish ESO could use the skryim method of leveling the entire world as you level up and not just have leveled areas. Im sure Ill get used to it quickly, but at first the lack of a complete sandbox open-world will be somewhat dissapointing.

I hate the sandbox vs themepark dichotomy. It's simple reductionism that doesn't tell you anything about the actual features of the game, and only serves to speak ill of open-world games like ESO by grouping them with straight-on-rails MMOs.

A "real sandbox", where players can create and change the contents of the game, would not even work in a TES game without ruining the whole experience. As Todd Howard once said, in TES, the world is the main character, and it's there for the player to explore and enjoy. This requires carefully designed environments and quest content that is in accordance with the lore to pull it off, which would immediately put any TES game into the themepark category.

But really, who cares? It doesn't matter if it's a sandbox or a themepark, it has to be Elder Scrolls.

Did you read the OP? I think I addressed those points already. Fine if you disagree, but let me give you my point of view.

"you are restricted by leveled zones." Are you? Or are you restricted by the fact that there are tougher monsters in those zones? There is a difference. Zone restrictions means you cannot enter (inviso walls.) Monster restrictions means: enter at your own risk. Morrowind had monster restrictions and it was very much a sandbox.

"I personally wish ESO could use the Skyrim method of leveling the entire world as you level up." Bleh. I kinda hate that system to be honest. I still love Skyrim, but I prefer the Morrowind system. Having tougher areas that you can't complete at first makes you feel like you're actually getting more powerful as your character progresses. In Morrowind, I would often wander into a dungeon and get absolutely destroyed by the inhabitants. I would then have to make a mental note to avoid that place until my character was stronger and could handle it. When I came back 5 level ups later, the fact that I could now defeat the inhabitants made me feel as though I'd made some meaningful progress.

In Skyrim that never really happened to me. I could always handle all of the content that was thrown my way. If I did have a bit of trouble with a dungeon and left to come back later (which I never did) I would find that all of the dungeons inhabitants were trapped at the level I had been when I first encountered them, making them way too easy.

If you prefer that system though, 3/4ths of the game uses it. Cyrodiil, 50+, and 50++ all have leveled content, allowing you to go anywhere at any time.

By that argument, neither WoW nor SWTOR is a themepark game, which is clearly nonsense. None of the current MMOs (that I know of), restrict zones by level, only by content. You can run through Felwood at level 1 (and probably die), but you can do it. Same with GW2, etc, etc.

Everything we've seen from ESO lately reinforces themepark to me. Leveled zones, single player questline, and nothing to do but quest or spelunk except the pvp mosh pit in cyrodil. Here is the pretty desert, there is the mushroom kingdom, over there is the forest... how do you like the rides? Being able to find the rides on your own is nice, I suppose, but last I heard, the rides are staked out with floating signs so you can find them.

I saw no pony rides or a dunking booth here =(

Unfortunately anything that looks Linear in the slightest people are going to smack the theme park label on it. " Well if i cant do what i want at alll times them omg its theme park this games gonna svck eggs!"

Never understood the sub genre labels.. why cant it be just a game... maybe im too old and get off my lawnish about it..

I say we give it a new name.... F U N!

The Broette speaks much truth.

Bottom line is the only categorys that really matter are: A.) Fun game B.) Not fun game. If A play it, if B move on.

Well it gets hard to parse the features that belong in one or the other, but the point was that varying content difficulties in various zones does not automatically make it a themepark. I'm definitely not trying to argue that this game is full sandbox though.

Its not true that there is nothing to do but quest though. Exploration is its own reward. There is also fishing, crafting, and trading, all of which are player driven activities (though I might mention to the developers that dueling would be another nice addition on that line.)

I guess it all depends on what your definitions of sandbox and theme park are. It is a matter a degrees and many people have differing definitions. I know of no "official" definition handed down by the Gaming Gods but only a general idea about what they mean. I would place TESO in the hybrid category but more heavily theme park than sandbox with maybe a 70/30 split from what I can tell so far. Other peoples opinions will certainly differ. Even with many "official" sandbox games there are many restrictions on what players can do and how they experience the game. I agree with Pangscar though, whatever label you want to slap on it is irrelevant to me. The only thing that matters to me is whether it is enjoyable to play or not and that includes on how well the Devs make me feel like I am existing in the world of ES lore.