Open-world sandbox games

[pontifex]

I don't get them and i don't know why I keep trying them...

So in the steam sale I got Mount and Blade: Warband collection. Had been watching Robbaz's videos and looked like fun.

Wtf am I supposed to do in this game? Everyone but a few random bandits have massive armies. I gotta go around and ask every stupid villager to recruit people and even then sometimes there is no one to recruit or you get 1 guy.

I can't get a noble guy to let me recruit until I have 150 renown, which takes forever to get.

Then it takes forever to level up the guys you do recruit (if they don't die during a bandit fight, which is difficult).

Most of the time the villagers don't have tasks, nor do the nobles.

So I just run around and kill bandits????


And then other snadbox games I get bored after awhile because there is no goal, unless you make one, but then it's kind of pointless to be playing. Minecraft is one. I played that for awhile but after you do so much, there's no point to it. DayZ, 7 Days to Die, etc...

 

[magomago]

Thats been my issue with sandbox games, or open games that continue on endlessly like WOW...it is a MASSIVE time sink. The time that could be spent doing many many other things just gets sucked in by a black box vortex (although I do think that Minecraft can be a great learning tool, especially with all those electronics and physics mods).

I've actually shifted back towards single player, story focused games with discrete beginning middle and ends. 8 to 10 hours is now actually exactly what i want...to think that 10 years ago I cringed in horror when a game was had <25 hours of gameplay.

Edit: That said, some games are borderline okay if they have campaigns like Total War. But even then I have to think seriously how much I want to play it because the campaign itself can and does last hundreds of hours.

 

[Hinda65]

Have you tried Saints Row IV? Just Cause 2? Dark Souls?

those will have a little more structure too them (maybe not DS) while still being able to do a bunch crazy stuff.

 

[pontifex]

Have you tried Saints Row IV? Just Cause 2? Dark Souls?

those will have a little more structure too them (maybe not DS) while still being able to do a bunch crazy stuff.

I liked JC 2 but it got old after awhile also. I have one of the Saints Row games, not sure if it's 3 or 4 but got bored with that also. Same with GTA games.

 

[ThinClient]

Here's another vote for Just Cause 2.

It's one of my favorite games. Easily in my top 5.

Just Cause 3 is in production *bounces up and down in anticipation*

 

[shortylickens]

You played Kerbal yet?

 

[pontifex]

You played Kerbal yet?

Yep and got bored very quickly

 

[shortylickens]

Yep and got bored very quickly

I dont like you any more.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Space Engineers? It's basically lego spaceships!

 

[pontifex]

I dont like you any more.

Part of it could be no idea wtf i am supposed to in it. Same with mount and blade.

I like watching robbaz play it though.

 

[TheSlamma]

stop trying sandbox games

I hate heights, it's why I never tried being a window washer. Cool huh?

 

[Zenoth]

Maybe it's as simple as that type of game not being for you?

If not then perhaps you just need games that have some mixture of sandbox and direction / linearity. A game like Dragon Age: Inquisition is one such example (I.E. it has big sandbox maps, but also has linearity coming from main and side quests). Or something like the STALKER games as well (sandbox maps, not too large, and you have quests). A game like Skyrim also had good-enough direction to it... if you do follow it. In Skyrim you just need to mostly follow the main quests and you'd be set for a "regular" 30 to 35'ish hours of relatively-linear game-play. But it can also be an "endless" game if you make it so (of course especially if you start modding it, then you lose your life).

There's not many sandbox games that I know of myself that "force" you to do just wander aimlessly. But there are sandbox games that don't indicate what to do clearly-enough or perhaps soon-enough (or there's too long-lasting gaps between interesting quests to keep you involved and compelled to continue). Usually it's up to the player to "follow" quests and not get lost in the open for days. Now there's of course also the job coming from the devs who themselves have to create a good-enough story-line that will compel the player to actually follow one or two specific paths, or routes.

And indeed some sandbox games don't have much of a "goal" to them, unless you make one yourself (indeed Minecraft is one of the best examples I can think of for such games). I guess that for some gamers out there what will distinguish a "good" sandbox game to a "bad" one is the overall quality (fun) and clarity of the game's direction. Additionally, in some sandbox games you get to create your own character, and more often then not there's either barely or simply no "connection" with that character whatsoever. For example, I find it excessively difficult to "role-play" Elder Scrolls games simply because I don't give a rat's arse about my own protagonist (didn't care in Morrowind, in Oblivion and still don't in Skyrim).

I for one do appreciate a good story-driven, linear game, just as well as a sandbox game that doesn't hold my hands and lets me free. I just... choose them I guess (I do usually know what I wouldn't like). I don't know if it's a "problem" per say, but many devs seem to go with "sandbox" more often since the past couple of years. Even the next Mass Effect will be focused on exploration (I do hope that if they create big maps that we'll have interesting things to do in them, more than just fetch quest MMORPG-style).

The next "big" sandbox-style game that I'm very curious about is of course The Witcher 3. That's another one that so far does seem to combine good linearity (thanks to quests) and open-ended world freedom.

 

[BSim500]

They're good when they're done well, but it's hard to do them well without ending up showing blatant "filler" or turning it into a "grind-fest" just to meet an arbitrary number of triple-digit hours gameplay as a marketing gimmick. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim are about the only open-world games I've truly enjoyed. For most RPG's I prefer the middle-ground of having a linear overall main plot chapter / act progression, but a high degree of freedom within each chapter / act. Neverwinter Nights / Dragon Age Origins, etc, style gameplay is the sweet spot for me, as I find the "structured freedom" style of play a lot less boring than the "go anywhere and do anything in theory, yet in practice, end up up doing exactly the same thing (fetch / kill side-quests, etc) over & over again as a number chasing exercise"...

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm with you. Can't really get into those games. I enjoyed Just Cause 2 for a short while, but then I got bored. Really the only open one I enjoyed was Saints Row 3; that one seemed more structured so I was able to easily do the storyline.

KT

 

[Stringjam]

Or something like the STALKER games as well (sandbox maps, not too large, and you have quests).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one game that did it right. The mix of environment + structures + underground labs.

I never felt bored playing that game, or that what I was doing was repetitive.

My problem with most big open-world games is that they're so outdoor based, with very little enterable structure (Just Cause 2.....ahem....). It's also my big gripe with the FarCry series, as much as I love it.

 

[Danrr]

You do not like the sandbox genre, there is nothing wrong with that.

Many people, including me, creates their own story and missions on sandbox game, I thinks that's the way best way to enjoy sandbox games, you can be and do what ever you want, you just need to create your own missions and goals.

In DayZ for example, sometimes I like to play like a scavenger to survive, sometimes a bandit that likes to snipe new spawns, sometimes I'm a medic and I help people.

Same as minecraft, I like to build awesome evil lairs/castles built-in a mountain with a complex mine, or sometimes I'm a farmer who likes to automates everything and produce like 20 tons of wheat daily just for my satisfaction.

My point is with sandbox games YOU decide what you are supposed to do or be, if you like a game when you have a name and a story, missions, nemesis, goals, etc. a clear path to follow maybe sandbox games are not for you.

 

[justoh]

...was pretty good too. Set in Hong Kong, making it a bit different (you drive on the wrong side of the road and all!).

 

[norseamd]

sigh

Guess I have to consider the possibility that somehow I am the only one who actually knows how to play this amazing game.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Warband is one of the best games of all time. You do some missions,kill some bandits, raise some troops, improve your skills and your gear. It can be a bit grindy, but significantly less than most MMO games.

People also like to do multiplayer/head to head ...

 

[BurnItDwn]

My favorite things about warband though, are once you get to the larger scale, and you siege/capture castles, start your own kingdom, and expand, and defend against huge sieges, and fight badly outnumbered but still manage to pull it off ...