LostSoul
Adventurer
This is certainly true. The greatest thing a DM can ask for is motivated and engaged players. A sandbox game doesn't come together if the players simply look to to the DM and say " Here we are now. Entertain us."
I wonder how much the game system can do here. I mean, if the players really want the DM to entertain them, there's not that much that can be done; but for your average player, even ones who're used to DM-driven games, is it possible to use the system to get the kind of play you want?
The last campaign I ran floundered because of this. Most of the players were used to DM-driven games but I wanted player-driven games, and I was experimenting with the "urban sandbox" which I don't know how to do. The combination made the game drag more often than not.
I've made some changes to my system based on this and I'm starting up again tonight! One of the players is, I think, used to more of a DM-driven game; after he made his PC he started asking about jobs the NPCs wanted him to do, instead of coming right out with a self-defined goal. (Which could be a property of the setting; it may not be exciting enough to grab his interest.) Anyway, it'll be a decent test of the changes I've made.