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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 8714370" data-attributes="member: 85555">Expect plenty of people can define and identify a sandbox when they see it. But gaming always has different schools of thought and sandboxes are no exception. You are going to have slightly varied definitions just as you would have slightly varied definitions for something like a musical style (for some people the blues has a very rigid and clear set of parameters which you need to cleave to to truly playing the blues, but some people have a much more open approach where it is more about employing certain line cliches and leaning on blues pentatonic scales). Sandbox is widely used and widely understood. But defining any term, especially if someone is set on ripping apart is difficult to do to complete satisfaction. People can't even agree on a definition of roleplaying games for example but they most certainly exist. It is just in these discussions about meanings of terms, there are genuine disagreements about precise meaning and there are often clashes over style too that enter into term debates. By your logic then there is no such thing as a prepped game. All games ultimately rely on impromptu material no matter how much you prep in advance. And anything that exists in a prepped game, also can exist in an impromptu game. So the division is meaningless. There are just games. That is all there is. Players choosing what they want to do is the heart of play, but how much of a choice they have, what kinds of choices they have, what their expectations are in terms of what the GM brings to the table and how, those are all dependent on different styles and approaches like sandbox, adventure path, monster hunts, situational adventures, investigations, etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 8714370, member: 85555"] Expect plenty of people can define and identify a sandbox when they see it. But gaming always has different schools of thought and sandboxes are no exception. You are going to have slightly varied definitions just as you would have slightly varied definitions for something like a musical style (for some people the blues has a very rigid and clear set of parameters which you need to cleave to to truly playing the blues, but some people have a much more open approach where it is more about employing certain line cliches and leaning on blues pentatonic scales). Sandbox is widely used and widely understood. But defining any term, especially if someone is set on ripping apart is difficult to do to complete satisfaction. People can't even agree on a definition of roleplaying games for example but they most certainly exist. It is just in these discussions about meanings of terms, there are genuine disagreements about precise meaning and there are often clashes over style too that enter into term debates. By your logic then there is no such thing as a prepped game. All games ultimately rely on impromptu material no matter how much you prep in advance. And anything that exists in a prepped game, also can exist in an impromptu game. So the division is meaningless. There are just games. That is all there is. Players choosing what they want to do is the heart of play, but how much of a choice they have, what kinds of choices they have, what their expectations are in terms of what the GM brings to the table and how, those are all dependent on different styles and approaches like sandbox, adventure path, monster hunts, situational adventures, investigations, etc. [/QUOTE]

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