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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CharlesRyan" data-source="post: 5006378" data-attributes="member: 5265">I thought about the relation of "sandbox" to "plot" style games, as defined by the accord I've reached with RC, a bit over the weekend. Please note I am headed definitively into YMMV land here; I'm not asserting that my preferences are superior or that anyone else is wrong in their philosophy. I'm simply observing what to me are some pros and cons.So, a game is a sandbox if the GM is ready to let the players choose from among a number of adventures/directions. (Yes, I'm simplifying, stay with me.)The problem here is the GM must have a lot of content ready to go at any time. Seems to me this works best if a GM is running from published adventures, and can just pull what he needs from the shelf. It could also work for a GM who has a lot of time on his hands and loves to create lots of campaign and adventure material, but that GM will not get the satisfaction of bringing most of that to the table. For every one adventure he runs, he's created two or three others purely for the benefit of giving the players a choice of which to pursue.*(Of course, every time the players emerge from a dungeon, they don't have to have three+ new choices of where to go next. They could have the previous unexploited choices, along with perhaps one or two new ones. But in the long run, this plan ends up being very similar to the plotted, "choice-free" philosophy, only with a slightly wider content pipeline.)On the flip side, for me the advantage of the "plotted" approach is that it unlocks the story structure toolbox. If the GM has an outline for the adventure or campaign's story arc, he can take advantage of the three-act structure (or similar story theory guideline) to introduce elements into the game in a way that maximizes their impact and creates a very satisfying overall experience. The GM can build elements into the game early on that will be very significant later. He can focus on content that will very likely be used, spending time and energy make better material (as opposed to more material).* This is a serious issue in the computer game development world. Creating sandbox-like freedom of action within the world is seen as desirable, but spending--literally--millions of dollars to develop content that any given user will never experience certainly isn't. There are many approaches to this issue, but to date the industry hasn't settled on a universal solution.</blockquote>

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