The qualities of "Theme Park" and "Sand Box" MMO's

In the world of MMO's there are roughly two schools of thought that a game can be divided in; On the one hand we have the so called "Theme Park" MMO's that try to provide developer created content for players to engage with. These MMO's often take players by the hand and guide them through the game world, pointing out the important sights and generally trying to ensure that players always have a clear idea of what they should be doing.

World of Warcraft is the most famous and popular "Theme Park" type MMO of them all

On the other hand you have the "Sand Box" MMO's that are much more interested in giving players an open world for them to create their own gameplay in. Here there is often very little developer created content beyond the actual game world and basic mechanics and enemies. The point of these games is that players are truly the masters of their own destiny, able to create the experience that they want.

I wrote an article about these two types of MMO's and their strengths and weaknesses over on MMOCrunch and I encourage you to go check it out.

It's a design dilemma that I think has become very relevant with the impending release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. That game is very clearly in the "Theme Park" category of MMO's, with an extensive main class storyline that drives players forward through the game world.
It will be interesting to see how SWTOR is going to handle the typical problems of "Theme Park" MMO's, particularly the issue of creating a compelling end game experience for the players.



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