tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4832866431918588129.post4462902799680152736..comments2024-02-25T08:15:47.886-05:00Comments on Professor Pope: "Missions" and Sandbox PlayNakiaPopehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17406561137170462267noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4832866431918588129.post-7572289312270838692012-01-17T09:36:36.541-05:002012-01-17T09:36:36.541-05:00Thanks for the comments, all! One thing they'...Thanks for the comments, all! One thing they've made me think about is, perhaps, a difference between missions and plot hooks. The former are very explicit -- "go X and get Y" sort of things, where the later are more like campaign dressing until the players latch on: "The old man in the bar tells you about a great treasure in the Forbidden Mountain."NakiaPopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17406561137170462267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4832866431918588129.post-29365776261739984122012-01-13T18:33:38.793-05:002012-01-13T18:33:38.793-05:00I'd say missions are fine. Like so many things...I'd say missions are fine. Like so many things, it's all in how they are used. In the game I'm playing now, our GM gives us at least one new rumor/plot hook practically every time we arrive in a new place and/or meet a new NPC (in a town/in a dungeon/in the wilderness, wherever), We've followed up on a few, ignored the vast majority -- but it was always our choice and our mission. Our GM has never imposed any course of action on us. What's more, these additional hooks pop up while we're in the middle of some mission we've already given ourselves, so we always have the opportunity to hop from one to the other if we want (we tend not to -- but again that's our choice too).Chris C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08655640273250716377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4832866431918588129.post-22607442782914328142012-01-13T16:31:08.761-05:002012-01-13T16:31:08.761-05:00If I've learned anything about how I want my f...If I've learned anything about how I want my future sandbox to run from playing Skyrim over the winter break from school, it's that you want to have a combination of all of them. The key is to give enough options for the players to have the choice of their poison (or have their hand forced by consequences of previous choices).Higgipediahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15898074416237354260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4832866431918588129.post-27101811215796307462012-01-13T14:21:10.464-05:002012-01-13T14:21:10.464-05:00Ya, sandbox is all about missions or plot hooks or...Ya, sandbox is all about missions or plot hooks or whatever you want to call them. A sandbox is players in a place with toys and in this particular case the toys are missions. Its a sandbox because they get to pick which toys that are scattered around in the sand to play with, not because your only allowed to play with sand. I don't think anyone who ever ran sandboxes said that you weren't allowed to put in lots of plot hooks, adventures, missions, quests and such, however a lot of people on the internet seem to think that the term sandbox precludes these things. It's the same people that won't let you like both DC and Marvel comics I expect.<br />Also old school play isn't synonymous with sandbox style games, a lot of old games were railroads too.Toddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04921387967662542436noreply@blogger.com