MMO Design: Theme Park or Sandbox?

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MMORPG design can be broadly broken down into 2 archetypes:
Theme park: Specific areas of specific experiences built by the designers with self contained mechanics, player cannot affect the world in general. High quality experiences contained by limitation.
Sandbox: General mechanics available all over the world with player controlled systems, the world can be actively affected by player choices. Variable quality systems not contained by limitations.
Both useful, both attract a certain demographic, but theme park is objectively more popular currently.
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