Whe to use a sandbox setting?

[Yora]

Sandboxes are often treated as a way of running a game. But really you are not playing sandbox, you are playing in a sandbox. I don't think that's the same thing.
If you got a group of randomly rolled characters who just want to go into dungeons and make XP and loot to upgrade their characters, and go to whatever dungeon is nearest, you don't need a sandbox.
In a game where the PCs take side in a complex political conflict and want to plot and spy against their rivals, you don't have any use for generic dungeons and villages the players can visit as they please.
However, when the campaign is about stopping an invading army of monsters by finding the enemy generals and setting traps for them or forming an alliance of local groups, a sandbox setting would be very useful, even though there is a predetermined goal and secondary objectives the PCs have to complete.

Sandbox alone is not a campaign concept, I see it more like a tool that is useful to put certain concepts into action.
What campaign concepts would you say benefit the most from having a sandbox setting ready, and in what cases is it unnecessary or even unhelpful?

[Sartharina]

If you got a group of randomly rolled characters who just want to go into dungeons and make XP and loot to upgrade their characters, and go to whatever dungeon is nearest, you don't need a sandbox.Actually... while a group might start out like this, the players usually quickly grab hold of points of interest in the dungeon, random rumors, and their character, and expand outward from there to a sandbox. Sure, their first dungeon may be random - but it provides clues to other dungeons, their shenanigans in the tavern open up other areas, they might find themselves chased out of town by going on a crime spree and need to find somewhere else, and as personalities develop from these rolled characters, they start wanting to take more direction for themselves.

[inexorabletruth]

I think sandbox settings are best when dealing with mature, contemplative players who want a complex and interactive world. (That doesn't imply that scripted or module campaigns are for immature people... I'm just saying that's the group that gets the most out of sandboxes.)

I mostly run sandbox-style campaigns with no fixed end-game in mind. I dangle some interesting hooks in front of the players and let them do what they wish, adjudicating the effects of their actions as they go until a story arc fleshes itself out. But I find that new players struggle with this concept... so do drunk players.

When I'm introducing a new player to the game, I try to use something that is a bit more focused, with a clearly stated villain, mission and reward.

So, to answer your question:
What campaign concepts would you say benefit the most from having a sandbox setting ready, and in what cases is it unnecessary or even unhelpful?

The best campaign concepts for sandbox settings are open-ended concepts. The world should be detailed and well fleshed-out, but the story arc should be flexible if it exists at all. They also work well in slower paced campaigns with players who wish to explore character arcs more than plot arcs.

Sandbox settings are unnecessary for kick-in-the-door campaigns where the expected result is to defeat the BBEG and score the loot. Muddying up the concept with existential causality will only drag down the light-hearted nature of the campaign.

Sandbox settings are unhelpful for fast-paced campaigns or when working with groups that have lots of new players.

[Kaeso]

I have to agree with the previous posters in that a sandbox isn't a playground, but interactive storytelling. It's the job of the DM to present multiple interesting hooks, it's the job of the players to pick one and investigate it and over time, an interactive story will be created that's probably superior to something a DM could railroad on his own.