Game-mechanics examined

I think that the marketed games of today that attempt the "sandbox" style are paving the way for the next generation of free style games, that will allow the player to immerse him or herself in a world that seems more alive then most. I also agree with the writer that the games attempting that today do feel more like a job then a game. Spending hours gathering the skills needed to mine or harvest materials needed to create an in game tool such as a weapon, then being killed after five minutes of play and loosing that weapon, leaves most players of that type of game with a bad taste in their mouth...