I've played in some excellent games* which have had a climactic plot, then closed/gone sandbox afterward, so I'm not really opposed to that model of game-running. Because I like characters feeling that they have Accomplished Things, and not that they are in the limbo where either the Bad Guys keep getting away or the scramble to keep characters around after Malicant is defeated and those who have a desire to go home wonder why they can't.

(I also like the reminder downthread to keep things turned so that characters with a variety of skills can get involved, and that folks aren't feeling left out of plotting. Which so far the mods have been pretty good at.)

Mostly I want there to be meta-plot the characters can work at, as that is a thing I like in games. (I don't mind exploration, but it strikes me as hard to transition from meta-plot to exploration and not have trouble with character motivations.)

* Well, okay, one. And another where I had to bow out near the end.