The most common game loop in OSR is the sandbox, which consists of a large area that the characters can explore as they please, with virtually no restrictions. None of these areas are mandatory, nor do they all have to be explored in any specific order.
But so much freedom can be paralysing, because in the absence of an intrinsic reason to accept the game loop, players must come up with a justification, or simply “just because it’s fun”, which is not bad, honestly, but it can put some people off.
In general, this is not a problem. Players know what they’re getting into when you invite them into an OSR sandbox, but if they don’t, how can you convince players to accept this loop without making it seem arbitrary or meaningless?
Without a raison d’être, why would a character be interested in exploring a sandbox? It’s simple:
- You’re a peasant, a serf, a chancer, maybe a leper.
- You hate your life, you hate your lord, you hate your spouse and children, and you don’t wanna die in these conditions.
- You take a hatchet, your boots, your last coins, some bread and cheese, and go into the old mine (any point of the sandbox, actually). You know you might die, but who knows? Maybe you’re lucky and find something valuable you can sell for more than what you make harvesting potatoes.
In other words, you’re too lazy for a proper job, so you’d rather take your chances cajoling wizards.
Chaos Magick-User 
That works fine, as does most of the “backgrounds” one finds for a hero in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
: )
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Of course, if a table prefers playing as heroes travelling doing good deeds and helping others, that’s its own reason. That was the way I played in the 90s and 00s, but now I prefer the Jack Vance/Dying Earth style: You’re too lazy for a proper job, so you’d rather take your chances cajoling magicians.
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