tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564797917731058560.post2070843453567218115..comments2023-10-04T09:06:53.421-07:00Comments on Shatterworld: Behind the Scenes: Oh, the Horrors of RailroadingNiccodaemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12969643475763823901noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564797917731058560.post-71584964192042879982012-02-06T10:35:39.227-08:002012-02-06T10:35:39.227-08:00I would say that railroading actually doesn't ...I would say that railroading actually doesn't have anything to do with story as such. Instead, it has to do with whether player choice matters. And it doesn't even have to matter all the time for an adventure to not be a railroad. It just has to matter some of the time. Example: two forks in the road, both lead to the same clearing with the same ogre. Clearly a railroad (maybe not a problem even for those obsessed with player agency as long as it doesn't happen all the time). And not a problem at all if everyone is having fun. But the dimension of time is important here. Most players I know are fine with doing what the referee wants some or most of the time. As you say, it's awesome enough that someone took the time to put together a dungeon. But they would get irritated if nothing they did had any impact on the overall direction of the campaign or setting.<br /><br />Another example: PCs are being tracked by an assassin. The assassin is going to choose the time of the confrontation baring some crazy paranoid player planning. Railroad? I don't think so. Unless the party does nothing but confront assassins that decide when and where they are going to strike.<br /><br />There is obviously a spectrum here. Some players want all their choices to be meaningful. That may not be realistic based on the skill and prep time a referee has available. From my point of view, the important thing to note here is not that there is right or wrong way to play, but that D&D has certain capabilities that other media do not. For example, books and movies are linear. Video games must plan exact possibilities. Only tabletop RPGs have such potential freedom. You can have fun playing tabletop RPGs without using all their capabilities (and sometimes it is practical to do so), but why limit yourself artificially? That is why I try to avoid railroading.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564797917731058560.post-88959645952932179342012-02-05T17:08:07.601-08:002012-02-05T17:08:07.601-08:00Nicco - I agree 100% with your post. I feel the s...Nicco - I agree 100% with your post. I feel the same way. It just comes down to what people enjoy. I don't mind feeling "railroaded" if it means there's a purpose, a plot, and a story. Frankly, I don't consider "story" a bad word.<br /><br />Also, if that same DM who decries railroading spends many hours putting together a "COOL MEGADUNGEON," how's he going to feel if the players say "nah, I don't want to go there." Life is busy. We all have responsibilities. Nobody wants to spend 20 hours designing something that won't be used and enjoyed. I think we're all guilty to an extent of pushing the direction of the campaign in certain ways.<br /><br />With that being said, as long as everyone is having fun then the game is beyond reproach.<br /><br />Trey - I agree with your comments. My friends have never said "Hey, dude. Quit railroading us." They're just psyched that I put a dungeon together. :)Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04132556436493370782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564797917731058560.post-46673426229789008122012-02-05T15:16:55.224-08:002012-02-05T15:16:55.224-08:00I think it's often difficult to discuss these ...I think it's often difficult to discuss these issues as people feel strongly about it based on personal experiences and those personal experiences differ. I would say <i>most</i> games I've played in contained incidents or elements I've heard decried on the internet as funcrushing railroading, but I didn't experience them that way at all. By contrast, I've heard people describe game experiences that sound horribly unfun as they were forced to suffer through a gm's novelistic pretensions. <br /><br />I suspect really strict guidelines on what's acceptable and what's not is more important when playing with strangers. Friends have already sort of internalizes each other's playstyles and seem more forgiving.Treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.com