Raven Crowking
First Post
What definition best describes "railroading" as you understand/use the term?
What best describes railroading as you understand it?
Mycanid
First Post
Whoa ... Raven! LOVE the jellyfish thing....
I voted for the first, simply b/c a DM can, if he does a good job with the module/campaign, whisk the players along and they won't notice the linear plot thing. More than that, they may like it. It's kinda like manipulating the story in a way that everyone else likes it!
I voted for the first, simply b/c a DM can, if he does a good job with the module/campaign, whisk the players along and they won't notice the linear plot thing. More than that, they may like it. It's kinda like manipulating the story in a way that everyone else likes it!
Nonlethal Force
First Post
I likewise did not vote because I did not find a suitable definition.
Railroading has nothing to do with linear play. Many stories follow a linear progression. That's usually because we play as a party and we play together. It's hard to have multiple storylines going on at the same time. So .. how do you play non-linearly?
As far as the other option ... I'm not even sure what that one really meant. If it means something like this:
Railroading: The situation in which the DM manipulates the NPCs of the game to always funnel the party into the "pre-planned" course of events that the DM has prepped. A railroaded party will always go along the route of the DMs choosing eventually because it is the only direction the DM makes possible.
Now, that is railroading. If that is what option #1 is supposed to mean, then I vote that one. Otherwise ... I didn't vote and I assert my own opinion.
Railroading has nothing to do with linear play. Many stories follow a linear progression. That's usually because we play as a party and we play together. It's hard to have multiple storylines going on at the same time. So .. how do you play non-linearly?
As far as the other option ... I'm not even sure what that one really meant. If it means something like this:
Railroading: The situation in which the DM manipulates the NPCs of the game to always funnel the party into the "pre-planned" course of events that the DM has prepped. A railroaded party will always go along the route of the DMs choosing eventually because it is the only direction the DM makes possible.
Now, that is railroading. If that is what option #1 is supposed to mean, then I vote that one. Otherwise ... I didn't vote and I assert my own opinion.
Raven Crowking
First Post
Mycanid said:
It is called a "flumph" and orignally appeared in the 1e Fiend Folio. For more on flumphs visit this link: http://www.enworld.org/article.php?a=157
Raven Crowking
First Post
Lanefan said:
u·sur·pa·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ysr-pshn, -zr-)
n.
1. The act of usurping, especially the wrongful seizure of royal sovereignty.
2. A wrongful seizure or exercise of authority or privilege belonging to another; an encroachment: “in our own day, gross usurpations upon the liberty of private life” (John Stuart Mill).
(Thank you dictionary.com)
ShinHakkaider
Adventurer
Lanefan said:
Agreed on this point. HappyElf's definition as I interpret it is too all or nothing with no room inbetween. His definition as it stands leaves as much room for abuse by the players as he feels railroading is abuse by the DM. I really think that people before they vote on this poll need to go read the thread that spawned it to fully understand where all sides are coming from.
For me personally I see the merits of both sides, but as someone who DM's ALOT more than he plays I think again that if we took Happyelfs defintion at pure face value and didnt challenge it at all it places way too much power in the hands of the player and effectively nueters the DM. It's pretty obvious that our experiences are different and I'm not going to begrudge him his experiences at all. I'm just amazed at how different they are.
SpiderMonkey
Explorer
I voted the third option due to the inclusion of the phrase "usurpation of play." The caveat here being that I don't consider a linear sequence of adventures (like an adventure path) to be railroading; it is only when those adventures don't have any options except to basically become spectators in the predestined course.
I'm not a big fan of linear path adventure series, but I don't consider it "railroading" which, incidentally, I feel is becoming a term similar to "munchkin" (i.e. someone who doesn't play the way you do, meaning they're not doing it right).
I'm not a big fan of linear path adventure series, but I don't consider it "railroading" which, incidentally, I feel is becoming a term similar to "munchkin" (i.e. someone who doesn't play the way you do, meaning they're not doing it right).
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Still doesn't mention anything about reasonable limits. If one defines "wrongful" in the above quote to equate with "any", as some on the other thread seem to have done, we're back to square one.Raven Crowking said:
I think my definition of railroading might go something like:
Taking away or refusing choice, either on a small or large scale, beyond what a playable game reasonably expects.
This allows different DM's and players to define among themselves what pre-defined parameters (i.e. pre-made choices, rules, or whatever) the game expects in order to make itself playable.
Lanefan
