the player is the one insisting the preferences of the player impact the setting as far as it pertains to how that setting interacts with their character. They are insisting the NPC and very nature of the story not come from "what would be for others inside the gsme" but instead conform to what the player wants - be it racial, obligations, etc.
Well,
what would be for others inside the game is always going to conform to what
someone wants - because
someone has to make it up. (And presumably they won't make something up that they think is bad.)
I'm not seeing any reason why it shouldn't be the player. I'm the one who made up the Order of the Iron Tower, the Lord of Battle, my family estate of Adir, and maybe other stuff I'm forgetting, for my character in BW. It's the character I want to play - I want to find out what happens to
my character, not what the GM thinks would be interesting to happen if s/he were playing my character.
@
pemerton and @
Hussar If a player selects to play an elf or a dwarf, does the player also have narrative control over the thoughts and actions of the entire tribe, clan or race?
I don't know about the
entire race. But the details of the dwarf clan in my 4e game were decided by the player of the dwarf, not by me. The player of the drow worshipper of Corellon invented the Order of the Bat, a drow secret society of Corellon worshippers dedicated to overthrowing Lolth and undoing the sundering of the elves. Another player invented the fallen city of Entekash, sacked by humanoids, from which his player was a refugee.
What happens when the player of a warlock/paladin/cleric et al, requests/decides how the relationship works, and then starts playing/acting like an assassin when they are a cleric of Bahamut?
(Basically ignoring any contradictions in the relationship)
What [MENTION=5142]Aldarc[/MENTION] said - if it's a problem, talk about it.
So you're policing out of game?
Why is it ok to police (judge character actions) out of game and not in game?
If everyone enjoys a game with an assassin cleric of Bahamut - maybe it's a low-grade black comedy - then no one has to talk about anything. But if (as seems to be the implication of SkidAce's question) the play of the character is spoiling the game, then that's a social problem, like any other sort of behaviour that spoils a cooperative leisure activity. Why would I try and resolve a social disagreement by making a move in a game? If someone is talking too loud at the chess club, I don't deal with that problem by trying even harder to checkmate him/her!