Clint_L
Legend
I tend to feel the same way, but it really depends on the group. The core of my home group, some of whom you've met, having been playing together for about five years now, and we get each other pretty well, so I can go full sandbox and rely on them to role-play their characters and help build the story. And that pales in comparison to your gang!That said, I don't run the long AP-style adventures that WotC put out these days. To me an adventure is just that: a 1e-style standalone thing that is self-contained and doesn't expect or insist upon any setting or plot implications beyond itself; those are left for the DM (and maybe the players) to sort out within each campaign, usually during downtime between adventures.
On the other hand, I also run new mini-campaigns for beginners at my school, and whenever I go too sand-boxy with them the games tend to stall. So I understand the point made above about why WotC tend to skew a bit in that direction, though I think the original LMoP squared that circle pretty effectively, which is why it is considered such a classic (it probably helps that it is about the size of one of those 1e modules that I grew up on, so I am very comfortable with that format).
I think Call of the Netherdeep also does a pretty good job of building a story that allows some room for play while also maintaining narrative cohesion. My big criticisms of it are that I think the ending is too prescribed (but that is easily fixed) and the rival system doesn't really work for me and also involves the DM meddling in the story more than I prefer. However, even if rivals are a bit of a swing and a miss, from my perspective, I'm always glad to see someone taking a swing! That's how new ideas happen.
I always get suspicious when there is particularly pointed criticism of Critical Role products because, let's face it, there is a small but vociferous contingent of folks who have decided that CR is not for them, no matter what, and immediately respond negatively to anything associated with them. Similarly, praise of CR has to be taken with a grain of salt because there is a large and vociferous contingent who will champion them no matter what. I find it hard to get objective criticism of their stuff, and as a fan I have to question my own motives, as well.
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