Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Unlocked on D&D Beyond: Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen!
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 8836429" data-attributes="member: 86653"><p>Choices that can actually change how play progresses in real, significant ways. So, if there's an ogre to the north, and the players go south, they avoid the ogre. Or, if the war is to the east and the players go west, they avoid the war. No referee forcing the players to go north or moving the ogre to the south. No referee forcing the players to go east or moving the war to the west. The players getting to decide who they attack in a combat the referee forces on them isn't a meaningful choice. If the referee has a story they're going to force onto the players regardless of the players' choices, then players lack any meaningful choices.</p><p></p><p>Being able to opt out of the rails is a meaningful choice. Not being able to opt out of the rails is robbing players of agency.</p><p></p><p>According to you and how you write them, yes. According to everyone else who plays and enjoys open-world sandboxes, no.</p><p></p><p>You start from a false premise and it's all downhill from there. RPGs are not stories, they're games. You're wrongly assuming there's a story or plot waiting buried in the sand. That's not the case. You're also assuming that once picked up that story or plot cannot be put down and walked away from. You're also assuming that once the story or plot is completed they cannot go back to wandering. You're also assuming that the PCs cannot pick up more than one story or plot. You're looking for excuses to railroad your players, then cannot seem to comprehend that other people are not beholden to your way of doing things.</p><p></p><p>Yes, you clearly think of sandboxes as illusions and you write them as such. That doesn't mean that sandboxes actually are illusions. Your opinion about a thing doesn't make it a fact.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 8836429, member: 86653"] Choices that can actually change how play progresses in real, significant ways. So, if there's an ogre to the north, and the players go south, they avoid the ogre. Or, if the war is to the east and the players go west, they avoid the war. No referee forcing the players to go north or moving the ogre to the south. No referee forcing the players to go east or moving the war to the west. The players getting to decide who they attack in a combat the referee forces on them isn't a meaningful choice. If the referee has a story they're going to force onto the players regardless of the players' choices, then players lack any meaningful choices. Being able to opt out of the rails is a meaningful choice. Not being able to opt out of the rails is robbing players of agency. According to you and how you write them, yes. According to everyone else who plays and enjoys open-world sandboxes, no. You start from a false premise and it's all downhill from there. RPGs are not stories, they're games. You're wrongly assuming there's a story or plot waiting buried in the sand. That's not the case. You're also assuming that once picked up that story or plot cannot be put down and walked away from. You're also assuming that once the story or plot is completed they cannot go back to wandering. You're also assuming that the PCs cannot pick up more than one story or plot. You're looking for excuses to railroad your players, then cannot seem to comprehend that other people are not beholden to your way of doing things. Yes, you clearly think of sandboxes as illusions and you write them as such. That doesn't mean that sandboxes actually are illusions. Your opinion about a thing doesn't make it a fact. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Unlocked on D&D Beyond: Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen!
Top