I full-heartedly agree. I have had no trouble running into surprise as a DM, but it's been more sparse for me as player. Part of that is just the nature of the games I've had the fortune to be in, but I'd also point it at me not always finding how to satisfyingly and consistently embody the characters.I think there's a difference between knowing the past of the character and knowing their future. I think it's similar to the difference between the GM knowing the past of the setting or the situation and knowing its future. I think the best experiences I've had at TRPG tables have come when everyone has been surprised.
I mirror the sentiments of others here where if I am seeking gameplay above all, I will turn to something more consistent and direct than TTRPG play.
That's a very fair quibble! While I may not place above the other two, I shouldn't imply with short dismissal that it is some distant companion running a different race. If a friend came to me, and said that they wanted to play a roleplaying game, but that we'd make it up as we went along, that rules would only get in the way, well, I'd be filled with more trepidation than excitement. I find a good ruleset functions for me far more as scaffolding than limitations, or they're the good kind of constraints that focus and allow for creativity where its best served.I agree with you, but also have to quibble a little. I think ...
A lot of us, including me, overlook the value of the G in RPG. If you look at other areas of life, people are asking how we can "gamify" them. How can we gamify exercise? How do we gamify learning math? How do we gamify personal finance? Why? Because games are fun. Really! People play games for a reason! People want to play games!
To go to deep into the storytelling or character well is to basically do what people have already done before RPGs were invented- collaborative storytelling and acting exercises. There is a fine line, after all, between a freeform RPG and an improv class.
I think that a lot of people take the "game" part of the RPGs for granted, and you only notice it when it's absent. What makes some RPGs that much more compelling than others? More often than not, it's because they succeed as games. After all, I can to the character or story with just about any set of lite rules (or no rules) if I want.
Just something I've been mulling.