Why I Dislike the term Railroading

[Zhaleskra]

This topic has nothing to do with whether "railroading" is good or bad. It is about what I dislike about the term itself.

Okay, so a train can only go where the tracks it is on go. This is where we get this term. But railroads also have switches, that allow/force one train to go somewhere else. I'm not going to get into why, because it's not important.

Hmm, as I write this I think my problem is not so much with the term "railroading" as it is with the concept of "jumping the tracks". Granted even going to separate, switched tracks, can still only get you to limited destinations.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The train driver, analogous to the players, doesn't control the switches, as I understand it.

 

[Pbartender]

Hmm, as I write this I think my problem is not so much with the term "railroading" as it is with the concept of "jumping the tracks". Granted even going to separate, switched tracks, can still only get you to limited destinations.

Note that "jumping the tracks" in railroad terms doesn't mean the train has switched to a new track. It means the train has literally jumped off the tracks at a spot it shouldn't have, has derailed, and has possibly crashed and smashed into a great big mess.

Like so:

From the DM's point of view, it's what happens when the players purposefully and maliciously try to maneuver themselves independent of the plot... The DM's plot gets derailed, jumps the tracks and crashes.

 

[FireLance]

The train driver, analogous to the players, doesn't control the switches, as I understand it.

Well, according to the movies I've seen, the people on the train can control the switches, but it usually requires a great deal of effort and at least one of the following:

1. Highly accurate shooting or throwing.

2. Getting off the train and somehow moving faster than it in order to reach the switch before it does.

 

[Nifft]

From the DM's point of view, it's what happens when the players purposefully and maliciously try to maneuver themselves independent of the plot... The DM's plot gets derailed, jumps the tracks and crashes.

Yep yep.

When a campaign is too brittle to survive player input regarding changes in direction, the players only have two choices: stay on the tracks, or crash the whole game.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Zhaleskra]

Well, according to the movies I've seen, the people on the train can control the switches, but it usually requires a great deal of effort and at least one of the following:

1. Highly accurate shooting or throwing.

2. Getting off the train and somehow moving faster than it in order to reach the switch before it does.

I think there's a third: being aware of some reason they have to go to the other track and telling the people in the switch station to "throw the switch muhahahaha". Sorry, my B-Horror movie side came out. Though that's more of a cooperative switch throwing.

 

[nedjer]

railroading only exists as a function of rules lawyering. If the game is genuinely open to discussion, the GM and players can negotiate how the switches operate.

 

[hexgrid]

You can't control a train, but it's a moot point because you wouldn't get on the train if you didn't want to go where it was going. Maybe that's the problem with the analogy.

 

[pawsplay]

You can't control a train, but it's a moot point because you wouldn't get on the train if you didn't want to go where it was going. Maybe that's the problem with the analogy.

But riding the train requires you to get somewhere by a certain path. That's the point.

 

[ExploderWizard]

You can't control a train, but it's a moot point because you wouldn't get on the train if you didn't want to go where it was going. Maybe that's the problem with the analogy.

Assuming you knew that you were boarding the train in the first place, sure.