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I think so. I disagree with the phrase "towards a specific or constrained set of outcomes" though, at least in the general case, for a particular game it may or may not be true. Fail forward games tend to have stake setting, and a lot of latitude in declaring outcomes, so at the ultimate...

I'm not sure if this post will make sense, I'm writing here to examine the topic. I'm using my own definition of railroading as constraining player choice, where some players approve of that particular railroad and see it as ok and others don't and see it as "bad railroading". A player who...

To me railroading is about constricting player choices. it's a potentially useful technique when used appropriately for the right players. Some RPG titles and campaigns expect certain types of railroading, and it's often expected and even appreciated as a pacing mechanic or way of moving quickly...

However, running a particular game well, following all the guidelines, still doesn't guarantee that all the players will like the result. Clear communication and acquiring prior well-informed buy-in massively improves the chances of a good game for all but can't guarantee it. Still, tastes are...

Gameworlds are created, artificial, made up. The creators are responsible for making a setting that facilitates the goals of the game being aimed at over everything else. A common goal is worldbuilding as a pursuit in and of itself, which can create complex worlds suitable for exploration...

I see it as a potential problem with hidden backstory, where the referee's concern about keeping secrets discourage them from revealing relevant information out of character to the player at character generation or early on when it could do some good. I think discouraging open communication and...

Answering for myself, hidden backstory can invalidate a PC concept from the very start of the game, but the player him or herself may not discover that for ages. Mainly I'm talking dealbreakers here, situations the player will find untenable and will lead to characters being killed off...

There are different sorts of pre-authoring and some types are more innocuous than others. Minutia of different cultures, day to day life, architectural styles, fashions, cooking, language, stories, ideals and taboos can really add to a game when used appropriately (a subjective judgement) and...

There have been lots of good points in this thread so far. Myself, I like to run long campaigns rather than short ones, and think the main requirement for this is to have the right players, people who want to be there and are willing to engage. Campaigns, and in particular long campaigns...

It's impossible in the general case, yes. Too many different game tables with different expectations and takes on metagaming. But in a particular game or campaign it may be possible, and even expected and rewarded, to make such deductions. I have been in previous games, D&D but not 5e, where we...

From practically the creation of the game there were differences of opinion on whant Alignment actually meant, which lead to lots of contradictory rulings and game elements in the game. Any particular theory can gather evidence by a selective reading of the various editions of D&D, downplaying...

IMO the major failing of the original skill challenge mechanic was making participation obligatory, being insufficiently clear in what was an appropriate situation for a skill challenge in terms of scope, and having a too narrow and rigid choice of relevant skills in many cases. Now many...

Such a game may or may not use alignment. Alignment can be used constructively in many different ways, and I think it's entirely possible to scale down the amount of uncertainty and confusion in a game and still have moral and ethical questions and debates, just shorter and less fraught ones...

I think the style and genre of the intended game using alignment necessarily influence interpretations of alignment in that game and vice versa. In an action adventure genre with typical "goodish" PCs, they use fairly straighforward tactics including violence to solve their problems, and do so...

In my alignment interpretation, different alignments make things easier for their adherents sometimes, more difficult sometimes. None of them guarantee victory or defeat in arbitrary circumstances. Some may suit the themes of a particular campaign more than others. All serve purposes in the...

A genuine preference for grim and gritty or players conditioned by such a game or some combination of both? Ultimately only the players can come to a conclusion for themselves. I find players vary in their flexibility, some can play many styles of game, others stick with a few or just one. I...

This is where the disadvantages I mentioned in my earlier post come in. The disadvantages of True Neutrality are a tendency to apathy, slowness to act, being distrusted by everyone as unreliable, and perhaps pretending to a level of knowledge and mystical enlightenment they don't and can't have...

I've always had a problem with True Neutrality in D&D as it hasn't been treated consistently in the writing. My opinions on this matter stem from 1e and 2e primarily. In the early editions some of the writing implied that LG was the "goodest" alignment, and CE was the "evelist" alignment. At...

Some players enjoy Capital "D" Drama and make a point of wringing every last drop of Drama out of a character. Some such drop characters like an empty juicebox once they have run out of juice. After all, there's always a new PC concept or ten, as yet untapped for Drama. Other players exist who...

Some good advice from a theoretical worldbuilding point of view so far. Thing is, some of this could lead to removing from play/ making unplayable a character the player seems to enjoy playing. So what the player is interested in is more important than what the PC is interested in, IMO. So...