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But you don't expect to be able to kill Professor Plum in Clue. Yes, you are limited to what the rules allow... but those shape how you exercise your agency. You know what you are able to do, and you know how the rules work. Any decision you make about what to do on your turn is informed per the...

But what if a player knows and accepts that as a risk? That this is a possible consequence of play. And then, knowing that, they enter the situation anyway... and then the dice don't go their way. Does that change your view? Some things to consider: If not, then what about when a character...

Information is how players engage with a game. Any game. It doesn't mean that there cannot be hidden information. The board game Clue came up in one of the recent threads on the topic... the whole point of play is the find out what's hidden in the envelope. Players exercise their agency by...

Characters don't have any agency. They do not make decisions on their own. Their agency, like them, is fictional in nature. I think this goes against the idea of a living world that's been talked about. If the players do nothing, then things will happen. Situations change. So the pack of...

No, there's only one type of agency we're talking about. It's that of the player playing the game. Player agency. It's about the player understanding and knowing the rules and processes of play to make decisions that affect play and allow them to achieve the goals of play. This is how...

I don’t believe that there are different types of player agency. There are different ways of promoting it, there are different ways of constraining it. And every game has its limits… there’s always some amount of constraint. Different games will have differing levels based on how they function...

Yes, but then there are other things that are said that show a clear conflict in the priority. Realism… which I think is probably better considered plausibility… was sited as being more important than sharing information with the players. So yes, I’m going off what people say.

But as @pemerton pointed out, I didn’t say that you or anyone else doesn’t care about agency, just that at times, there are other things that seem to be higher priority. I’m basing this only on what people post here. I didn’t say that that anyone should play the games I prefer. Everyone...

Not exactly, no. Where this actually started was when I pointed out that some of the priorities of the Living World/Sandbox folks place a priority on something other than player agency. For instance, if you willfully hide information from the players which then reduces their ability to make...

I've been explaining my opinions on the matter. I don't think that the living world sandbox type play being discussed is as player-focused as is being stated. That's not really a problem... as I've said, I run games like that myself. But I view them differently. My opinions and ideas on the...

I've clarified it a few times for you now, Max. I'll do it one more time. The GM makes decisions about the game that he's going to run. Not the game system he uses, though that's involved, but the campaign or one-shot or whatever it is he's going to run. The game. The things the GM creates...

There may be a difference, yes. But depending on the specific circumstances, there are also similarities. If I'm looking to get to a specific city for some reason, and the way is blocked by the frozen mountain pass, then I'm constrained. It's not an unreasonable constraint... but will it feel...

No, it's not misdirection. The "in world realism" can constrain "the narrative". A frozen mountain pass prevents travel to the location the PCs want to get to... okay, how do we determine when they can get there? When is the pass clear enough for travel? How long off is that? Who decides how...

Do you have anything to say about the actual points of my post?

Because when you’re talking about how the sausage is made it helps to talk about what’s actually happening. Having a problem with that as a basic description of some RPGs I would say they are likely constrained in some ways, no? Like they can’t get to Boston from Dallas without a long trip...

I’m not sure… it depends on the context in which it was said. I didn’t see where that was mentioned, so I’m not sure. I mean… I can see the idea of why someone might say that. I mean, the geography we’re dealing with is pretend. So you could probably design both a dungeon and a sandbox as like...

I have not framed sandbox style play as “ideologically suspect”. I’ve repeatedly pointed out that it’s a perfectly valid way to play, and one that I engage in myself. However I do think that a large part of what you’re talking about is GM led play. The focus of play is the setting more so than...

I'm describing my thoughts on the matter. Not too far upthread, you called them BS. But somehow, I'm supposed to soften my language. It's not about predicting what they'll do... it's about deciding what's relevant about the town. Even if it's nothing more than a place to rest and resupply for...

Let me ask you... do you think it's more about how you don't want to analyze and breakdown play in this way? Whereas I am comfortable doing so.

Did I say it was? @Paul Farquhar plays D&D and as far as I know it, that's it. He doesn't bring up other games, and every comment he makes seems to come from the viewpoint of someone that only plays D&D. Well, we're in a thread about challenging the conservatism of D&D fans. Despite my love...