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I get the notion, but there is more to DMing than following the rules. No set of rules will prescribe every outcome to every action under every condition, so a lot is still on the DM to do on top of following the rules and narrating events. Ideally the rules help with that, obviously, but there...

I am not seeing any game rules referenced here, so the same way you would do it if there were no rule, by questioning the decision? So what does the rule actually get you, a slightly better idea of when to question a decision?

and how do you enforce that the DM is following those rules?

I have no problem with the question, I agree that it needs to be maintained. I might disagree with the earned part in the sense that there are limits to how much can be earned before the first session. I see trust more as given until I have reason to revoke it than something that the DM has to...

so the dead end being a cave-in that is not marked on your map is fine, it does not need to be a wall that also appears on your map? How does the DM placing a cave-in not make it a railroad but the DM having a gelatinous cube migration make it one? Is this decided by the probability of the...

if that was the goal, I don’t think they succeeded the two appear unrelated, I can have precise climbing rules and still have the possibility of failure.

that is your right that is not my goal, I try to understand your point, what it is that makes this a railroad for you no problem the original post only said he would not drink alcohol, then someone starting listing ever increasing stakes like threatening to beat them up, threatening to kill...

in the results, if they frequently make no apparent sense, then I doubt there was restraint. I agree that there is no clear line however The same is probably true for most games with more fixed rules as well, I do not expect them to prescribe a certain action for all cases, so the DM still has...

it was about what makes it a railroad, not what you like / dislike and that is where we disagree on, one such instance is no evidence of railroading to me, if this happens frequently however that is your interpretation, not evidence

not sure what exactly you mean, but yes, you have every right to check the GM. You can refuse a GM just like a GM can refuse a player. I’d say you do not have the right to argue about whatever for 30 minutes during the game session with the GM, but you can ask some questions before joining...

that still requires trust that the DM will play their role correctly / as intended. That holds true regardless of the system. Maybe some make it easier and others harder / more a matter of experience than rules, but fundamentally nothing changed and the way to see whether you like the game is...

and your answer to not trusting DMs is to make up rules to use and then trust those same DMs follow the rules?

I don’t think that we have established that the DM wants the characters to do anything at all, all we know is that they won’t get it by getting the guy drunk (or bribe that one guard, not sure what you are responding to), that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to achieve it

they can know that the guy follows his religion very strictly and part of it is to not drink alcohol, and that he never drinks alcohol even in situations where it is around. If they know that, or could have learned it if they bothered, is that sufficient to mean it is not a railroad?

were the companions of the ring railroaded when they failed on the mountain pass and had to go through Moria? When would you consider this an acceptable (non-railroad) outcome? If it weren’t gelatinous cubes but a cave-in?

the why is not really the relevant part, the fact that one NPC being ‘immune’ to being persuaded of one thing has no bearing on it being a railroad, yet to you it makes it one I am not seeing the relevance of this. So it is a railroad if you disagree that something is possible / impossible, but...

I am agreeing that a DM just acting on their fancy is a problem, I am disagreeing that unless there is a procedure to prevent this at all times, the DM will end up doing so. The DM can restrain themselves. This is not to say that there should be no rules, only that they do not need to...

I believe this line from a post of yours started this sidetrack If the DM deciding does not mean unpredictability, then the players still can make informed choices and affect the sandbox in an intentional and goal-oriented way, so I am not sure why it switched over to a living novel then. I...

you had the following reply to a post To me that sounds like what is referenced below

that is exactly what the original post was, my question was how to find out the disposition of the current guard though, not how to find one that you have a good chance of bribing