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So, using that logic, and feeling that the game is better with fewer constraints on players, you now understand why placing fewer constraints on the GM benefits the game?

This, exactly. To which I'll also I add, I don't think that it's mystifying. It might not be a process laid down in clear and formal terms, but neither is it some esoteric ritual. It's just a matter of making calls that are consistent and feel right; that's pretty much it.

But the kind of prep we're talking about here isn't, "These bandits will be attacking this caravan when the PCs arrive on scene." It is instead, "This is a caravan route, and there are bandits that prey on some of the caravans." One of the most likely way this will actually impact play is via a...

I also haven't seen the Incredibles and don't know the context of its use in that movie. However, I can assure you that the phrase was not invented by the Incredibles and the context it was used in in that movie does not carry any special weight. There is no reason to expect anyone else using...

I have already conceded, quite explicitly and in the post you just quoted, that you can use the word story that way if you wish. You don't need to continue arguing your case with me if you wish to do so. See the second part of my post for my response once you decide that you will, indeed, keep...

Any expression of events can be considered a story. But if you use that definition then literally all communication is a story and yes we're all storytellers and now it's pointless to discuss the matter any further. In the context we're discussing, stating a fact isn't storytelling. "My car is...

These are essentially questions that apply to all human interaction. There is nothing exceptional about the fact that they apply in the context of TTRPGs. When you interview someone for a job, you don't really know what they're like until well after they start. When you start a new job, you...

There's only a contradiction if you consider a location or an NPC to be a story. In the statement above, both the people you're quoting seem to be using these things as a part of the backdrop from which a story will emerge via play, once the players begin interacting with it, so they can...

Impressive. This is probably the most disingenuous comment in the entire thread.

I have just reread this. As I mentioned earlier, I had a lot going on at the time and I think that in my distracted state I've misread you and jumped to the incorrect conclusions about what you were saying. What you have said above is not as unreasonable as I first took it to be. the GM should...

Having given this more thought, I'm really not sure what you're looking for here. We were talking about constraints, so I presume you are asking in what particular way is the GM constrained when running a sandbox in my favoured style, but I've already covered that to the extent that I can...

I may try and answer this later, but I honestly don't think I have anything to say that is going to be concrete enough for you. I don't have codified procedures and I don't typically analyse the way I game in the way you seem to do for yourself. At the moment, I have too much going on IRL to...

The primary and most important constraint is the same one that applies in every game -- the agreement of the group as a whole to distribute power and authority in a particular way. People have mentioned constraints "with teeth" but this is the only constraint that actually has any teeth at all...

But you do know it's not intended that way. Clarity and additional nuance has been added repeatedly by a range of posters, but you keep leaping on specific phrases and words and choosing to interpret them in the most extreme or silly way you can, in order to do things like accuse people of being...

Speaking for myself, when I've said anything like this, I've been saying that I simply have no interest in playing with strangers, in general. My gaming is something I do with my friends. But during the lengthy initial discussion of trust, the people you're referring to, including me, also said...

If you are going to quibble and say the restrictions aren't reducing power, I'm not going to bother arguing. Choose another word that works for you. This is yet another complete straw man. The literal answer here is that no one in this thread is claiming their judgement is better than anyone...

And some of us, like me, have said they actively try to avoid doing that too much. And you know what? That's OK. The "sandbox DMs" are not a monoculture all marching in lockstep. We all have our own way of doing things, and anyone who assumes that any of us speak for all of us in everything...

You have made it clear that it doesn't work for you; I don't think it's unreasonable for people to suggest that you accept this. It really does feel like your insistence on fighting this good fight is causing you nothing but stress and anger. Bluntly, when you demand that I explain what steps I...

It's certainly my objective, and every person you're arguing with has said the same thing on multiple occasions Too bad you're having this argument with a scarecrow.

I've gone to significant effort to explain this for you on a couple of occasions, but you ignore those responses so you can rant at other posters and complain to them that no one will answer you. This may or may not be the case, but one thing seems abundantly clear. This style is absolutely not...