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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 8133476" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Absolutely not.&nbsp; Railroading is a very specific thing, but you evaluate it qualitatively, not quantitatively so the threshold can be difficult to pin down.The way I think of the phenomena is like this:* Force is a singular unit.&nbsp; Its an instance of play where a GM subordinates the outcome of a player's strategic/tactical/thematic decision (whatever the decision-point hangs upon) to their own will, wresting the imposition of the gamestate's trajectory from the player to the GM.* Railroading occurs when Force is deployed sufficient to cross the threshold where the meaningful trajectory of play is wrested from the player(s) to the GM.Letting the details of a setting/backstory mostly emerge during play can increase player agency or invest players with a sense of anchoring to and investment in the shared imaginary space.&nbsp; But that isn't always the case.&nbsp; Some people feel more anchored and more invested if the GM does that work.&nbsp; HOWEVER, if a fundamental part of an actual system is letting certain details of setting/backstory emerge during play (eg action resolution mechanics or PC build components and/or advancement are schematically tied to this) AND a GM wrests control of this process in a moment of play, THAT is Force.&nbsp; If it passes the threshold then its Railroading.But not all games work like that and hexcrawls require that hexes be codified tightly and with sufficient resolution so the game's most important decision-points that are tethered to that information can be navigated by players.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 8133476, member: 6696971"] Absolutely not. Railroading is a very specific thing, but you evaluate it qualitatively, not quantitatively so the threshold can be difficult to pin down. The way I think of the phenomena is like this: * [B]Force [/B]is a singular unit. Its an instance of play where a GM subordinates the outcome of a player's strategic/tactical/thematic decision (whatever the decision-point hangs upon) to their own will, wresting the imposition of the gamestate's trajectory from the player to the GM. * [B]Railroading [/B]occurs when Force is deployed sufficient to cross the threshold where the meaningful trajectory of play is wrested from the player(s) to the GM. Letting the details of a setting/backstory mostly emerge during play can increase player agency or invest players with a sense of anchoring to and investment in the shared imaginary space. But that isn't always the case. Some people feel more anchored and more invested if the GM does that work. HOWEVER, if a fundamental part of an actual system is letting certain details of setting/backstory emerge during play (eg action resolution mechanics or PC build components and/or advancement are schematically tied to this) AND a GM wrests control of this process in a moment of play, THAT is Force. If it passes the threshold then its Railroading. But not all games work like that and hexcrawls require that hexes be codified tightly and with sufficient resolution so the game's most important decision-points that are tethered to that information can be navigated by players. [/QUOTE]

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