hawkeyefan
Legend
One of my gaming groups tends to do Adventure Paths, and I hate them (the adventures; I love the people). There's nothing to engage with but the grind toward the Big Climax. I never conceive of the character as anything other than a bundle of mechanics. I don't care if we succeed at the Final Boss Fight. I actually kinda hope we don't, because I don't think the world in the Adventure Path is worth saving.
I believe we are very much on the same page here, possibly the same paragraph.
Yup. I tend to only play those kinds of paths if that's what everyone else wants to do, or if it's for a one shot, or if we just want to try a system out. They don't tend to last long because no one really cares all that much about what's going on in them.
I prefer a more dynamic mode, overall. Like I said, I don't mind if the GM has some kind of loose "plot" in mind, as long as I'm free to engage with it how I'd like, and even better if it's been tailored to my and other players' characters in some way.
Such is possible with D&D, but from what I've seen it takes a group of players and a DM that are very comfortable with one another, and who work together a lot on how the game should function.