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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5136128" data-attributes="member: 18280">Part of the reason people play these games is so that they can feel able to change the world, even if it is just a fantasy construct world.To be meaningful (IMHO), changing the world requires that (1) the outcome is not preordained, and (2) the change one strives for is one that suits the changer.&nbsp; These two reasons are part of why I sandbox-GM.It isn't that one player is out to &quot;get&quot; the other ones; it is that each player strives to leave his mark upon the campaign milieu, and each strives to make it better reflect his tastes.&nbsp; Often, this means that players are working together for a common goal.&nbsp; But this is because the goal is a common one; it does not mean that they are shoe-horned into accepting a goal so that the game is cooperative.Going back to another thread, if one player likes mounted characters, another likes urban adventure, and a third likes dungeons, all three are in competition to have the group follow adventures that they like.&nbsp; It might mean that they split parties, creating one to follow each type of adventure, and trading which parties are used each session.&nbsp; It might mean that they negotiate.&nbsp; They may resolve their conflict however they like, but are almost always better off if they do so cooperatively.Figuring out how to cooperate, in this case, is one of the challenges of the game.&nbsp; It is also, I note, one of the things a person can take away from the game and apply to his own life.Players compete against the campaign milieu.&nbsp; They compete against each other for what limited resources the group has (barring, of course, APs that prevent the players from choosing what sort of adventures to choose, treasure parcels that ensure that the optimum treasure is always gained, and rules that do away with resource management).In a recent game, I had one group hire another PC (whose player was present, and ran his other PC briefly) to appraise and detect magic their treasure.&nbsp; The other PC charged 5% of the total take.&nbsp; Some of the group considered murdering him instead of paying him.&nbsp; Everyone had fun.RC</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 5136128, member: 18280"] Part of the reason people play these games is so that they can feel able to change the world, even if it is just a fantasy construct world. To be meaningful (IMHO), changing the world requires that (1) the outcome is not preordained, and (2) the change one strives for is one that suits the changer. These two reasons are part of why I sandbox-GM. It isn't that one player is out to "get" the other ones; it is that each player strives to leave his mark upon the campaign milieu, and each strives to make it better reflect his tastes. Often, this means that players are working together for a common goal. But this is [I][B]because[/B][/I] the goal is a common one; it does not mean that they are shoe-horned into accepting a goal so that the game is cooperative. Going back to another thread, if one player likes mounted characters, another likes urban adventure, and a third likes dungeons, all three are in competition to have the group follow adventures that they like. It might mean that they split parties, creating one to follow each type of adventure, and trading which parties are used each session. It might mean that they negotiate. They may resolve their conflict however they like, but are almost always better off if they do so cooperatively. Figuring out how to cooperate, in this case, is one of the challenges of the game. It is also, I note, one of the things a person can take away from the game and apply to his own life. Players compete against the campaign milieu. They compete against each other for what limited resources the group has (barring, of course, APs that prevent the players from choosing what sort of adventures to choose, treasure parcels that ensure that the optimum treasure is always gained, and rules that do away with resource management). In a recent game, I had one group hire another PC (whose player was present, and ran his other PC briefly) to appraise and [I]detect magic[/I] their treasure. The other PC charged 5% of the total take. Some of the group considered murdering him instead of paying him. Everyone had fun. RC [/QUOTE]

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