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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mallus" data-source="post: 6133262" data-attributes="member: 3887">That's probably true for some more casual players. But the appeal of more heavily scripted campaigns isn't limited to them. Like I posted earlier, Pathfinder Adventure Paths sell very well. As did the earlier generations linked module series and mega-dungeon campaigns. There's another appeal to them (outside of a lack of motivation on the player's part): they resemble the classic quest novel structure where the protagonists get swept up in events outside their control, and become heroes in the process, often by following a set of directions (like a prophesy), ie Bilbo & Frodo. There's always been a segment of the D&D audience that wants to re-create their favorite epic fantasy novels.  In my experience, this isn't true. For the record, heavy-scripting isn't my preferred way to the DM, but I've seen it work enough times to know those kinds of campaigns can produce memorable PCs and fond memories (which are great ways to measure player investment). My go-to video-game analogy involves comparing Besthesda-style CRPGs like Skyrim/Elder Scrolls with Bioware-style games like Mass Effect.In an Elder Scrolls game, you really get the sense of being in a fantasy world you are free to explore (and loot/murder). But you don't really get the sense of being a great story. Or if you do, it's the great story of a wandering kleptomaniac/murderer who can create really interesting small-scale "stories" -- usually by cleverly arranging the emergent behaviors produced by the game AI. But these don't amount to plot in the traditional sense. They're something else -- more like amusing anecdotes. In a Mass Effect game, you get the sense of being in great (well, I think so) science fiction story -- because of all the scripting/plotting, scene-setting, ie direction, dialog, and voice-acting-- but this comes at the cost of feeling like you're free to explore to world presented to you (because, frankly, you can't). You're stuck with the designers story, and less amusing emergent behavior-scenes. Both styles of game are cool, and produce heavily-invested players. Neither represent a "magic bullet" in terms of game design. And both approaches have their heavily-invested fans.</blockquote>

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