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Message: <blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 2311212" data-attributes="member: 16574">When I want complex stories and characters I read books and watch movies (both of which I do a lot of). But that's not at all what I'm looking for when I play D&D. I play D&D to be faced by challenges and obstacles with meaningful consequences for success and failure. I want to have my roleplaying/negotiation, logical problem/puzzle-solving, combat tactics, and resource management skills challenged in roughly equal proportion, and I want my success or failure at those challenges to have a meaningful impact on the course of the game (i.e. I don't want to be strung along on a railroaded plot where it doesn't actually matter if I do something particularly clever or stupid because the DM has already decided in advance that the party is going to win this fight/solve this puzzle/convince this NPC because the plot demands it). Nothing bores me faster than realizing that the plot is going to unfold the same way regardless of what my character does, and that I'm effectively an observer, not a participant. Likewise I also very much dislike "roleplaying for the sake of roleplaying." I very much enjoy trying to gain information, or to convince someone to undertake some particular action, through roleplaying (what I categorized as roleplaying-oriented challenges above) and would by no means consider myself a "rollplayer" or "hack 'n' slasher," but just hanging around the inn idly chatting in-character with no particular purpose other than ambiance-building and character development drives me up the wall with boredom and frustration.Challenge me and make me think on my feet. Reward me if I do well, and punish me if I do poorly. Don't try and tell me a story you've already decided the beginning, middle, and ending of, and don't expect me to join you in some kind of method-acting workshop.EDIT: Realizing that the above rant was tangential to the OP's actual question, I'll rephrase a bit: the level and detail of backstory development (which is what I think the OP was actually refering to by "plots") is completely inconsequential to me. Insomuch as coherent and detailed backstory development leads to fun and interesting in-game challenges (such as it does in the works of Gary Gygax -- Necropolis, Temple of Elemental Evil, etc.) I'm all for it, but even then what's really getting me excited isn't the backstory itself but rather the challenges that grow out of it, and if I could be faced with those same quality of challenges without the backstory I don't think I'd miss it a bit (for instance, I don't find Necropolis particularly more satisfying than the Tomb of Horrors, despite the former having a very detailed backstory and the latter none to speak of). When backstory overshadows in-game activity (e.g. the players sitting around listening to the DM recount the details of some historical incident rather than actually doing anything themselves) I'm against it.</blockquote>

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