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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 2950684" data-attributes="member: 22779">I suppose the question comes down to: Does turning left or right at random equal a meaningful choice?In a non-linear dungeon, you have little or no information upon which to base a choice.&nbsp; It's all about exploration and filling in the map.&nbsp; There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.&nbsp; But, I question whether that is somehow a more meaningful choice than in a linear dungeon where you have a pretty good idea of which way will lead to some sort of resolution.Take two dragons' lairs.&nbsp; The first is more or less a maze of twisting corridors, lots of branches and turns.&nbsp; If you solve the maze, you get to the center and meet the dragon.&nbsp; Add in lots of encounters peppered randomly throughout the maze and this is a looping adventure.&nbsp; The second is a much more linear dungeon.&nbsp; There are side passages, possibly leading to branches and whatnot for the dragon's servants/slaves but there is also a honking big passage straight up the center leading to the dragon.&nbsp; Very linear.IMO, the second one allows for more meaningful choices.&nbsp; I KNOW which way leads to the dragon.&nbsp; If I don't want to face him yet, I got hunting around some of the side passages, maybe turn up a secret path that leads to the back of the lair and lets me steal a great big diamond <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.I would argue that in a non-linear dungeon, all choices become the same.&nbsp; They hold the same weight and therefore cannot be considered particularly meaningful.&nbsp; Rather the choices are more or less entirely random.&nbsp; Do we go left or do we go right?&nbsp; If you have no idea what lies left or right, how can that choice be considered meaningful?In a site based, exploration style adventure like KotB, that's fine.&nbsp; But, not every adventure should be like KotB.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 2950684, member: 22779"] I suppose the question comes down to: Does turning left or right at random equal a meaningful choice? In a non-linear dungeon, you have little or no information upon which to base a choice. It's all about exploration and filling in the map. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But, I question whether that is somehow a more meaningful choice than in a linear dungeon where you have a pretty good idea of which way will lead to some sort of resolution. Take two dragons' lairs. The first is more or less a maze of twisting corridors, lots of branches and turns. If you solve the maze, you get to the center and meet the dragon. Add in lots of encounters peppered randomly throughout the maze and this is a looping adventure. The second is a much more linear dungeon. There are side passages, possibly leading to branches and whatnot for the dragon's servants/slaves but there is also a honking big passage straight up the center leading to the dragon. Very linear. IMO, the second one allows for more meaningful choices. I KNOW which way leads to the dragon. If I don't want to face him yet, I got hunting around some of the side passages, maybe turn up a secret path that leads to the back of the lair and lets me steal a great big diamond :). I would argue that in a non-linear dungeon, all choices become the same. They hold the same weight and therefore cannot be considered particularly meaningful. Rather the choices are more or less entirely random. Do we go left or do we go right? If you have no idea what lies left or right, how can that choice be considered meaningful? In a site based, exploration style adventure like KotB, that's fine. But, not every adventure should be like KotB. [/QUOTE]

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