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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 5577678" data-attributes="member: 85555">First step is to determine whether the players want to get around that or not. I personally like that reallistic structure. But you can also make their decions on the ground matter a lot in those missions. &nbsp;A lot of our network games are set up so players are part of a federal agency (usually the FBI). It isn't military, but the hierarchy issue is still in play. So they are basically told what to investigate most of the time (though an agent that becomes a squad supervisor has more authority and flexibility here. &nbsp;How I get around it is by limiting the railroading to to the set up (something needs to be investigated and their squad is assigned to do so). But within that investigation it is total sandbox. They can follow which leads they want, go to which locations they want. As long as everything they are doing is reasonable. I think the hardest part is in a structure like this, consequences for veering off course are more immediate and severe. They can't just fly to Haiti on a hunch if they are supposed to be investigating a murder in Chicago (though they can ask their SAC if they can go or have a fly team sent there). &nbsp;What became apparent to me the more I learned about FBI structure (and DOJ structure in general), the more I understood how different options could be persued. I don't know how well this translates to military, but I suspect the more you know on a granular level how military hierarchy works (and how exceptions and special requests work), the easier it will be to work player freedom into the mix.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 5577678, member: 85555"] First step is to determine whether the players want to get around that or not. I personally like that reallistic structure. But you can also make their decions on the ground matter a lot in those missions. A lot of our network games are set up so players are part of a federal agency (usually the FBI). It isn't military, but the hierarchy issue is still in play. So they are basically told what to investigate most of the time (though an agent that becomes a squad supervisor has more authority and flexibility here. How I get around it is by limiting the railroading to to the set up (something needs to be investigated and their squad is assigned to do so). But within that investigation it is total sandbox. They can follow which leads they want, go to which locations they want. As long as everything they are doing is reasonable. I think the hardest part is in a structure like this, consequences for veering off course are more immediate and severe. They can't just fly to Haiti on a hunch if they are supposed to be investigating a murder in Chicago (though they can ask their SAC if they can go or have a fly team sent there). What became apparent to me the more I learned about FBI structure (and DOJ structure in general), the more I understood how different options could be persued. I don't know how well this translates to military, but I suspect the more you know on a granular level how military hierarchy works (and how exceptions and special requests work), the easier it will be to work player freedom into the mix. [/QUOTE]

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