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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8074746" data-attributes="member: 16814">This is an excellent illumination of the limits of heavy prep!&nbsp; The designers of a video game must release a fully prepped world -- they cannot present new content based on the player's actions.&nbsp; Here, though, it's still very clear that the &quot;walls&quot; are the choices of the designers.&nbsp; Why can't you leave Liberty City?&nbsp; The designers made that choice.&nbsp; That they made it because there's only a finite amount that they can prep to the quality they desired within their budget isn't the point -- the issue is that this &quot;wall&quot; is a choice made by the designer of the game -- the GM.&nbsp; The results of this choice, say a player very frustrated they cannot go to a different city and not playing the game, are due to a choice the GM made.&nbsp; The responsibility for those choices is the GM's, not a feature of the game.D&amp;D doesn't have this issue unless the GM chooses it.&nbsp; So, if you're using &quot;wall&quot; as a euphamism for &quot;choice the GM made&quot;, then great, we're copacetic.&nbsp; If you're instead saying that &quot;walls&quot; exist as limits on the GM's ability to present a game, then we're in disagreement.&nbsp; The GM chooses what limits to apply, even to themselves, and the responsibility lies with the GM alone.Now, if a GM presents limits to the players and they agree to them, but then later try to buck the agreed limits, either the GM can modify the limits or the player is in the wrong according to the table agreement on what to play.&nbsp; To go to the video game metaphor, the GM can issue DLC or the player can deal with it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8074746, member: 16814"] This is an excellent illumination of the limits of heavy prep! The designers of a video game must release a fully prepped world -- they cannot present new content based on the player's actions. Here, though, it's still very clear that the "walls" are the choices of the designers. Why can't you leave Liberty City? The designers made that choice. That they made it because there's only a finite amount that they can prep to the quality they desired within their budget isn't the point -- the issue is that this "wall" is a choice made by the designer of the game -- the GM. The results of this choice, say a player very frustrated they cannot go to a different city and not playing the game, are due to a choice the GM made. The responsibility for those choices is the GM's, not a feature of the game. D&D doesn't have this issue [I]unless the GM chooses it. [/I]So, if you're using "wall" as a euphamism for "choice the GM made", then great, we're copacetic. If you're instead saying that "walls" exist as limits on the GM's ability to present a game, then we're in disagreement. The GM chooses what limits to apply, even to themselves, and the responsibility lies with the GM alone. Now, if a GM presents limits to the players and they agree to them, but then later try to buck the agreed limits, either the GM can modify the limits or the player is in the wrong according to the table agreement on what to play. To go to the video game metaphor, the GM can issue DLC or the player can deal with it. [/QUOTE]

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