Guiding players to more sandbox-y play?

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6706967]Dwimmerlied[/MENTION]
Thanks for the support. Yes, my mind just seems to brim with ideas - I guess that's the blessing and curse of many a DM or writer or artist for that matter. Generally when I prepare, the quality of the material is superior to when I improvise, so I do prefer to prepare. When I have to improvise, however, usually my content is decent enough to keep the game fun and moving.

I think learning to ask leading questions of the players is going to be a key skill for me DMing this group....One question I want to ask is:

What style of campaign do you prefer?
(A) full-blooded campaign with complex interwoven story lines, lots of freedom to choose your path, and recurring NPCs.
(B) adventure-of-the-week campaign with simple isolated stories barely linked, little freedom to choose path, and few if any recurring NPCs
(C) something else (please explain)

 

[S'mon]

I think learning to ask leading questions of the players is going to be a key skill for me DMing this group....One question I want to ask is:

What style of campaign do you prefer?
(A) full-blooded campaign with complex interwoven story lines, lots of freedom to choose your path, and recurring NPCs.
(B) adventure-of-the-week campaign with simple isolated stories barely linked, little freedom to choose path, and few if any recurring NPCs
(C) something else (please explain)

I think that's a good question - I think it probably encourages these players to choose (C), since they're apparently type (A), but (B) is relatively unattractive. Which then requires them to actually engage with what they actually want. OTOH they may really prefer (B), in which case at least you know.

Personally I've run lots of type (B), but shuttling a party through adventures A-B-C is not very satisfying for long term play.
When (A) taks about 'choosing your path' my reaction is that in a tabletop game I'd generally prefer no pre-written path, even if I get a choice which path to take. Multiple paths & different endings to the story is the best a good CRPG can do, because everything has to be pre-written, but in a tabletop game the story can be emergent in play, developing from the start conditions through PC and NPC action, and the GM can add content as the game develops in response to player preference. I guess that's my preference.

 

[frankthedm]

What good is a sandbox when someone just wants to get to the dungeon? Leisure time is valuable and plenty of folks want to get to killing things in a flowchart made of imaginary stone walls and secret doors.