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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6715801" data-attributes="member: 177">You come close to one other possibility, but I think you miss it by a hair on (3):They're fully engaged with what is on the main line, and are happy with the resulting story and play, and don't *want* to pursue other avenues.  They like the current storyline, and if you present them with other things, they actively choose to continue on this one, because it suits their desires.  Whether it is on the rails may be irrelevant, it is the line they are invested in.Also, (5) & (2) Not only do many GMs not run as sandboxy a sandbox as they think - they even more often don't give players enough information to make what the players consider informed decisions.  The players probably want some indication that what they choose to do is at least sensible for the world - this is likely easy to see along a main line that is presented, but not nearly so clear for any desires they draw up for themselves.  It may be less that they think you cannot handle it, but more that they don't know if there's any point to pursuing a particular goal.  They do not have confidence that it won't be a dead end (perhaps with emphasis on the dead part) or just unachievable.</blockquote>