Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Eric Tolle" data-source="post: 3674015" data-attributes="member: 53859">AFAIC, railroading is only one way to deal with passive players, and frankly, one of the crudest.&nbsp; A more sophisticated method is to make sure that the players want to go someplace you find interesting before the game even starts, by having described motivations and goals.&nbsp; Someone who has the goal &quot;Become the greatest swordsman ever, and find the man who murdered my father&quot; is going to be much less likely to sit around on the couch than a person with no goal.&nbsp; I also use Kickers and Bangs, which may be the only good thing to come out of the indie game movement.&nbsp; Briefly, Kickers are events that take place right before the opening of a game, that change a character's life: ex, right before the game starts, the character comes home to find his wife missing, his house splattered with blood, and police are pullign up outside.&nbsp; Bangs are events in game that force characters to make choices that may alter the path of a game: the demon hunter's former lover and current antagonist shows up saying that his organization is deceiving him.Between the two, I've never had a problem motivating characters- though it really helps if there isn't an established plot, where Y has to follow X.&nbsp; I prefer a situation where the antagonists have their goals they pursue, and reactnaturally to the actions of the characters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Eric Tolle, post: 3674015, member: 53859"] AFAIC, railroading is only one way to deal with passive players, and frankly, one of the crudest. A more sophisticated method is to make sure that the players want to go someplace you find interesting before the game even starts, by having described motivations and goals. Someone who has the goal "Become the greatest swordsman ever, and find the man who murdered my father" is going to be much less likely to sit around on the couch than a person with no goal. I also use Kickers and Bangs, which may be the only good thing to come out of the indie game movement. Briefly, Kickers are events that take place right before the opening of a game, that change a character's life: ex, right before the game starts, the character comes home to find his wife missing, his house splattered with blood, and police are pullign up outside. Bangs are events in game that force characters to make choices that may alter the path of a game: the demon hunter's former lover and current antagonist shows up saying that his organization is deceiving him. Between the two, I've never had a problem motivating characters- though it really helps if there isn't an established plot, where Y has to follow X. I prefer a situation where the antagonists have their goals they pursue, and reactnaturally to the actions of the characters. [/QUOTE]

Verification