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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 7052880" data-attributes="member: 467">You are misreading what I wrote. I said that regardless of anything else, it is not a railroad if there is not an endpoint to the rails. I did not say (nor do I believe) that an endpoint means it automatically is a railroad. A given GM can interfer with play a lot and still not be railroading the party if the point of that interference isn't to force a singular conclusion to the adventure/campaign/whatever. Based on generally accepted definitions, I don't think you can railroad an action or even a scene. Certainly the premise of the thread is flawed -- that GM decision making is the same as railroading.Similarly there is a lot of mislabeling of sandbox play as well. A sandbox doesn't mean that the GM doesn't influence outcomes or make decisions or even that there aren't any predefined plots (side quests). It means that the player characters are free to explore what is there without the constraint of an &quot;adventure path.&quot; There can still be a big bad and a &quot;victory condition&quot; but the PCs have freedom to engage it however they will (or not).Nor should we ascribe value judgments based simply on whether a thing is a railroad or a sandbox. A railroad can be great fun if presented correctly, and sandboxes can be terribly boring and frustrating if mishandled. And, of course, these are extreme ends of a continuum and most campaigns land somewhere in the middle.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 7052880, member: 467"] You are misreading what I wrote. I said that regardless of anything else, it is not a railroad if there is not an endpoint to the rails. I did not say (nor do I believe) that an endpoint means it automatically is a railroad. A given GM can interfer with play a lot and still not be railroading the party if the point of that interference isn't to force a singular conclusion to the adventure/campaign/whatever. Based on generally accepted definitions, I don't think you can railroad an action or even a scene. Certainly the premise of the thread is flawed -- that GM decision making is the same as railroading. Similarly there is a lot of mislabeling of sandbox play as well. A sandbox doesn't mean that the GM doesn't influence outcomes or make decisions or even that there aren't any predefined plots (side quests). It means that the player characters are free to explore what is there without the constraint of an "adventure path." There can still be a big bad and a "victory condition" but the PCs have freedom to engage it however they will (or not). Nor should we ascribe value judgments based simply on whether a thing is a railroad or a sandbox. A railroad can be great fun if presented correctly, and sandboxes can be terribly boring and frustrating if mishandled. And, of course, these are extreme ends of a continuum and most campaigns land somewhere in the middle. [/QUOTE]

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