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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7061771" data-attributes="member: 16586">Getting back on topic, I'm going to return to what I believe is the most relevant passage from the original post.The emphasis is my own.I do not believe we can meaningfully analyze the impact of GM decision making on play without diving deep into the considerations that motivate their decision making process. The GM decides can be a fine mechanic - so can the player decides. What matters most to me is that decisions are made behind the weight of a coherent set of principles that serve the interests of the game. Assuming one of the primary interests of the game is to meaningfully play to find out a GM who makes any decision based on shaping the fiction to arrive at their pre-planned story is actively working against the interests of the game. I am not really interested in whether or not we choose to call this railroading. Either way, it is not the sort of play I am interested in.From where I stand choosing to not have the bowl be there because you are following the fiction as established is fine. Choosing to have the bowl be there because you believe it makes the characters' lives less boring is also fine. Choosing some sort of roll to see if the players' characters' find it is awesome because we're playing to find out. What actively works against my purposes is decision making that is guided by the outcomes I want to see happen.The games that I most enjoy rely on a lot of judgement calls. In Apocalypse World things like when to apply harm, how much harm to apply, how long it takes to recover from harm, when a given player move applies, how hard of a GM move to make, which GM move to make, the choices they are prompted to make as a result of player moves, what fronts to include, when to a move a front's countdown clock up or down, what everyone who is not a PC does, when to disclaim decision making and ask the players are all judgement calls the game calls upon me as the GM to make. When I am MCing Apocalypse World I am pretty much making judgement calls every minute of play. That's a good thing. The judgement calls we make allow us to set a unique, tone, and style of play that is uniquely ours.Here's the thing: the players can rest easy knowing that I am not making decisions based on my own interests or to achieve certain outcomes. I am serving the agenda and principles of the game. The basis for the decisions I make is on open display right there in the MC chapter. Outside of play I am more than happy to break down my decision making process in depth with any player. It's awesome when players come to me with stuff like that. It means they are taking an active interest in the game, I get to nerd out about GMing, and it's an opportunity for me to plant the GM bug in the player.</blockquote>

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