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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7090472" data-attributes="member: 16586">[MENTION=48965]Imaro[/MENTION]You are unlikely to see much in the form of unbridled creative expression from either side of the screen. That is very much by design. No one gets exactly what they want exactly as they want it. Everyone is supposed to get a say (Players and GM) in everything that goes on they are taking a part in. They favor active and vigorous collaboration over individual creative expression. There is no individual ownership of things. We entrust certain things to your care, but you do not own them creatively. This applies to the fictional world, but it also applies just as strongly to individual characters in play. In terms of the Gamer Motivation Model it favors the Social Component (Community and Competition) over the Creativity Component (Discovery and Design). It's about group creativity over individual creativity and its exploration. The GM is not supposed to come to play armed with a detailed setting, a vision for play, detailed adventures with a path players should follow in the play of their characters, or overt designs on the events of play, but neither is a player supposed to come to play with a detailed character with a lengthy backstory, strong character concept they are committed to, any designs on character arcs, or expectations of what the overall story should be. You are expected to bring hopes and desires, but no real expectations over the end result. We need to let the creative process of play do its work.This is probably something you would consider a drawback and I would consider a possible pain point of the design. I am going to go out on a limb and guess you generally favor individual creativity over group creativity. That you favor the Creativity Component over the Social Component. I am not saying that you do not value collaboration here, just that you probably value it noticeably less than most indie gamers. Being a creative lead might be more appealing to you than being a creative peer. That's a fine thing. It might just mean these games are less suited to your desires and more suited to mine. That's not like a problem in the design though. Just like it is not a problem in the design of most mainstream games that they favor your desires over mine.Ideally I think what a GM has to say, what the system has to say, and what other players have to say should be given fairly equal weight with a slight nod towards the things we are advocating for. I do not characterize my play as particularly player or GM driven though. The GM gets their say in the framing of scenes or situation, and by advocating for the fictional world and characters under their control, players get their say by virtue of advocating for their characters, and the system gets it say by saying what happens when these things meet and by virtue of its reward structures. We all do this with regard for the interests of the other players, including the GM.The consequences of failure are generally only constrained by the fiction, your regard for the other players interests, and your principles. I think part of what you may be missing are the features where you are not constrained in the same general ways in these consequences like you are in a mainstream game. You are not limited to physical consequences and consequences within the fictional world. Despair can be a consequence. Insecurity can be a consequence. This character your character cares about now hates you can be a consequence. You are also somewhat culturally free to engage in Conceptual Violence. Shared ownership cuts both ways.Trust is important in these games because you need to trust other players to not do undue violence to the things you care about. You need to trust other players to consider your interests as well as their own. You need to trust the system to deliver a compelling shared experience. You need to trust that other players will contribute to the creative process of play without attempting to run roughshod over it or control it. This sort of play involves not protecting or guarding your own interests or the game from undue influence. The game is not fragile.</blockquote>

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