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[+] Players, what do you like about railroads?
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<blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 9374370" data-attributes="member: 1465"><p>I played countless adventure video games, point-and-click, and text adventures / interactive fiction, most of which in the past were effectively railroads (until when it became much easier to have multiple endings), and I had a lot of fun despite having no choice in how the story arc would end (other than dying or getting stuck somewhere).</p><p></p><p>I consider a railroad, just that kind of game when the point is not for the player(s) to <em>create </em>the story but to <em>discover </em>it. Generally speaking, my <strong>fun</strong> and general satisfaction when playing a RPG depends on what happens during the journey: there are a lot of elements that make the game enjoyable, just think of the pillars exploration/social interaction/combat, all of which exist in both a railroad and a sandbox, and all the degrees between. </p><p></p><p>So what I like in railroad games is largely the same as what I like in sandbox games, or dislike if done poorly. </p><p></p><p>The difference between the two i.e. the degree of agency or effect on the story arc, doesn't actually matter to me that much. A sandbox game might make me feel more free and my character more important, but I don't necessarily always want to be responsible for the story arc, because the risk is always that the players are not really good at taking advantage of such freedom, and the end result can very much be an underwhelming story arc...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Li Shenron, post: 9374370, member: 1465"] I played countless adventure video games, point-and-click, and text adventures / interactive fiction, most of which in the past were effectively railroads (until when it became much easier to have multiple endings), and I had a lot of fun despite having no choice in how the story arc would end (other than dying or getting stuck somewhere). I consider a railroad, just that kind of game when the point is not for the player(s) to [I]create [/I]the story but to [I]discover [/I]it. Generally speaking, my [B]fun[/B] and general satisfaction when playing a RPG depends on what happens during the journey: there are a lot of elements that make the game enjoyable, just think of the pillars exploration/social interaction/combat, all of which exist in both a railroad and a sandbox, and all the degrees between. So what I like in railroad games is largely the same as what I like in sandbox games, or dislike if done poorly. The difference between the two i.e. the degree of agency or effect on the story arc, doesn't actually matter to me that much. A sandbox game might make me feel more free and my character more important, but I don't necessarily always want to be responsible for the story arc, because the risk is always that the players are not really good at taking advantage of such freedom, and the end result can very much be an underwhelming story arc... [/QUOTE]
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[+] Players, what do you like about railroads?
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