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"Railroading" is just a pejorative term for...
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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 5399988" data-attributes="member: 5868"><p>Olgar's definition:</p><p></p><p>Railroading is what occurs when players lack the illusion of choice.</p><p></p><p>Ideally, players should be able to make meaningful choices in the game which can change the way they approach situations and affect the way the game develops. The is no right or wrong answer to a situation; there are only choices and consequences. Practically speaking, truly unlimited adventure design in this manner is hard to get right, so DMs limit choice. Done well, this is tranparent to the players -- the dungeon scenario is successful as a gaming environment because of this, as the players have choices (left corridor vs. right corridor; open a door vs. bypass it) while still limiting the number of outcomes to keep the game managable for the DM.</p><p></p><p>It is possible to design a game where there are essentially no choices that is still a good game because the DM still allows for the illusion of choice. An example might be a wilderness exploration adventure where the series of events that play out are predetermined but the players still pick from the right or left path, or whether to go into the mountains or hills -- it's just that the outcome is the same regardless of choice (assuming players aren't clever enough to go back to revisit the road not taken!). </p><p></p><p>On the worst kind of railroad there is not only no choice, it is obvious there isn't one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 5399988, member: 5868"] Olgar's definition: Railroading is what occurs when players lack the illusion of choice. Ideally, players should be able to make meaningful choices in the game which can change the way they approach situations and affect the way the game develops. The is no right or wrong answer to a situation; there are only choices and consequences. Practically speaking, truly unlimited adventure design in this manner is hard to get right, so DMs limit choice. Done well, this is tranparent to the players -- the dungeon scenario is successful as a gaming environment because of this, as the players have choices (left corridor vs. right corridor; open a door vs. bypass it) while still limiting the number of outcomes to keep the game managable for the DM. It is possible to design a game where there are essentially no choices that is still a good game because the DM still allows for the illusion of choice. An example might be a wilderness exploration adventure where the series of events that play out are predetermined but the players still pick from the right or left path, or whether to go into the mountains or hills -- it's just that the outcome is the same regardless of choice (assuming players aren't clever enough to go back to revisit the road not taken!). On the worst kind of railroad there is not only no choice, it is obvious there isn't one. [/QUOTE]
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