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"Railroading" is just a pejorative term for...
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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 5400060" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>Janx brings up a good point ie. video game sandboxes.</p><p></p><p>Due to limitations of digital media, even the sandboxiest game (Grand Theft Auto) features dual modes: a sandbox where you steal cars, kill hookers, buy property, play mini-games like ambulance driver, etc. Its fun, but for the story to advance, you need to do the missions which are very strongly rail-roaded. </p><p></p><p>Another example. In WoW, you can spend YEARS wandering the game selling, grinding, crafting, chatting with friends, and camping for loot without ever doing more than the opening missions. Sandbox in every word. Yet, there is no plot that springs from that; just the tales of your daily events. To face the Lich King and his minions requires a bit more rail-roading (visit here, slay that, fetch this) than typical grind/guild/raid check-ins.</p><p></p><p>A good DM can cover mask the stark difference between "grind" activities like selling loot or stealing ambulances and the "quest" missions better than a computer can. He can hide the scene changes, rework plot hooks, or even invert dungeons to make the transition from grind to quest look natural. </p><p></p><p>But it doesn't stop the fact that if you want Tony to get revenge or you want to slay the lich-king, you gotta bite the DMs plot hooks for a while.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 5400060, member: 7635"] Janx brings up a good point ie. video game sandboxes. Due to limitations of digital media, even the sandboxiest game (Grand Theft Auto) features dual modes: a sandbox where you steal cars, kill hookers, buy property, play mini-games like ambulance driver, etc. Its fun, but for the story to advance, you need to do the missions which are very strongly rail-roaded. Another example. In WoW, you can spend YEARS wandering the game selling, grinding, crafting, chatting with friends, and camping for loot without ever doing more than the opening missions. Sandbox in every word. Yet, there is no plot that springs from that; just the tales of your daily events. To face the Lich King and his minions requires a bit more rail-roading (visit here, slay that, fetch this) than typical grind/guild/raid check-ins. A good DM can cover mask the stark difference between "grind" activities like selling loot or stealing ambulances and the "quest" missions better than a computer can. He can hide the scene changes, rework plot hooks, or even invert dungeons to make the transition from grind to quest look natural. But it doesn't stop the fact that if you want Tony to get revenge or you want to slay the lich-king, you gotta bite the DMs plot hooks for a while. [/QUOTE]
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