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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wally" data-source="post: 6133327" data-attributes="member: 3578">From my point of view, which I think is similar to others, a railroaded game is one which forces the characters into actions, which they either didn't/wouldn't choose, or were required to choose due to the removal of all other choices.I have played in games where the DM specifically told me what my character would do, not in any sort of alignment argument, but in just what actions the character would take at any moment. That falls under the, "you have a script/story you want to see, just tell me later and we don't need to waste time on playing," sort of view.  I have also played in a game where the option to continue was laid out before us, but when the characters chose to go in a different direction, there wasn't anything available to us. We tried to leave and go to a different village, nobody was left there. They weren't killed or kidnapped, they just no longer existed until we returned to the pre-determined quest path.Both of those can be seen as extreme examples of railroading, but that is how I view it. Having an adventure mapped out and populated with monsters isn't railroading if the characters don't need to follow it, or if they can find ways around it.On the other hand, I have run sandbox, or now I see the idea of rowboat, games and had my players sit around doing nothing for hours because they can't find the motivation for their characters. I liked what someone else said about how railroading isn't a bad thing if it isn't noticed by the players. To me that isn't really railroading, it is just providing options and having a planned adventure so the DM isn't taking too much game time with the planning while the players sit around waiting.</blockquote>

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