I know that, but my point is what im saying, is what they are enjoying is not a railroad, but a Linear adventure, with a direct means of dealing with the content of the adventure, that is not a railroad, that is just a linear adventure. These two things are not the same, and the idea that they are is actually extremely terrible.
the problem is that you are disregarding each other... some players DO like railroads (and as I said even as a sandbox DM I need to use them sometimes) but there are also people that want to play dungeon of the mad mage (not a sandbox but not a railroad...or follercoaster, but a linear game)
yup and when I did my sandbox example for the qustion up thread I included a teifling hexblade with a cliche back story and no goals for this exact reason.
no... there ARE fans of railroads... there are people that ONLY want it and will be seen as 'followers' in a sandbox game because they will make not 1 choice unless forced to.
Again, those are people who simply want simple linear adventure, with a direct method of dealing with something, that is not a railroad, because it is something they willing want to do, and have already decided on, they just wanna do it.
Being hung up on terminology this way, to the point that you are telling people they are wrong about their own experiences, is the thing that is problematic. You are so focused on your personal definition of and revulsion for railroads that you can't fathom someone using the term in a non-negative light. I think it would better serve discussion to acknowledge that other people are using the term differently, and move on, rather than doubling down and calling other people "extremely terrible."
no... I am make 2 distinct categories... Jimmy doesn't mind sandbox but prefers a more straight forward linear game... my ex brother in law wants a full railroad (I have met a few at cons too... they are rare but they are real)
okay lets go back to my example where we HAD to sign up for the warrior contest and we HAD to win the contest and we HAD to take equipment we didn't want so someone could throw it over board and we could get attacked by sea life with that equipment just for us to get it back to have it taken by the captian... not 1 choice for 2 sessions mattered. We didn't even get to move ourselves freely in combat half the time... He was telling us a story not RPing a game... my Ex Brother in Law loved it... best game he had been in since joining our group.
The interesting thing about the hexcrawl is that it is a mode of play built around discovery but it doesn't have to be open. That is to say, you can hexcrawl a linear path.
Im sorry for being harsh about this, and i dont think your a terrible person nor is what your describing is terrible, its more the idea that Railroads=Linear adventures, is actively terrible and bad for all discourse on topics like this, because it leads to a fundemental misunderstanding of why railroads are bad, because they actively force players to do something they do not want to do, which is actively just bad and toxic, this confusion has lead you to use outright poor definitions that muddy the waters on a level that isnt good, and has caused very bad trains of thoughts that "linear adventures are bad" or "all linear adventures are railroads" that is actively toxic are all discussion on this matter, because of this fundamental misunderstanding, And i simply will push back again it in all forms to the absolute extreme.
Again, that is something he wanted to do, and actively didnt wish to do anything else, that is not a railroad, notice every time i say this, is when it is forced to do something they do not wish to do, or have no interest in, that is the fine line difference here that is fundamentally misunderstood.
