Thomas Shey
Legend
It needs to be said again and again that the idea of games (any of them) being "railroads via (the play-space constraints of) premise" is just such an absurd concept that it cannot be taken seriously and anyone who puts it forward is undermining their credibility as a thinker on the design and play of games (any of them). If you accept that absurd framing of "railroad via premise", what we are left with is the reductive position that only the most rudderless, wandering play featuring the most diffuse premise and the most infinite play-space is a non-railroad. Please. Just stop.
I wish I could say I haven't seen this argument before over the years, and have noted it walls off all but an incredibly limited set of campaign type design space.