What is "railroading" to you (as a player)?

[hawkeyefan]

Anyway, two questions:
1) Do you specifically think what I did here was "railroading"?

So I’ve read most of the thread, including the follow up clarifications. It’s certainly possible I missed some details by commenting so far after the OP… but I wanted to comment.

Whether or not what you did was in some way objectively railroading isn’t something we’ll get consensus about, as the thread has shown. To me, it’s got enough shades of railroading to be of concern. And obviously, the player felt that way at the time… which is what caused the issue.

and 2) In general, how do you define "railroading" or being railroaded as a player ina game?

I’m one of those who tries not to frame railroading in a purely negative light. This is because what I consider a railroad is like the predominant mode of play in the hobby… the adventure path.

Railroading… a verb rather than an adjective… is more what I tend to dislike. This is where the GM uses Force to push things in a specific direction. It can be subtle or it can be overt, but it’s something that will sit wrong with me no matter how severe.

And I think the bit below kind of shows that this was present here.

This little jaunt is a side thing right before the climax of the campaign, meant to give them one last level bump as well as potentiually find allies in the Summer Court if they decide to break the Winter Court's hold.

To me, this reveals an agenda that you had for play, and which you therefore did not want to have the players simply avoid in some way. The sealing of the plane, the magic used to steal the components… all of that is in fiction justification to make the players deal with this situation. That you also have a planned next step in the climax of the campaign implies a pre-defined sequence of events.

Now, you may have allowed the players to deal with this scenario howver they liked… including the wish spell to get away. But I think from the perspective of a player, I would feel like I was clearly meant to deal with this winter fey coup in some way. And if planar travel’s been blocked, I’m likely not going to risk wasting a wish on something that the GM can likewise block.

I think there are likely ways in which this scenario could come about, but as a player I’d certainly want to feel like I was more involved in that, or had a chance to help shape the events in some way. Was there a chance to notice the yheft of the tuning forks, was there a chance to somehow “break the lock” on the planar gate? How involved was the winter court in play prior to this? What about the fey they overthrew? How did this coup come about? As a consequence of events of play? Or simply as part of scenario design?

I ask these questions because I know those would matter to me as a player. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here… but I think given the response, it’s worth considering all these questions to try and avoid such a conflict between player and GM in the future. It’s not about “can we label this a railroad” so much as it is “this player felt he was being railroaded… how can that be corrected”.

 

[Reynard]

That you also have a planned next step in the climax of the campaign implies a pre-defined sequence of events.

No it doesn't. We have been playing this campaign for a year, and it has been arcing toward the climax. That is how campaigns work.