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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7333536" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Yeah, I got the gist because I've had similar conversations with him before. But the term &quot;worldbuilding&quot; being interchangeable with &quot;secret GM backstory&quot; seems like such a big stretch that I thought there must be more to it....so that's why I asked the question I did. Similar to the point you made above....worldbuilding is happening. Every game I can think of includes it to some extent, even if it's just genre limitations or setting details. So since that's the case, then there must be more criteria for the definition Pemerton is working with....and looking at it now, it seems to be that the information is secret. I don't think worldbuilding can be limited to only be considered secrets the GM keeps from the players, so the whole OP is flawed. If the question is instead &quot;What is secret GM backstory for?&quot; then to me, that's something entirely different. And even then, a better way to ask would likely be &quot;How can a GM use secret backstory to enhance play?&quot; Wording it in such a way seems more transparent and less adversarial. I can understand someone not liking the style of play where the GM has determined many details ahead of time, or does so by fiat throughout the game....but I can also conceive of someone enjoying that kind of play. I use elements of secret backstory in my game quite a bit. There's a meta-story that is in play. However, it's not ubiquitous....I leave plenty of details undecided, and I allow the players to introduce plenty of material, as well. These discussions are tough because everyone seems to pay lip service to there being no wrong way to play, but as soon as they say that, they then proceed to point out why your way to play sucks. Not objectively, of course, that would be bad to say, but just in their opinion they'd rather smash their head into your table than sit down at it and play. Everyone takes the worst possible version of another playstyle and argues from that point.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7333536, member: 6785785"] Yeah, I got the gist because I've had similar conversations with him before. But the term "worldbuilding" being interchangeable with "secret GM backstory" seems like such a big stretch that I thought there must be more to it....so that's why I asked the question I did. Similar to the point you made above....worldbuilding is happening. Every game I can think of includes it to some extent, even if it's just genre limitations or setting details. So since that's the case, then there must be more criteria for the definition Pemerton is working with....and looking at it now, it seems to be that the information is secret. I don't think worldbuilding can be limited to only be considered secrets the GM keeps from the players, so the whole OP is flawed. If the question is instead "What is secret GM backstory for?" then to me, that's something entirely different. And even then, a better way to ask would likely be "How can a GM use secret backstory to enhance play?" Wording it in such a way seems more transparent and less adversarial. I can understand someone not liking the style of play where the GM has determined many details ahead of time, or does so by fiat throughout the game....but I can also conceive of someone enjoying that kind of play. I use elements of secret backstory in my game quite a bit. There's a meta-story that is in play. However, it's not ubiquitous....I leave plenty of details undecided, and I allow the players to introduce plenty of material, as well. These discussions are tough because everyone seems to pay lip service to there being no wrong way to play, but as soon as they say that, they then proceed to point out why your way to play sucks. Not objectively, of course, that would be bad to say, but just in their opinion they'd rather smash their head into your table than sit down at it and play. Everyone takes the worst possible version of another playstyle and argues from that point. [/QUOTE]

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