Hussar
Legend
The players should choose their own goals (which may well be individual), not have a goal thrust upon them. Otherwise they may as well be reading a novel. RPGs are all about offering players choices. If the players go off-piste it's because they find the off-piste stuff more interesting, so the DM should go with that. A DM-imposed goal IS the rails of a railroad.
It’s all about buy in though. You agreed to play this campaign. You already made that choice.