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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson Longinus" data-source="post: 8343061" data-attributes="member: 7025508">Frankly, sometimes it is actually good idea for the GM to make the player misconceptions true or at least make something related to them. If players get weirdly obsessed about some thing the GM meant just to be a meaningless throwaway detail (as they sometimes do,) then the GM might as well make the thing to have at least some meaning. It is far more satisfying to the players than letting them to waste hours of their time on something that will lead absolutely nowhere. And yes, this is illusionism, and yes, I think that if used sparingly this is a good idea.And this relates to the other side of the railroad, that is hard to articulate, and one which I feel is prone to cause at least as much frustration than railroading (or &quot;railroading.&quot;) I feel that in fear of railroads, some GMs simply let the PCs aimlessly wander around, chase wild geese, and generally get frustrated as nothing coherent or interesting happens. Yes, there might be some interesting things the GM is planned, but the GM will certainly not &quot;railroad&quot; the players to them! No, they must have perfect unhindered agency to waste their time on boring inconsequential things (that they have no way of knowing are inconsequential.)Now that was pretty hyperbolic description, but I've seen episodes of something like that crop up in several games, and I frankly find it more frustrating than &quot;railroads.&quot; My personal motto as a GM is something like: &quot;whatever you do, something interesting will happen.&quot; And if it requires illusionism to do it, so be it!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson Longinus, post: 8343061, member: 7025508"] Frankly, sometimes it is actually good idea for the GM to make the player misconceptions true or at least make [I]something[/I] related to them. If players get weirdly obsessed about some thing the GM meant just to be a meaningless throwaway detail (as they sometimes do,) then the GM might as well make the thing to have at least some meaning. It is far more satisfying to the players than letting them to waste hours of their time on something that will lead absolutely nowhere. And yes, this is illusionism, and yes, I think that if used sparingly this is a good idea. And this relates to the other side of the railroad, that is hard to articulate, and one which I feel is prone to cause at least as much frustration than railroading (or "railroading.") I feel that in fear of railroads, some GMs simply let the PCs aimlessly wander around, chase wild geese, and generally get frustrated as nothing coherent or interesting happens. Yes, there might be some interesting things the GM is planned, but the GM will certainly not "railroad" the players to them! No, they must have perfect unhindered agency to waste their time on boring inconsequential things (that they have no way of knowing are inconsequential.) Now that was pretty hyperbolic description, but I've seen episodes of something like that crop up in several games, and I frankly find it more frustrating than "railroads." My personal motto as a GM is something like: "whatever you do, something interesting will happen." And if it requires illusionism to do it, so be it! [/QUOTE]

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