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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 9040352" data-attributes="member: 6785785">It's not about what the GM wants to do. It's about the effect of what he's doing. The method chosen denies players' the ability to drive play. Now, if the players are indifferent to that, then it's all good. But again, I wish people would set aside the appeal to realism and call it what it is... "this game is about my world, not your characters". No, the problem I'm identifying is people saying that my game is less realistic than theirs. That's not what should be the distinction that separates the two games. Both games present plausible events (such as they can be considered so in a fantasy world of some sort). What's real is what is decided to be real. I think this is especially fraught when people are saying that having things related to the PCs happen to the PCs is unrealistic because the basis for their evaluation is a trad approach where the GM presents things for them to do as they wander through his setting. So if he's always presenting things that are relevant to them, it seems to push credibility. But what if a game didn't work that way? What if you're playing Stonetop, and the PCs are all inhabitants of the village of Stonetop, and everything they do is related to defending or improving the village in some way. They rescue their neighbors from danger one session, and then the next session they travel to another town to discuss a trade agreement, but find that town does some shady things, that don't sit well with the Light Cleric... can the deal still be struck? Does the Light Cleric have to compromise his ethics? Or can some other solution be found? All of that is relevant to the players and none of it seems overly coincidental. I won't claim that this is more realistic than other methods of determining the events of play... all I'll say is that it's equally realistic. Okay, so by saying they're not alone in doing so... I think you mean the GM has goals and makes things happen, is that right? What kinds of goals? How does he make things happen?</blockquote>

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