Railroading Fun

[Walt Freitag]

Tomas, perhaps you missed my post in the Academic Jabberwocky thread. It explains that the problem is you're using "Railroading" to mean something that we have a different term for: "Force."

This definition is false.

Definitions are not true or false. They are arbitrary, agreed upon by consensus, not by logical argument. And you are misstating the consensual Forge definition of Railroading.

Railroading  Control of a player-character's decisions by the GM, or opportunities for decisions, in any way which breaks the Social Contract for that group, in the eyes of the character's player.

There is no difference between "control[ling] opportunities for decisions" (Forge definition) and "focus[ing] the range of possible character-choices" (your definition). The only real difference in your proposed definition is that it omits the proviso of the control/limitation breaking the social contract.

We say that all railroading is bad, solely and entirely because the word has been defined that way. That it, it's defined as breaking the social contract which we regard as invariably bad. That doesn't mean that all the Techniques for limiting the scope of player-characteristics are bad. It means that when they're not bad we use a different term for them.

That term is Force.

To repeeat: We don't call all use of such techniques "railroading." We only call it railroading when it breaks the social contract. When it doesn't, or when it hasn't been established whether it does or not, we call it Force.

Force  Originally called "GM-oomph" (Ron Edwards), then "GM-Force" (Mike Holmes) - Control over the protagonist characters' thematically-significant decisions by anyone who is not the character's player. The Force is an especially good term for this phenomenon, due to (1) its sense of imposed mandate and strength-in-control (not just input), and (2) its parodic Star Wars connotation - whatever you want the plot to be, "use the Force!".

Illusionism is one type of Force technique. (It's the most common and also the most extensively discussed Force technique, leading perhaps to the misconception that all high-Force techniques are either Railroading or Illusionism. That's an oversimplification. The two are not mutually exclusive nor do they, between them, cover all high-Force possibilities. There can be  Illusionism that is also Railroading; there can also be Force that's neither Railroading nor Illusionism.)

So, if you were to write:

The negative aura surrounding Force is based on the use of some Force techniques for railroading. Such use is a common practise amongst newbie game masters, due to their nervousness with the unpredictable nature of roleplaying games. They tend to steer play in what they think is "subtle" ways, but still being spotted by the players. The players feels constrained by the game masters rigid adherence to the scenario at hand, and his inability to make their desicions count. As a consequence these techniques (and most similar techniques) is considered to be juvenile and bad. A lot of game masters and players have these experiences, partly due to the lack of coherent advise in the games they use. Thus the idea of all Force being tantamount to railroading been allowed to fester.

... then practically no one at the Forge would disagree with you.

I'm one of the Forge's most outspoken advocates and (if I do say so myself) innovative practitioners of high-Force techniques. I'd love to participate in discussion such techniques with you, especially because they also relate to my work in computer games and other interactive media where the limitations of the media necessitate a high degree of Force in order to have any measure of "story aesthetics" in the outcome.

That can't happen when we're preoccupied with your repeated requests to replace the current arbitrary set of definitions with another equally arbitrary one that you prefer. I have no interest in that discussion. This post is absolutely my last attempt to explain, resolve, and get past the "railroading" terminology issue so we can move into more productive discourse.

- Walt

[Tomas HVM]

Consider this dictionary definition of Railroaded:

To rush or push (something) through quickly in order to prevent careful consideration and possible criticism or obstruction: railroad a special-interest bill through Congress.

To convict (an accused person) without a fair trial or on trumped-up charges.

I must beg to be excused. I did not know that this was a established use of the word. I have only heard it used in a roleplaying context. So my position in this question has been based upon false basis. Sorry!

Considering how railroaded is used in common, to work for another use of it within roleplaying games is futile.

My arguments on the quality of the alternative terms still stands, however much your clarification has shifted the focus of the debate.

Once again; sorry! I should have looked this up myself. Will do so whenever discussing english terms hereafter.

:)

[Valamir]

Tomas,

Good to know.

I should also apologize for the tone of my post.  I let my frustration with the thread display more hostility than was warranted.

Ralph.