If I feel I'm on rails in a game, a plot, a play area, and there is no way off, and nothing I do can make a damn bit of difference, I walk away. I have better things to do....like fold laundry, clean bathrooms, and sleep.
I realise, occasionally there is a need for 'rails' to get from A to B. Corwin couldn't be King without putting the crown on his head. Sooner or later, Brand will have to do that to himself, too, or somebody else will have to put it on, or we'll have to have a military coup, or *something*, because Amber is that kind of place. It's an inevitability. But these really should be very few, far between, and done with apology and if possible explanation: We do this, to free us up to do *that*.
Rails suck. There are some people who will say "But you can make it fun by seeing it the way I tell you to." Or people who will say "Who cares if it's fun? It's IC, dammit, grit it out." And back on (a former Amber themed MUSH) I felt more than once like saying "Look. Just tell me what to pose, would you, because obviously none of MY ideas are acceptable, so you just tell me how to pose, and I'll do it, and we can get on with this scene." In the end, I did walk away.
I don't understand the need by some people to keep such a tight grip on a story, a play area, a plot, or anything else that anybody else involved must either be a mind-reader, or be willing to just pose however they're told, in order to have anything happen. But just as surely as there are people who have that need to micro-manage, there are people who are willing to play under those constraints, and enjoy it.
I can't do it. I don't have to have my creativity accepted all the time, but *some* percentage of the time, yes. More than 2, maybe 3 rejections of ideas or attempts to contribute, in a row, in any given scene/plot/etc? I'm outta there (or I just stop bothering to try to pose) because I'm obviously not able to offer what they want and repeated rejections don't make me happy either.
The wiki says that a good GM will try to give people a gracious way out. Sometimes, that's the best you can hope for.
I realise, occasionally there is a need for 'rails' to get from A to B. Corwin couldn't be King without putting the crown on his head. Sooner or later, Brand will have to do that to himself, too, or somebody else will have to put it on, or we'll have to have a military coup, or *something*, because Amber is that kind of place. It's an inevitability. But these really should be very few, far between, and done with apology and if possible explanation: We do this, to free us up to do *that*.
Rails suck. There are some people who will say "But you can make it fun by seeing it the way I tell you to." Or people who will say "Who cares if it's fun? It's IC, dammit, grit it out." And back on (a former Amber themed MUSH) I felt more than once like saying "Look. Just tell me what to pose, would you, because obviously none of MY ideas are acceptable, so you just tell me how to pose, and I'll do it, and we can get on with this scene." In the end, I did walk away.
I don't understand the need by some people to keep such a tight grip on a story, a play area, a plot, or anything else that anybody else involved must either be a mind-reader, or be willing to just pose however they're told, in order to have anything happen. But just as surely as there are people who have that need to micro-manage, there are people who are willing to play under those constraints, and enjoy it.
I can't do it. I don't have to have my creativity accepted all the time, but *some* percentage of the time, yes. More than 2, maybe 3 rejections of ideas or attempts to contribute, in a row, in any given scene/plot/etc? I'm outta there (or I just stop bothering to try to pose) because I'm obviously not able to offer what they want and repeated rejections don't make me happy either.
The wiki says that a good GM will try to give people a gracious way out. Sometimes, that's the best you can hope for.
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