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(2 edits) (+5)

I was waiting for "railroady" to appear.  :P

Okay, so, personally: 

1. I'm completely happy if a game loads me up with meaningful choices that do not particularly form into any given plot structure.  That's a good design, and Blades is good in that field.  

2. I'm also happy if a game pulls towards a given structure without forcing it (by enticement and having things like moves that all point that way) - it "pulls" instead of "pushing". 

3. And I'm happy if a game demands plot in a way that's deeply, deeply integrated rather than feeling like a tacked-on layer, so that "play the game" is "run the plot", straight up.   Fiasco, for example, IS a plot structure in gameable form, as is The Mountain Witch.  And for references right at hand, so is Atop A Lonely Tower, up there in the "Play" forum.

4. I'm not as happy when one layer of the game says "You're free to do as you like" and the other (or the GM) says "No you bloody aren't", unless I signed up for that exactly ("Want to play adventure module RB4?"). 

(+2)

Agreed all around! I had a tickle in my brain that there was a "run the plot" game or two out there but couldn't remember what they were. Thanks for the reminder! You could also add Tobie Abad's A Single Moment to that list, although you can string that game's scenes together more or less however you like.

I guess it wasn't all that accurate to say "run the plot" games are railroady. I think they can run that risk... but maybe not any more or less than any other system. That is to say: the difference between guided plot and railroad may have more to do with the GM than the system.