[UA] Story-Centered or Player-Centered

[Nicholas J Ingrassellino]

		I only started in the RPG space a year or
so ago. With that said it is a fair assumption I do not have the
experience most posters here do. I have not seen a lot as far as GM
styles go but I like to think I have picked up on a few trends most GMs
share. So I propose this to you: As a PC would you prefer the game to
be centered around you so you can do whatever you want-- within reason,
of course-- or have a more story centric game where you are just
completing linear objectives to get to your final, pre-set goal?

After
playing a number of DnD games where we had a few DMs I noticed they all
have a very specific plan for the PCs. If the PCs wander off that path
they are either simply told "that door does not open" or "no, you can
not go that way." Perhaps a small excursion is allowed but nothing
worth while most of the time. I, as a GM, (as I prefer UA over DnD any
day) would rather setup a make-shift town/cave/underground hideout and
let the PCs explore (more like a video game I suppose). Perhaps "find
the red key before you can open the red door" is a bit much but the
general concept is solid and creates a not so artificial way for the
PCs to not bypass most of the cool stuff. A "boss fight" or specific
event could trigger the next story arch very easily while still
allowing you to have an over-all story instead of ad hoc chickens
without heads.

The way I see it is the GM is only there to
simulate reality and not to have fun per-say (at least compared to the
PCs). If I can setup an old west-style town and what happens depends on
what building they enter why not do it? Sure the GM has to improvise
more than not but it is worth it.

		With a good GM and story both of these styles can be massive amounts of fun and both have their place.
		Which do you prefer?

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Nicholas J Ingrassellino
WebHouse, Inc.
Technical Support Manager/Senior Systems Engineer
nick at webhse.com
"The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying."
- John Carmack on software patents 
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