The Structure/Sandbox Balance

I think this is an issue a lot of GMs struggle with. I know I do.

We see RPs of all kinds. Games where the world has been constructed in great detail, with practically limitless possibilities for character creation, but no real plot to follow. You let the players come up with character, toss them into a world, and see what they get up to. It's a typical sandbox RP, pretty common. Then there's GMs who come up with a very detailed story. It likely takes place in an already established world, since they want to put effort into the plot rather than the surroundings. It might have a specific list of characters that need filling out. They might already be named and detailed, they just need someone to play. It's a very structured RP, more like an interactive story than the sandbox RP. And then there's something in the middle. Perhaps a specific setting and a small variety of potential characters, but with a plot that is left to be driven by the characters, with minimal direction from the GM. It finds a balance between the sandbox and the structured.

So what's your preferred balance? Do you think it's better to guide the players along a story, or to let them loose, to come up with what they will? What balances have worked best in the past?

I'd love to see examples of both kinds of RPs that have both succeeded and failed, and why you think they did so.

AA :)

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