Venting about Metagaming and Railroading

[kyoryu]

Not being caught doesn’t mean it’s fine.

Yeah. Breaking agreements isn't okay "if you don't get caught".

It's 100% absolutely fine with me (as a player). If you're my DM, cheat the hell out of things. Just don't let me know you're doing it.

My preference is that if the GM is going to do that, they tell me. Doesn't mean they have to say on each occasion it happens, just "yeah, I will do this as part of the game on occasion."

I see literally no downside to this.

Leaving the ethical aspects out of it, the problem with fudging, hidden railroading and such is that often the players notice a lot more than the game master gives them credit for. They just, for some reason, accept it without saying a thing.

100%. There's a semi-dysfunctional game style where the GM pretends they're not railroading, and the players pretend not to notice while they're fully aware of what's going on.

I've literally had people in games tell me "come on, let's just start the fight, it's obvious that's what the GM has prepped".