Player control in RPGs

[Quantom Quak]

Continuing my RPG research, I would like to know how you all feel about player-controlling in games. By this I mean players getting to design their own elements of the game, adding puzzles, riddles, side-plots, etc. It would be nice to know how you like to contribute to games, or if you like it more if it's all GM/DM controlled. If you have an opinion, I want to know. This is all going towards a good cause.

Oh, and if you have any preference about what RPG genre you play, leave it here.

 

[kingcom]

As someone who is both a GM and a player (more of a fan of rules light sci fi games), I prefer to play my character when im playing and investigate the world, leaving it entirely up to the GM. If im designing the plot/puzzle/npcs etc (other than maybe picking up on small things which stay consistant, like the way the guy pronounces certain things, you make fun of and then he gets the accent permanently) I know how to resolve it. If im playing, I want to explore not create.

 

[Seishisha]

Realy the best compromise in my opinion would be to give a public demo release during development and have the function for a decent form of feedback integration from the community, essentialy a beta test alot of mmo's do this so why dont other games have it? I know beta tests in mmo's are largley stress tests for the game engine and servers but the ligitimate benifits of such a program could only improve the overall product.

I can only think of one instance off the top of my head where fan feedback has been used to an extreme degree to improve a game, i speak of Hydrophobia the initial release over XBLA was basicly met with critical reception from pretty much everyone, so the game designers litterly combed the internet forums and reviews for negative points threw them all into a bucket and sorted through them all adding improvments where they could, finaly they rereleased the title.

This is abit of an extreme measure though but you dont see many companies taking feedback so seriously, i suppose there must be a huge amount of technicle reasons behind not alowing players to create there own content doubly so in multiplayer enviroments. Not to mention it largley comes down to profit at the end of the day if you allow free modding tools for your game you pretty much negate any profit from expansions/DLC when 'anyone' can add the same things which is a shame realy as modders often come up with fun and innovative changes the developers never imagined.

Personaly im all for content creation from players though its somthing that i rarly dable in myself normaly stopping at reskinning models or whatever, i have often searched out mods or map packs or whatever for games i own.