In my own games so far, I've noticed some players have trouble doing things like taking control of the narrative - they're used to a traditional gaming structure where the Narrator (aka "Game Master") is the one who has the final say about world details and things like that. Whereas other players are totally cool with narrative liberty, and freely make up details about the world, the environment, people they've met and so on.

I saw this in games too - in some games people play it close, asking questions and letting the Narrator answer them, while in others the players are essentially mini-Narrators, freely inventing all kinds of characters, places, historical events, technology and so on. And they can have some trouble mingling, if one player is very conservative about what they invent and then see another player going wild creating world details on the fly.

It's not a question of right or wrong, it's more of an expectation thing the players might want to know in advance. So I thought, why not have a little drop-down box where you can select a narrative level when setting up a game, which would display to potential players alongside the other settings like rate of play, NSFW, Public/Private, etc. That way players could tune their writing expectations and know how much slack the Narrator is generally willing to give them to invent new world details and setting elements as they go. Sound cool?

Freeform - Players are free to make up just about any sort setting and world details, including historical events and potentially significant characters, as long as doing so doesn't contradict the world setting details, derail a narrator or another player's move, or break any established continuity within the story.

Normal - Players have narrative control over their own characters and backstories, and can also invent non-essential details such as minor characters and distant places. However, they should leave world details, setting history, the main narrator cast, and other larger story elements to the Narrator.

Moderated - Players control their characters' moves and backstories, but aside from winning control of the narrative through a challenge, creation of world and setting details should be left to the Narrator.

Obviously the names could change and whatnot, but as different groups have different comfort levels with these sorts of things, I think it might be a big help in getting players on the same page with what they "can" and "cannot" create in-game. A little drop-down box that could go a long way, you might say. :)

Whaddya think? :)