does it seem that most of the zombie survival games are free form?

In reply to Sittingbull (msg # 1):

Because most people don't feel like there needs to be an added system around a zombie game when most zombie survival games are fairly roleplay based. I know for me at least, if I wanted a system around killing zombies, they would play left for dead or Dying Light.

I mean, yes the zombies are the background but sometimes you have to death with them and when that happens, that is when I don't want the game to be set in a sandbox.  Randomness, in those times, could have an accidental death (which everyone should be ready for character wise anyway) and just make the game that much more visceral and real.

Samething with all the superhero games that are sandbox.  Why make a game, based on conflict (unless you are going for heavy RP then disregard the rest of this) and set it in a system that doesn't use any kind of rules other than literary.

I would guess that in both cases it would depend on the players trust in the GM and whether or not the GM is willing to put in a random number generator themselves. If you are looking for randomness, the GM can always just "roll and shout". If the players trust the GM and are willing to put in some more written work, then the GM might reward them based on their actions as described and keep the story moving.

But I get you, if you were looking to have a stronger role in the decision making process as a player it makes sense that you would look for a system to back up the game. So I guess it comes down to where the people want the power of the game, with the GM or with the Players.

Some people are just interested in writing a multi-authored story (and all the benefits and negatives that come with it) which is what freeform games generally are, and happen to do it here on RPoL.

It may be inaccurate to call certain games of this type "games" in the first place, depending on an individual's definition of such, but because that's the particular lexicon in use on the site it's what they're called.

I would assume one of two things, neither of which I can confirm at all so take them with a grain of salt:

1. There aren't many/any good Zombie games out there. While there are certainly systems which can be adapted to it, and even a handful of systems that actually focus on the zombie experience, perhaps nothing with hard mechanics has ever been built that's good for a Zombie game. Or, failing that, they've simply never heard of the systems which are good.

2. Perhaps the folks running the games don't like the systems. They see their games as something that doesn't mesh with the systems available, or they like systems in general. They're novelists-in-training or they dislike how often combat gets bogged down in most games with rule after rule after confounding rule. So, instead of subjecting themselves to such things (even if their players might like those things), they simply freeform it and call it a day.

Again, I make no claims as to the validity of these arguments, and do not claim to speak for anyone running/planning to run these games. Just some possible answers. I need sleep.

True and true.  I guess I have played with enough games to know that sandbox, in my area (LOL!) would never work.  People, in my area playing a sandbox game, would be acting like they were Batman, Black Widow, Rick, or Daryl.  I mean even if you have people who WANT a sandbox game, they still have to be careful of their own moods.  One deceptively bad day and your careful writing style could take a hit.

In reply to Tyr Hawk (msg # 6):

Dead Reign, with some tweaking to the two problem areas anyone who knows the game knows well, does great for a post-apocalyptic setting rules where the players want to focus (and it rewards) more on/for role-playing and less on/for combat.  However, it is by Palladium, and that throws a lot of people off.

The simple answer is, because most of the people running Zombie Survival games prefer freeform.  Why is a different question...maybe the people playing/running these games want a bunch of Daryl characters.  Maybe they are using 'freeform' in the sense that there's not a specified rules set...but not in the sense that anyone can write anything into the game and it becomes part of the storyline (a lot of freeform games are actually 'limited' or 'moderated' freeform...)  After all, 'freeform' and 'sandbox' are not necessarily synonymous terms.

But, really, what it comes down to is, they get the gaming experience they desire from a freeform game.  Even in most of the system-based games I've been a part of, the GM tends to keep dice-rolling to a minimum, in order to keep the game rolling along smoothly.  And in a few games I'm in, while they're described as freeform, the GM actually does have a mechanic in place for conflict resolution, but only resorts to it occasionally (if you describe what you're doing in such a way that he sees no logical reason it would fail, he rules that it succeeds...)

Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages to them...and it comes down to individual perception as to whether the advantages of one outweigh its disadvantages strongly enough to sway the choice clearly to a written rules system vs. freeform vs. something in between.

Most of the games I find on here are freeform if they aren't something like battletech.
And it is hard to get players who don't try to overdo that. They have a problem saying " I am going to shoot at the target and try to take it out."
instead they post

"I shoot the bad guy and take him out. Then I grab the damsel and take her to safety."

Now see, in the Dead Reign-ish game (walking dead style) game I run on facebook, the players don't have to worry about their character sheets or even rolling dice.  I do all the dice rolls for them and they are all fine with that.  This allows them to post before work, during break, after work, long as they are not driving I tell them.  So would that be Dead Reign AND freeform?

I think any very mainstream genre is going to attract more freeform players because anything sufficiently mainstream is going to be more popular than pen-and-paper role-playing. So you have an influx of people who want to tell collaborative stories in that genre, but who have no interest in the (slightly) more esoteric task of learning dice mechanics.

That's usually called 'black box' style play.