By doing this, a great deal of the detail in your worlds can be constructed (or even altered, which undoubtedly, will happen) in-game. Through the gm-player interactions involved, I believe that you have the opportunity for creating engrossing environments, as opposed to creating the details in a forced or arbitrary fashion.
When I had first started working on Nevercast about ten years ago, I gathered a group of online friends to play it with me over the old Webrpg platform. Only a fraction of the game was actually completed; neither the rules nor the worlds were realized. So, we had this game where the environments and rules would be made up on the spot! I'm pretty sure the constant mechanical changes pissed off my players, but there were so many gaps that I couldn't have possibility noticed while working in a static atmosphere. If an idea sucked in-game, I tossed it. I would also like to add that this is also how I derived many vivid and emotionally-charged NPCs to color the setting with.
Over time, you will pass a creative event horizon where you'll be able to build upon your setting in a static atmosphere, without compromising its integrity, because you've already developed a strong foundation.
The possible advantage to this method.
By doing this, a great deal of the detail in your worlds can be constructed (or even altered, which undoubtedly, will happen) in-game. Through the gm-player interactions involved, I believe that you have the opportunity for creating engrossing environments, as opposed to creating the details in a forced or arbitrary fashion.
When I had first started working on Nevercast about ten years ago, I gathered a group of online friends to play it with me over the old Webrpg platform. Only a fraction of the game was actually completed; neither the rules nor the worlds were realized. So, we had this game where the environments and rules would be made up on the spot! I'm pretty sure the constant mechanical changes pissed off my players, but there were so many gaps that I couldn't have possibility noticed while working in a static atmosphere. If an idea sucked in-game, I tossed it. I would also like to add that this is also how I derived many vivid and emotionally-charged NPCs to color the setting with.
Over time, you will pass a creative event horizon where you'll be able to build upon your setting in a static atmosphere, without compromising its integrity, because you've already developed a strong foundation.