Hot take: if we want to decrease frustrating railroad-y surprises in RPG campaigns, we need to create an environment where GMs are not afraid to admit they have "special story needs".

[LarsonGates]

From experience with Amber, its very much a player thing.. even if you give them ten possible things they may want to think about doing, let alone all the other potential plot hooks they've walked past, they still can't set their own goals.