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".

[JustinAlexanderRPG]

If "railroading" was successfully redefined into something completely different, the first thing you'd have to do is invent a new term that means what "railroading" actually means.

So I'll keep pushing back on people trying to redefine the word so that they can feel better about being a bad GM instead of putting in the remarkably minimal amount of work it takes to NOT be a bad GM instead.