I think it’s rather tricky in the games I’ve attempted to run as campaigns so far. When actually planning a campaign, I tend to choose game worlds that are fairly detailed. The Corsairs campaign is a prime example. It’s a Heavy Gear campaign, and I make use of Heavy Gear’s extensive background and ongoing story. As such, it’s difficult to encourage communal creation of the game world when the game world is by and large pre-existing. Admittedly, it’s rather short on local detail; you could probably go crazy on a neighbourhood or Badlands community. The problem is, that community still has to fit into the overall whole, and when my players haven’t read the extensive collection of sourcebooks on my shelf (and probably aren’t that keen on the idea, really), I can imagine that the idea of working to create an idea might be rather intimidating when it won’t necessarily fit into the greater whole. There’s also the possibility that there really hasn’t been time to do any world-building. Well, actually, with the slow pace the campaign has wound up taking, there’s technically been plenty, but - it’s never seemed the time or the place, at least not yet. If world building might be appropriate anywhere, it’ll be before/when the team leaves Terra Nova and heads for Caprice. Again, though, we butt up against the problem of the existing material; to establish the framework for building the characters’ world (i.e. the specific elements of the broader world that the PCs would interact with), the players would probably need to read Life on Caprice, the Liberati Sourcebook, the Black Talon Field Guide and/or the CEF Sourcebook. Again, as much as I’m willing to let them do so, I get the feeling it won’t happen any time soon. At least, that’s my opinion. Vickie, Boots, Dan, Gav, Charisse, Dizzy: Does what I just wrote seem right with you?

Are the players spectators, or do they actually have a say in the plot (moreso that just guiding it by the actions of their characters)?

Good question. I think, the combination of the unsteady schedule and the fact that the team has a few recent comers to the hobby, the players tend to be a little more spectatory in terms of the plot than otherwise – there have been times when I’ve asked for input, and the general consensus has been “Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s great”. Then again, the players have given me a few plot hooks in their character backgrounds that I’m yet to make use of, so I think I’m to blame for that. I’ve had an idea for a tool that might facilitate player interaction with the plot, but whether that’ll work with the Corsairs campaign, I don’t know. I get the feeling that, to have a world building, or perhaps more specifically, a campaign arena (i.e. the specific chunk of the game world that the PCs will inhabit and interact with)-building exercise that works, you need either a team that has no problem reading a fair chunk of source material, or a game-world that’s high on theme and low on detail, so that the players and GM feel as though they have more room to play. At the same time, I don’t think the game world can be too wide open, or else you run the risk of a mish-mash of ideas that don’t necessarily work together (or even on their own). I wander back toward the Lexicon game I tried running earlier on; the writing-styles of us individual players didn’t really meld, and we wound up straying off-topic quite a bit. The other, successful (and successfully completed) Lexicons I’ve seen are based in existing RPG universes that have strong ground rules while allowing you to play fast-and-loose with the details (i.e. Paranoia, Nobilis). One game that immediately comes to mind is Black9 Ops; it's a small, free game with some background and setting information to set the tone and ground rules, but with most of the specifics left quite open. octaNe and InSpectres might also work, especially as the possibility for game-worlds creation is factored into both their minimal setting information and their narrative control die mechanics (which allow for off-the-cuff world building during the game, not just before and after). Heck I think all sorts of crazy fun could be had coming up with an anime-style school, neighbourhood, teachers and alien races for Teenagers From Outer Space game - and then playing a campaign in it! Cooperative campaign-arena-building is something I'd like to try sometime - and I do think the Lexicon format is great for this - although I think I'd prefer to do so "from scratch", rather with an existing campaign. (But, please, guys, if this reads like something you'd like to do for Heavy Gear, won't you let me know?)