Essentially- to me, to the folks im taling to, normal is Being in New Acarthia, handleing issues then and there, in a context that is generally steady in terms of setting, where people can persue a variety of different agendas or pastimes (and that is things like modding, meetings, court, and things that directly matter to the efforts and aspirations of the characters currently in play), without the trouble of giant over-arcing things that are forceing them to be in any given place at any given time as a group.
Essentially provide a setting, put stuff into that setting (any theme, dosnt matter) and make it so people have the option to engage in certain aspects of any given game.
Now some people like more hands-on than that but when im talking normal I am literally just meaning: The world setting as we usually play it. New Acarthia, in the city we've been meeting in for a few years now, with stuff in it that is sometimes more forceful, sometimes less so, but you have a choice to avoid the things taht dont interest you- for the most part. People's battlesfor some kinda stone or whatev?-pfft, sounds like an over-there problem. That lich?- just power walk away from it. That dude goin through a mirror?-cool he goes and does that im over here not worrying about and RPing with my buds at camp all casual without urgency.
In comparison to the other special-stuff thats been done:
Death isles- not normal because you either had to have your character go there and do what was provided, ornot play. What if your character wouldnt ever go there? what if your character wasnt interested in the nobility's lead. There was no real motivator
for commoners to go outside of "lets explore the thing!"... but what if that isnt your bag?
Lost March- Not normal because it was again another totally different location, totally differnt set of circumstances. You had to be willing to be part of that particular scope, or not play.
Time-travel-all-encompassing- not normal because you are dealing with being back in time, having to worry about whats going on with that, not screwing up the timeline, and being mindful of all these other factors that are involved and it is simply not the usual setting. Not a problem if optional! problem if its not....
^its not that any of these things are inherently wrong, im just frustrated because there have been 2 games in wich we have played our normal context this year, and I'll echo Noriin where it sorta feels like our real game, our characters lives, things that arent these crazy things, are on hold. I would haev atleast liked some more casual time to enjoy in usual fashion with my freinds and get some personal stuff setup and going (teahouse for instance, everything is so chopped up I cant make it happen realistically and get that steam going) before this new set of weirdness yanno?
I like a more casual open-world game experience where I can choose what I wanna do and not be on a plot's agenda. I dont like scheduled plot-arcs that I dont have a choice but to ride that keep me from that casual experience. Its a form aof railroading, its not all that fun for me because I feel like I am a piece on a board or in a play, not really a thing with my own agency.
...also you have no idea how appreciative of you asking questions. Thankyou.