It's not at all a coincidence that the games doing the most to support high-trust play in the 80s and 90s were horror RPGs and comedy RPGs, followed closely behind by "cinematic" ones. Modal leanings amounted to a sense of "permission' to build adventures around invisible rules.

In the early 90s, I often argued that comedy RPGs had done amazing things to advance the form, but "advance the form" was my blinkered and subjective attempt to describe _elevating the trust._ It wasn't until the late 90s that I met the more descriptive language for it.

Today, my in-person method for describing the difference between low-trust and high-trust trad often boils down to "Have you ever played Call of Cthulhu, or Doctor Who?, Paranoia, TFOS? FASATrek, Ghostbusters or Toon? Buffy or JB007 maybe?" and going from there.

Any of those games can be played low-trust and some of them often were, but if I can find an anecdote in the listener's own memories of high-trust _moments_ of play, it's a lot easier to explain.

Also worth noting that of the nine RPGs I mentioned by name above, _seven_ are usually action-mystery in format (and TFOS and Toon get there once in a while).

The link between "permission" and low-trust RPG subcultures really hit home to me when, as an editor at Steve Jackson Games, I fielded emails from GMs _seeking_ permission for all manner of things. I was gobsmacked. They did everything short of asking if they could go potty.

"I would like permission to use your umana rules in my campaign."
"Just talk it over with your GM."
"I'm the GM."
"Jesus fuckity what."

But compare:
"If you get THIS book, your Snibling can be a Fomboozler now! Normally only Ginwizzes can be Fomboozlers."
"Why buy a book for that? Just talk it over with your GM instead."
"This way it's OFFICIAL."
"Jesus fuckity what.'

Anyway, the point is that the weird need for "permission," for cultural reasons, evaporates to some degree when a game is consciously modal. Even gamers who normally lean visible become more relaxed about setting, character and genre becomimg the tactical bedrock.

In lower trust gaming, having Official Permission often relates to a need for protection from the untrusted GM. The rules shield you from the GM fucking you over. The high trust response: "If your GM is the kind of jerk who wants to fuck you over, the _rules_ aren't the problem."