A Cut Scene is an animation sequence that you - the player - has no control over. Most often, it involves only NPCs, but not always.

A cut scene can be a reward for completing a quest (as in For Love Eternal), or exposition between NPCs during a quest (see Tree's Company)

Tour

A tour is a cut scene where:

• you lose control of your character for a time
• your point of view is moved around the world.
• (often) some form of narration occurs while the tour continues.

An example of a tour happens during (Survey the Land). At the completion of the tour, control of your character is returned to you. Often, completing the tour satisfies a quest objective.

Variations

Not all tours take complete control of your character away for the duration.

In some cases (such as the 'halaa bombing runs' in Nagrand, or the quest  [80] The Drakkensryd, you have autonomy to use items in inventory during a tour. In the latter, you can even conduct combat.

In other cases (such as  [80] Static Shock Troops: the Bombardment), you are in an actual vehicle, and are limited to the options presented by that vehicle while the vehicle moves around the world.