RPG Rant

[decreased]

I'll agree with Jeff; any game, so long as its playable, can be enjoyable. I usually find when games involve dungeons, especially if something or someone is hidden 800 rooms away, to be lame. I mean, why exactly does the evil prince live 1 mile underground in a large room protected by hordes of creatures and traps, that requires 6 hours to access (if you know the maze)? The best game can be ruined by unoriginal stories.

[suncrafter]

This was too good to be a "rant".

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

Oddly enough, the entire time I played D&D (unfortunately, only 3 or 4 sessions) we never once ventured into a dungeon. On the other hand I did venture into one while playing a Palladium Fantasy. Admittedly, the guy who was running the game was a certifiable math genus and is now making 40+ dollars an hour as a code monkey for a major online retailer - but it was a very annoying and impossible puzzle. Levels inversed and switched like the upside-down levels of Zelda on the N-64. Creatures that looked like hands teleported you to odd areas. My mage ended up with an IQ of 19 (genus), but couldn't make much of it, nor were his spells very good. This is also why I tend to refuse to play magic users.

I guess this just proves that its the people running the game that matters. However, some rules do seem to encourage this more than others.

D20's biggest problem might just be a case of trying too hard to be all things to all people. Unfortunately, it has enough power behind it to take a shot at that goal, though its probably not a good idea. I don't mind rules if they make sense, but Feats don't, and some of the other elements are handled in questionable ways as well.

Hasbro seems rather dedicated to acquiring all of our childhood memories, mutilating them, and then selling them back to us, doesn't it?

[MachFront]

Indeed.
I feel as though I'm standing there asking for a capable, mature, well thought out but simple and playable game....and Hasbro just pats me on the head and says: "That's nice, honey. Color your menu."

Argh!

I agree it's the folks and not the game, and yes some games encourage one type of play than others. Though I still hold that the Original D&D as Basic D&D could do both hack and slash and story-driven games both with ease.

See, this is why I pretty much only want/need: Savage Worlds, Iron Gauntlets, Frenzy:Fast Action, Jeff's own A+ Fantasy and maybe the odd Top Secret/S.I. and Deep7's 1PGs.