I am not going to accept responsibility for people that can't engage in a reasonable discussion
100%
Especially the inability to recognize that the very premise of "hating" an RPG means that those opinions will be inherently irrational to the people that don't share them. People like what they like, and don't what they don't.
Life is too short to
actually hate an RPG elf game. It's just a game.
That being said...
My Hat of the following RPG's know no limit!!!!!
1: Die-step rpg mechanics. Savage Worlds I'm looking at you! They explode when you roll high - and the higher your die the less likely they'll explode. This makes my RPG brain say BADWRONGFUN! Yes I know the math is relatively solid and there is only a few percentage points of variance around the d4 d6 d8 dice. I don't care. It's wrong I tell you!
2: Fate. A rules-light RPG using special dice that can do anything! Of course it can; at that level of rules lite I'd be shocked if it couldn't. But that doesn't make it good. They had the rights to the Dresden Files IP and they used this milquetoast hot trash for the game mechanics. Sold a lot of copy based on the IP alone. Who plays in the Dresden-verse now? No one. Because it is powered by fate, and nobody cares.
3: Runequest. Call of Culthulu is the money maker RPG that allows Chaosium to delude themselves into thinking that people actually want to roleplay in Gorlantha. That's right, I said it! The only reason Gorlantha is still a thing is because it has benefitted
enormously from its early entry into the RPG hobby as one of the
first-mover D&D alternatives that integrated system and setting. Gorlantha as a setting/RPG would
go nowhere if it was introduced today because we now have tons of settings that are far more relatable, and actually good.
4: Shadowrun 4-6e. There was nothing about the SR 3e rules that couldn't have been fixed. 4-6e changed the way the die pools worked for no reason because Catalyst never addressed the underlying system complexity that made the game unwieldly in play. As one of the
first mover cyberpunk games it does gets attention when a new edition comes out, because people really liked the setting premise. But then people see that it is still a hot mess, and stop playing it just like the previous editions. This is the main reason Shadowrun has faded. People will come for the IP, but you can drive them away with the system!
5: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Conan, RPG's. For the love of all that is good, beautiful, and true; will someone please do a version of these evergreen RPG IP without special symbol dice? Being actually good would really help a lot too...
6: WFRP Systems. WHFRP has always been a great setting perpetually held back by mediocre systems. WHFRP system has been rather mediocre because of its determination to not be a BRP clone. And possessing some strange need between editions to do a clean sheet redesign each time - which just keeps them from putting out an edition that actually fixes the issues of the past one. i.e. WFRP 4e: What does C7 do when they get the license? Release a cleaned up version of WHFRP 2e with known issues addressed and some new features to enhance the WHFRP experience? Noooooooo... Such obvious ways to update the game are for losers! Complexity must be added! With all new issues to fix!
I shall end here before I say something actually controversial.
Like the fact that without exception every single RPG IP property from the 80's to mid 90's that would contend for the #2 spot behind D&D have all been mismanaged straight into total also-ran status.
