Do you have a "litmus test" setting for generic rule sets?

Micah Sweet · 2026-04-04T18:45:53+0100

Fenris-77 said:
This is the internet and we are nerds. There are going to be jokes.

Does that answer my first and second concerns?

Fenris-77 · 2026-04-04T18:51:54+0100

Micah Sweet said:
Does that answer my first and second concerns?

No one is going to answer those questions, my friend. Why would they? It looks like you are trying to pick a fight that has nothing to do with thread. I'm just going to sail on my merry way with a polite no thanks. We can all have our opinions this evening as far as I'm concerned.

Micah Sweet · 2026-04-04T18:53:06+0100

Fenris-77 said:
No one is going to answer those questions, my friend. Why would they? It looks like you are trying to pick a fight that has nothing to do with thread. I'm just going to sail on my merry way with a polite no thanks. We can all have our opinions this evening as far as I'm concerned.

I just don't think throwing around insults at games you don't personally enjoy is all that cool. We can disagree respectfully.

Fenris-77 · 2026-04-04T18:56:47+0100

Micah Sweet said:
I just don't think throwing around insults at games you don't personally enjoy is all that cool. We can disagree respectfully.

I quite enjoy disagreeing disrespectfully. We need to respect other posters, not the games they may or may not like. For example, I think GURPS is a festering pile of monkey poo and I'd rather have my ears ripped off by a baboon than either run or play it. Does that mean someone else shouldn't enjoy it? Not at all.

MGibster · 2026-04-04T19:27:49+0100

aramis erak said:
The dryness isn't the primary reason, I suspect - it's the overwhelming details.

The overwhelming amount of detail was the primary complaint my players had the last time I ran a GURPS campaign. "There's a skill for dropping?" That was back around 2005 or so.

Micah Sweet said:
Is there a reason folks have decided to diss GURPS? Plenty of people like it, and simulative games in general. Why is popularity so important?

I actually think GURPS is arguably the best universal game system written to date. I cut my teeth on 3rd edition back in the late '80s, I played it before I played AD&D (the first time I ran through Ravenloft it was using GURPS), and I owned a plethora of GURPS books back in the day. I loved GURPS so much I even owned GURPS Ice Age. Who in their right mind bought GURPS Ice Age? I did because I loved GURPS.

But I'm one of those mutants who has no problem pointing out the flaws of the games he loves. When people complain that Savage Words is swingy I can't help but agree. It doesn't stop me from having fun playing but their complaint is valid. Likewise many of the complaints I hear about GURPS are also valid. As to why popularity matters, I can't help but think that's obvious. The more popular a game is the easier it is to find other people who want to play it.

There might come a day when GURPS comes back into vogue. I'm picturing some sort of hipster GM with a 19th century mustache wearing a dark waistcoat (preferrably in tweed), a nice white shirt with sleeve garters, and maybe even a Belfry Bowler Derby offering to concoct an artisnal campaign suited to your specific interest using GURPS.

Thomas Shey · 2026-04-04T19:28:55+0100

Fenris-77 said:
I quite enjoy disagreeing disrespectfully. We need to respect other posters, not the games they may or may not like. For example, I think GURPS is a festering pile of monkey poo and I'd rather have my ears ripped off by a baboon than either run or play it. Does that mean someone else shouldn't enjoy it? Not at all.

While I agree there's a difference between insulting people and insulting games, I think to assume the separation is complete there misunderstands human nature.

Micah Sweet · 2026-04-04T20:17:02+0100

Fenris-77 said:
I quite enjoy disagreeing disrespectfully. We need to respect other posters, not the games they may or may not like. For example, I think GURPS is a festering pile of monkey poo and I'd rather have my ears ripped off by a baboon than either run or play it. Does that mean someone else shouldn't enjoy it? Not at all.

See, that just seems needlessly mean-spirited to me. I really dislike Narrativist rules and story-based mechanics, but I would never describe it that way.

soviet · 2026-04-04T20:20:43+0100

Micah Sweet said:
See, that just seems needlessly mean-spirited to me. I really dislike Narrativist rules and story-based mechanics, but I would never describe it that way.

And nor would you fill threads with endlessly repeated statements of that dislike.

hawkeyefan · 2026-04-04T20:59:40+0100

Honesty, GURPS is a pretty good litmus test for me. If a game feels like GURPS, chances are I’m not going to like it much.

Fenris-77 · 2026-04-04T21:06:22+0100

Micah Sweet said:
See, that just seems needlessly mean-spirited to me. I really dislike Narrativist rules and story-based mechanics, but I would never describe it that way.

No, but I just did even if was just for rhetorical effect. Who got hurt there? No one, that's who. There's no problem to fix here.

@Thomas Shey - I agree completely, but I don't think that's what's happening in this case.