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To which the simple retort is another list of fantasy games that don’t fit the D&D model: Ars Magica Amber RuneQuest King Arthur Pendragon The Dresden Files In Nomine Everway Changeling: The Dreaming Blades in the Dark Nobilis Legend of the Five Rings Deadlands Castle Falkenstein The...

Again, I feel we keep on having the same arguments again and again, because people are not reading. As far as roleplaying games are concerned, the default for science fiction gaming is the model presented by Traveller back in 1977 in the same way the default for fantasy gaming was D&D. Yes...

Correct. It is worth noting that the original Classic Traveller release in 1977 didn’t have a setting. It had an implied setting like D&D had. The Third Imperium was built on later, like Forgotten Realms for D&D. Along with the original release of Classic Traveller there were included suggested...

I didn’t say Traveller invented the model. However, it was the first RPG to establish what the default science fiction model was in the hobby. To be blunt, this is all just wooly thinking waffle. It’s not my model. It is the model of science fiction utilized through all the sources mentioned -...

Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who all clearly have the same science fiction tropes in common: that of a crew of a space traveling vessel going from location to location - each with diverse geographies, creatures, cultures and societies - getting in adventures. So do things like Serenity...

Great, but until you actually provide any argument then I’ll have to dismiss your claims too. Traveller’s model of science fiction - that of a crew traveling from one planet to another via a spacecraft and getting into encounters - is the default model of science fiction gaming. It is as much...

I’ll refer you to the Traveller entree in Green Ronin’s authoritative Hobby Games: The 100 Best from industry professionals to refute everything you say here. You are merely conflating the points being raised with the question of who is a current market leader. That is not the question being...

That it is still going strong today after nearly 35 years would suggest it is reasonably popular still, even though the release of West End Games’ Star Wars affected its market share from nearly 25 years ago (when it was released). Moreover, it is way beside the point. The model provided by...

I’ve played it. I plan to do so again.

Again, I don’t know how anybody can reach this conclusion. In the last few decades, ‘Fantasy’ has included such prominent things as Harry Potter, The Sandman and His Dark Materials, none of which are anything like ‘medieval with Tolkien'. There is less of an agreed-upon type of setting in...

Traveller has been around for more years than the interim period between its original release in 1977 and the time of Asimov and Phillip K Dick (which is a huge span of difference in science fiction terms in itself). It has incorporated ideas from Star Wars, Star Trek and all the rest since. It...

Traveller is as much a default setting for science fiction as D&D is for fantasy. I’ve never understood why some game designers can’t see that. Traveller is a generic science fiction RPG, while the default Third Imperium setting is also similar to the vanilla fantasy of Forgotten Realms, in...

No. The game system is designed for purpose, with very specific design goals and features. It isn’t like Cortex Prime. All this illustrates is your own personal tastes. Your argument is predicated on that particular point alone. I don’t like the Icon system particularly, yet I still bought...

Well no game system is designed in a vacuum, and sure, 2D20 is used by Modiphius as a marketing brand that they want to support. However, this would be true of any other system - 5E, Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Storypath/Storyteller, BRP, Traveller, PbtA, Fate, GURPS, etc. I mean you cited that...

The rules differ in one significant respect to other 2D20 based RPGs in the abstracted Drives rather than Attributes. This allows for a more seamless transition from the more remote Architect to the more hands-on Agent level play. The point about the influence of Ars Magica’s Troupe-style play...

You collectively play members of a House, that you design together. This House is then involved in the various political conflicts that exist in the setting of Dune - either at an Architect level (planning and orchestrating strategies and ruses), or at Agent level (carrying out the groundwork)...

To be honest, The One Ring is so mainstream an IP that I was surprised they felt it necessary to Kickstart it at all. They could have sold heaps just with a pre-order.

Yeah, it’s not just the rules. It’s the premise that sells me more than anything. I can forgive messy rules to a degree, if the core idea of what the game is about is compelling in itself.

I think it is obvious that certain mechanics and rules play out in a particular way to give flavor to a game. However, I also think there are a lot of games where system actually doesn’t matter that much, and the familiarity a group has for a particular system is sometimes more advantageous in...