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Yeah. It is a bear of a system though.

In general order of playability: Ars Magica Mage the Ascension -- nWoD maybe too, I never looked at it ... Hero System / GURPS <-- these have as much attachment and restriction as the GM invests the time to create. I would rate this 2nd for myself, but I already put in the effort. ...

And Gleemax. That hideous green non-colourblind friendly monstrosity they turned their boards into because reasons.

I expect it's a combination of perception and an assessment / understanding that the ad hoc nature of the improv allows the GM to adjust the threat level on the fly as opposed to the players managing to "solve" a particularly tough scenario. So if you feel particularly clever because of certain...

DMPC exists as a concept for a reason. It is antipattern for a whole host of other reasons.

More likley the players thought they had managed to make some great strategic and tactical calls based on the situations presented and were dismayed to discover that the situations weren't designed ahead of time and adjudicated, but were created on the fly in response to their choices. Which...

My spouse likes to throw parties a few times a year. I despise them. So we compromise and we throw parties slightly less than a few times a year. If I felt about GMing as I do parties, there would be nothing that could be done to encourage me to GM that would leave the role recognizable...

There were other content changes and design decisions in 4e that kept at least two people from adopting it (me and a friend who discussed the philosophy at length). Presentation didn't rise to the upper tier of issues. I've been looking at PF2. I'm uncertain it'll get played at my table...

You know a dirty little secret that no one wants to acknowledge? It's not the prep workload that's the problem. WotC, Paizo et al. have that covered with their APs. No need to create NPCs, or map, or work out consistent plots and narratives. Buy this one book and you are covered for months...

I run a lot of different game engines too. One of the advantages of being the GM is I can say "I'm running X; who wants to play?" Most players seem to be down for most game systems I'd consider. There are a few players that won't play specific games that rub them the wrong way. Ars Magica...

It was... weird, certainly. I played about 4 different adventures with the same clone before "I got too busy" and bowed out.

Anecdotes abound of tables refusing to pursue other games and DMs capitulating. Heck, I can't get my tables to consider BitD despite my enthusiasm. Luckily for my players, my current campaign is still of interest to me or they'd be facing a stark choice. I saw similar bias towards d20 game...

Dozens, possibly more. It depends a lot on the game engine, campaign type (common environment, level of continuity between missions, expected PC power level, expected amount and power of extraordinary abilities aka magic), , and specific GM (what does the GM find difficult during a session and...

I was referring to the on-the-fly creation paradigm more commonly seen in Dungeonworld, much FATE, and Burning Wheel. I contend on-the-fly creation and adjudication changes the nature of the game when compared to previously-prepared and adjudicated play even if we discount the game-specific...

Only if you believe your opinion is universal to humans. Then you are wrong. If you opinion reflects your own temperament and aptitudes then you are not wrong. I don't think multithreaded programming is hard. Most programmers disagree and rightfully so. I would characterise it as hard --...

There are certain games over the decades I would have dearly loved to play a long term game of. Unfortunately, no one else was willing to run and capable of keeping a long-term game going. Sigh.

There were hints of BADWRONGFUN in the advice/admonishments, for one. More involved and extra coordination == harder. It is only not-hard for the segment of population that find coordination and the extra involvement above and beyond playing no big deal. For some people playing is hard. For...

It can be made different, by making the game play differently. I'm not sure that that different way is easier. I find it much more exhausting and difficult to contemplate doing long-term compared to spending prep time. The game is also different. It's like saying making Nanaimo bars is too...

As an aside, a career in development taught that people often have a firm opinion about what they want, but are both inarticulate and often haven't given it substantial thought. When I played silly bugger, I'd build what they said they wanted. When I was being helpful, I'd work with them...

Agreed! I made similar points way back in an early response to GameOgre's request. The way to have a low-prep 5e game is to change the nature of the game and move it from player discovery to table discovery (play to see what happens). Personally, I don't use D&D when I want to play that style...