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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Balesir" data-source="post: 5481634" data-attributes="member: 27160">As others have said, different folks look for different things in their roleplaying.  I think that, right up until 4th Edition, D&D suffered because with each successive "revision" the authors tried, in good faith I'm sure, to achieve the "perfect roleplaying game for the whole market".  The sad thing is that not only does such a beast not exist, but the very quest for such a thing fatally compromises every attempt to attain it.In the 35+ years I have been roleplaying frequently, I have played many, many systems.  Right now I still play a few.  I don't settle on one, because the ones I play all hold something quite distinct and specific in the way of "fun".  I think many, if not most or even all, roleplayers are like me in that they could, if they gave it a decent shot, enjoy several different types of game.  But many also have things they don't enjoy, too, and that pushes folk away from specific editions.This leads me to two conclusions:1) You will never get all roleplayers to 'agree' on a single "best system", because it's like asking for agreement on a "best sport".  It just ain't going to happen.2) Trying to produce a system that appeals to all roleplayers just leads to Cecil B. Demille's description of a young ingenue - "for a dancer, she's not a bad singer, and, for a singer, she's not a bad dancer".  Compromise in game design just leads to confused and messy muddles that the GM and/or players just have to modify/rewrite to suit their own tastes.The answer, it seems to me, would to be to spend a lot more effort trying to identify specific styles of play that are popular and then writing a limited set of uncompromised systems to support those modes of play.  In this respect, I think the OP is onto something - maybe the 'formats' issue is a bit of a red herring, but the basic concept of different game foci is sound.4th Edition, I believe, gets the system very nearly spot-on for one play mode.  I'll call it "challenge-based" play, but it focusses on players accepting challenges to use their guile, skills and luck of the dice to overcome in-game challenges through the agency of their characters.I think there is also a market for a "just explore" style of play, also, where players immerse themselves into their character and the game world and rewards are given for "stretching the envelope" in ways that fit with the game world/setting.  For this sort of play I actually think some old saws like xp/level and hit points are not just unnecessary but actively counterproductive; a totally new approach is needed to really, uncompromisingly, suit this type of play.I think, too, there is a market for games that have players give their characters really emotive, provocative character traits and goals and build a story based around their attempts to achieve those goals - possibly in conflict with each other.  Here, again, I think xp and level are, at best, irrelevant distractions and resources to manage, such as hit points and healing surges, have a very similar problem.  A completely different system is required to address this sort of game.Now, you might reasonably ask why all of the above needs to be addressed by "D&D", per se.  After all, games that address all of these game focusses exist, somewhere 'out there'.  Well, I think the answer is that there are many people happily wedded to the accumulated "mythology" of D&D.  The "fluff", the background details and "genre" of the game clearly matter to them - what would be called "tropes" in other media are part and parcel of what they perceive "fantasy roleplaying" to be.  I think if a brand were to be built around those 'classic elements' of the D&D world settings, but with systems tailored to the various focusses of play, the brand owner would have a coherent and vibrant property.Of course, a competent and successful handling of the marketing, customer relations and digital offering side would be needed as well, but that really is a whole 'nother topic...</blockquote>

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