Games you thought you'd like and hated and games you thought you'd hate and liked

[mmu1]

I don't hate GURPS... I just didn't like 90% of the GURPS games I've been in. I might come off sounding like an elitist jerk, but in my opinion the big problem with GURPS is that the vast majority of players (and GMs, for that matter) don't know how to play it well and don't bother to learn. And yes, if you don't bother to learn and use all the "fiddly bits" (and take into account how differently combat plays in that system) then the game ends up feeling extremely basic and unsatisfying.

I don't really like the Star Wars d20 RPG - I've never been able to use it to translate how I feel about the SW universe onto the gaming table, and the eternal quagmire of balancing Jedi vs. Non-Jedi doesn't help.

I really liked what I initially saw of Riddle of Steel, but after trying it some more, I ended up deciding the system was deeply flawed and almost unworkable.

I never thought I'd like Vampire: The Masquerade, but I did... mostly beacuse, for all the flaws in the system, it let you play characters that really felt like powerful immortals while still being (reasonably) gritty.

 

[Mkhaiwati]

Games I thought I would like but didn't: HarnMaster, Hackmaster, Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu

Games that I thought I wouldn't but ended up liking: Chill, Rolemaster, D&D 3e (I went very grudgingly to this one)

Lots of games that are so-so or met expectations are Twilight 2000, Star Frontiers, L5R, Hero, old Champions

I can't really pick any real rhyme or reason with these games. I liked Chill for it's simplicity, yet enjoyed Rolemaster for being able to detail a character to what I want. Harnmaster went way too far in realism, and Hackmaster just went too strange (do I really need the Mocking Jig Skill?) Star Frontiers has a special place in my heart for being a wonderful game to play, but it has been a very long time since I played it. I also had good hopes for Champions, and wasn't disappointed.

 

[Nomad4life]

Thought I would love, but ended up hating:

1. Star Wars: Saga Edition: I thought that I was getting a cleaned up, faster, more innovative version of D20. What I got was something that True20 had already done before, only better.

2. D20 Modern: I remember being so psyched about this game at first. Over time, the flaws began to bleed through (which others have listed in this thread already) and eventually the point came where I found the game was just too painful to even run. I ended up giving my copy away.

3. Exalted: This game seemed like it was going to be so awesome, and it would have been had they only given it a working system to run it with.


Thought I would hate, but ended up loving:

Hunter: The Reckoning: I had absolutely no interest in the overall concept of this game, but got dragged into it one night. After one session, it became my most beloved White Wolf game of all time, and still is. (I freely admit that this probably has more to do with that one incredible session that with the actual game.)

 

[maggot]

Thought I'd like, but ended up hating:

GURPS. Enough said about this already
Ptolus. Not really a game, but I thought I'd list it. This is probably a shock to everyone, and maybe it was the DM, but I was so excited when this came out, and then I was so disappointed when we actually played it.

Games I thought I'd hate, but ended up loving:

I can't think of any. I don't have enough time to playing stuff I think I'll hate. Way back when I have Torg a try because I loved the GM, and he was always switching game systems, and hey it wasn't GURPS. I ended up loving Torg. That is probably the closest.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Games I thought I'd love, but hate

Exalted. I hate dice pools. The gameplay is incredibly complex and freeform. Combat resolution takes far too long, largely because of dice pools. Many "buff" abilities give you more dice to roll, which I didn't think is a good idea.

Games I thought I'd hate, but love

Mutants & Masterminds. I'm currently in a silly campaign (unfortunately) but the second edition seems to have decent rules. Character generation is extremely complex, however, and the health rules still make no sense to me (too complicated). It's a bit like 3.x in that playing it is fun but it looks like a lot of work for the DMs.

Warhammer Fantasy. I'm currently in a serious campaign, and about the only things I don't like are semi-weak defensive rules (no shields = death) and the lack of point-bought stats. (Oh, and I guess dwarves being ridiculously overpowered.)

My character rolled "Ambidextrous" as a random talent. I thought I'd hate it. (I hate dual-wielding rangers, and only ever used that ability with non-ranger NPCs in 3.x) However, it's saved my character's butt at least twice. (In two separate encounters, his right hand was crippled by a "perfect strike" so he just switched hand - you don't need a hand to operate a shield - and went back to the kicking of the behind.)

 

[GammaPaladin]

Heh, I actually like the dice pools in Exalted, because of the way it combines stats and skills so directly to give an immediate tangible effect on what you can do and how well you do it.

The trick is you need to actually have about 30 d10s... If you end up having to roll dice multiple times everything grinds to a halt. Better yet, use a die roller program and you don't even have to count or add (Except to figure out how many dice you're rolling, and this is the sort of thing you make notes on your charsheet for... Typical pool when I'm using X power, etc).

If you're used to the system, and you're using a roller application, it plays out relatively fast.

At least it's not like the oWoD games, where you have variable dice pools AND variable target numbers for success... *shudders*

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Heh, I actually like the dice pools in Exalted, because of the way it combines stats and skills so directly to give an immediate tangible effect on what you can do and how well you do it.

The trick is you need to actually have about 30 d10s... If you end up having to roll dice multiple times everything grinds to a halt. Better yet, use a die roller program and you don't even have to count or add (Except to figure out how many dice you're rolling, and this is the sort of thing you make notes on your charsheet for... Typical pool when I'm using X power, etc).

If you're used to the system, and you're using a roller application, it plays out relatively fast.

At least it's not like the oWoD games, where you have variable dice pools AND variable target numbers for success... *shudders*

We had more than 30 dice. It actually wasn't enough. My character could attack five times per round (each time using 10 dice on the first roll, nine on the second, etc). We didn't have nearly 50 dice we would have no choice but to re-roll. We also used a cardboard box to roll all the dice in (so they wouldn't fall off the table). If that wasn't my first character I wouldn't have played a "Fast Hero".

We would need special dice (ones that colored 6 or 7 - whatever the target number was, plus another color for 10s) differently from the other sides to make it easier. Trying to count out the higher numbers among 30 dice is quite difficult.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well that is why WW has their own dice where it is essentially 10 or more d10's with the failures and success numbers in different colours. For example my WoD Dice bag has 10 d10's with the 1-7 in blue and the 8-0 in white.

 

[Glyfair]

Honestly, part of me thinks that this need to assemble people of like mind and then find a rule set that suits them might be a failing of RPGs, rather than a benefit.

From my experience (indirect and direct) a lot of the friction in a group finding an appropriate system is the search for perfection. There is always some sort of difference of opinion and there are one or more players who refuse to accept anything but the "perfect" system. If a system has a flaw from their POV, they won't go along and ignore that flaw (or flaws) so the group can game. If they do play they have to point out that flaw every single time it comes up.

That's not every group. However, it is most of the groups I've seen that have system conflicts. After that are the groups that have such fundamental differences that they shouldn't really be gaming together as a group.

 

[Testament]

Games I thought I'd love, but hate

Exalted. I hate dice pools. The gameplay is incredibly complex and freeform. Combat resolution takes far too long, largely because of dice pools. Many "buff" abilities give you more dice to roll, which I didn't think is a good idea.

This is why Exalted 2E and its spiritual sister, Scion, rock. No more freaking dice pools or splitting of pools and all the associated idiocy.