How much does the system matter?

[Garmorn]

With all of the like/dislike treads a related question came to my mind.

Assuming the system is one that you can tolerate but don't necessary like, how much impact does it have on your enjoyment? Does a good group make a big difference or does the system get in the way?

(Note I am assuming that the system fits the campaign)

 

[weem]

Assuming the system is one that you can tolerate but don't necessary like, how much impact does it have on your enjoyment?

With that assumption, it would not affect my enjoyment as long as I was playing in a group of friends/friendly people who are there to enjoy themselves and who are having fun themselves.

Dangle a fun/engaging story in front of me and for the most part the rest disappears. Add to that a group of people I enjoy playing with and I'm all good.

 

[diaglo]

i played d02 for 6 years.

my hat of d02 knows no limits.

i only played it b/c of the will of the groups i joined.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I picked "A good group can help me ejoy a system they like.", but IMHO that doesn't really answer the question "How much does system matter?"

On a scale of 1 to 10, system matters 7 or 8 to me. Obviously, some systems matter more than this.....a really good or a really poor system ranks a 10. Some systems can suck the fun out of the best groups, slowly but surely. Others can help enliven a mediocre group.

On a scale of 1 to 10, group matters 7 or 8 to me. Obviously, some groups matter more than this....a really good or a really poor group ranks a 10. Some groups can suck the fun out of the best system, faster than a speeding bullet. Others can help make a mediocre system tolerable.


RC

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I can play systems I don't like when I get some diversity and don't have to play it exclusively. We're running a dragon warriors game. It's "old school" and I don't really care for it mechanics. But it comes with a different setting, a different playstyle, neat adventures, a good DM. So I can enjoy it. As long as I still get my fix of "other games".

A good game system can also get repetitive or boring - but not the same extent a bad system can. I have no idea where this should put me on your scale, though. If I assume I had to play the game all the time, it would probably suck the fun out of it - but not all of it. If it's just occassionally, I am fine.

 

[delericho]

System matters, but not as much as the group.

That said, both of these have a stronger negative impact than a positive one: I probably won't enjoy playing a really bad system with a really good group, nor playing a really good system with a really bad group. For an enjoyable experience, the system has to be at least acceptable, and the group at least quite good.

 

[Garmorn]

System matters, but not as much as the group.

That said, both of these have a stronger negative impact than a positive one: I probably won't enjoy playing a really bad system with a really good group, nor playing a really good system with a really bad group. For an enjoyable experience, the system has to be at least acceptable, and the group at least quite good.

Yea, this is the info I was aiming for but could not figure out how to word the poll.

 

[Stoat]

If I'm playing, the group I'm with and the quality of the DM are much more important than the system. I'll play almost anything if I'm playing with my buddies.

If I'm DM'ing, system is more important simply because I need to have some mastery of the rules in order to run the game. That said, I am willing to DM a system that I tolerate, if it means that I'm playing with friends. For example, I don't much care for RIFTS, but I used to DM it fairly often in the late 1990's because I had a couple of buddies who loved it.

 

[Starfox]

The way these alternatives were written, I wanted to vote for all of them.

 

[Umbran]

My experience has been that a good group can make just about any system fun. And, similarly, a bad group can ruin the best system.