How much does the system matter?

[jdrakeh]

I voted "A system I don't like drains a lot fun out of a game." While I'd like to say that a good group can mitigate a system that I don't like, I've found that years of actual play has proven the contrary. If a system is too math heavy (e.g., Fringweworthy) or otherwise unintuitive (e.g., Burning Wheel) for my tastes, no matter how much I enjoy the company of the other players, the game experience does suffer.

 

[Wombat]

First of all, for me, it is setting first, system a far second.

Secondly, group trumps system.

Take for example GURPS. Now as a system, I am not fond of GURPS -- it is a system that never seems to get out of the way; you turn around and you are facing some aspect of the system in terms of dice rolls, limitations, etc. However, I have played in two excellent campaigns using the system, due to having a GM I trusted and a group of players who got into the flavour of the setting immediately ... and when the rules got in the way, we ignored the rules in favour of the tale we were collectively telling.

Now I am not sure if there is someone who can make Synnibarr or FATAL work for me, but pretty much anything else is open.

 

[Desdichado]

1. System does matter more than I think a lot of people will admit.

Here's an idea. If someone says that system isn't all that important to them, and that their ambivalent or indifferent to which system is being played, why don't you take them at their word instead of coming up with a bizarre theory in which you state that people simply aren't owning up to reality?

 

[jdrakeh]

Here's an idea. If someone says that system isn't all that important to them, and that their ambivalent or indifferent to which system is being played, why don't you take them at their word instead of coming up with a bizarre theory in which you state that people simply aren't owning up to reality?

The guy is entitled to his opinion just like you are. If you can't deal with that, you should probably avoid the Internet.

 

[Doug McCrae]

System alone can't make for a good gaming experience but it can ruin it. For me the same is true of the players - a good group is not enough. Play style and setting are also really important. For example I don't think I could ever enjoy a game set in the SLA Industries universe, it's just way too angsty teenage darkwank for my taste, no matter how good a system we used or how good the group.

 

[rogueattorney]

Here's an idea. If someone says that system isn't all that important to them, and that their ambivalent or indifferent to which system is being played, why don't you take them at their word instead of coming up with a bizarre theory in which you state that people simply aren't owning up to reality?

Nice way to take my statement out of context. If you read the entirety of what I wrote, you will clearly see that I was referring, not to whether system effects what games people play, but rather how the system effects how the game will be played. Or maybe your D&D, CoC, and V:tM games all play the same?

It's not that I think that people are lying when they say they are indifferent to the system being played. It's that I think that system is more important than most will admit to how the game is played, and that people should be more cognizant of the system being played and the effect it has on the gaming experience.

 

[Desdichado]

The guy is entitled to his opinion just like you are. If you can't deal with that, you should probably avoid the Internet.

Of course he is. In this case, my opinion is, "if he's going to infer that people who disagree with him on a question of taste are either lying or confused about reality" I'll deal with that by blowing it off as pretty useless fluff.

 

[Desdichado]

Nice way to take my statement out of context. If you read the entirety of what I wrote, you will clearly see that I was referring, not to whether system effects what games people play, but rather how the system effects how the game will be played. Or maybe your D&D, CoC, and V:tM games all play the same?

It's not that I think that people are lying when they say they are indifferent to the system being played. It's that I think that system is more important than most will admit to how the game is played, and that people should be more cognizant of the system being played and the effect it has on the gaming experience.

I don't know why you infer that people aren't cognizant of that. It's just not really relevent to the question being asked. Or maybe you're answering the question in the thread title out of context without reading the original post?

Whether or not the system has an impact on the play experience isn't the question. The question is, does it impact your enjoyment of the game. I think it's perfectly reasonable, as a person who's both played a lot of systems and yet am pretty indifferent to system as a whole, to say that it is a minor factor in how much I'll enjoy a game. Especially given the caveats in the first post, which kinda makes your entire post a tangent anyway.

 

[dougmander]

I think a good group trumps a bad system. Good groups transcend a bad system by looking the other way when a rules loophole presents itself; they don't sweat it when a bad outcome occurs because of broken mechanics. I have inflicted plenty of creaky systems on my group (Space:1889 combat system, I'm looking at you!), and we've had the time of our lives anyhow, because we were happy to handwave and houserule to keep the game lively and fun.

 

[Vegepygmy]

A good group is sine qua non for me. I'm not voluntarily doing anything with a group of people I don't like.

But no matter how much I may like the group, if I don't like the system, there's no point playing the game. So I voted A system I just don't like drains most of the fun out of a game.