If you heard the term "crunch renaissance"...

[Morrus]

... what would that say to you, if anything? Would you see it as a positive or negative?

 

[Cadence]

... what would that say to you, if anything? Would you see it as a positive or negative?

If I saw it in an advertisement, it would take me a second to parse it. But then I'd probably think it was something designed to be a spiritual descendant of the older games that had a rule for everything (2e? 3.5? Traveller?) and not of the modern (13th age, FATE) type.

It certainly wouldn't be a negative for me since I like crunch. It might catch my eye enough to make me notice there was an advertisement worth reading (I'm good at ignoring them)... or if I'm already reading an ad, it might be enough to push it to the level of googling around to find out more. (At least for a sci-fi game or modern game, I have a fantasy one I'm happy with already).

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I would immediately think of games that were like HERO, GURPS, or Pathfinder becoming the "favorite toys" of writers, the internet and indie games - and lots of new games with that level of rules density, and need for system mastery.

It would be a grand thing. HERO and Pathfinder are my two favorite systems, and I like Rolemaster and Mythus - my preferences are to that style.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

The phrase would probably interest me, if only to find out what exactly it means.

Given how the two rpgs I have the most experience with are D&D 3.x and 4e, I'm guessing that 'crunch renaissance' would be a positive -- or at the very least, a non-negative.

 

[Serendipity]

Probably pay very little attention to it unless it became a commonly enough seen phrase that I'd look into it simply to know what it means.
At first blush, however, it seems to indicate something I'd not likely be interested in.

 

[Bluenose]

Long lists of equipment and/or character abilities. Detailed rules for resolving how those things interact. At it's worst, a game where characters matter a lot less than the items whose legs they represent.

 

[Ulrick]

I immediately think of some sort of cereal making a comeback--something like King Vitamin, where its very crunchy, even tasty, but tears apart the insides of your mouth.

A negative.

 

[Obryn]

... what would that say to you, if anything? Would you see it as a positive or negative?

I'd see it as a negative, since I know my players and I know me.

 

[Tom Strickland]

Based upon:

Example for "crunch" --

"crunch" is simply game-mechanical content. The degree to which a game is "crunchy" is the degree to which its published material focuses on mechanical, rather than descriptive or narrative, presentation." (Stephen Lea Sheppard)
http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-184852.html

Example for "Renaissance" --

"The word Renaissance, whose literal translation from French into English is "Rebirth", was first used and defined by French historian Jules Michelet in his 1855 work, Histoire de France...The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence was felt in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance

And, applying those concepts to a gaming context with its own (historical) periods and influences, my very first reaction is that "crunch renaissance" alludes to:

...a re-imagining of game rules of relative complexity into a more aesthetic and effective (organic or reality-based) presentation--including by re-visiting profound principles and insights of earlier systems.

 

[Morrus]

...a re-imagining of game rules of relative complexity into a more aesthetic and effective (organic or reality-based) presentation--including by re-visiting profound principles and insights of earlier systems.

That's beautiful.