Is it "wrong" to not like other systems?

I think the "perfect" system depends on what you want out of your game. Most of my group prefers d20 because it is well suited to a tactical tabletop wargame with the majority of rules being geared to combat on a battlemat with 5' squares and tokens of some kind. AOOs almost depend on the battlemat.
However, I am one of those White Wolf players/storytellers too and sometimes I like to go back to pure roleplaying. White Wolf doesn't have rules to cover every situation and I believe that is intentional. Since it deals with time in abstract terms such as a "Scene" it isn't well suited to the tactical wargame style.

There is no perfect system because everyone would be playing only that system. You've got to pick the one that best fits your style. You are just lucky enough that you discovered the one that best suits you.
 

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The_Universe said:
But it is to some people. A *lot* of people.
Well, I'm one of the people that would try to get you to try something new, but I'd be okay if you didn't like it.
 


skinnydwarf said:
I love 3E D&D/d20, it's great for running D&D games.
I'd almost rather run anything but D&D in d20. I'm (again) growing to dislike D&D, while ironically cementing my relationship with d20...
skinnydwarf said:
I don't think it handles non fantasy stuff well, though. I just don't like having levels/classes in other genres.
I don't necessarily like having them in any genre, including fantasy. I take that back; I don't mind classes so much, and d20 Modern and d20 Call of Cthulhu are both pretty much classless already. I'm not terribly fond of levels, though, but I've seen very simple rules variants that mitigate my problems with them. Ken Hood's Grim N Gritty modular add-on, for example, takes care of runaway hit points. I haven't yet seen a completely satisfying solution for runaway BAB, but I've seen some pretty decent (and simple) stabs at it that I could use if that bothered me too much.
 

The_Universe said:
Is my dislike of those systems somehow qualititatively different than another player disliking D20? Have any of you had similar experiences?

I have not had the experience of someone telling me I was "wrong" because I played or preferred D20 games. I do have several friends that don't put d20 at the top of their "best systems" list; we often talk about what d20 does/does not do so well.

I don't see how your dislike is any different than other folks' dislike of d20, with the possible (positive) exception your dislike seems informed. You've tried other systems and found one you like, are comfortable with, and lets you do what you want to do with a game. What have the d20 detractors reactions been when you have told them you have played lots of other systems and like d20 the best?
 


The_Universe said:
But it is to some people. A *lot* of people.

I think it partly depends on what impression you've given them. If you've given them the impression that you haven't tried lots of other systems, they'll think that you need to branch out more before making judgements on other systems. And for someone who truly has not tried anything more than d20, I think that's a fair judgement.
I think most people will cut you a lot of slack if you're upfront that you've tried many different systems but happen to prefer d20.

Personally, I like d20 for some things, but I like other systems for other things. Some systems are a better fit for the type of game that I want to play than others. Personally, I'm not too keen on level-based systems for most modern or science-fiction style games. But I do like level-based games for medieval/fantasy setting games and so d20 fits that bill nicely.
 

I'm in the try it and see if you like it camp.

Taste differ and people need to realize that. Yes, I can enjoy playing D&D even though Warhammer, HARP, Rolemaster and other games do fantasy and yes, I can enjoy Hero, Silver Age Sentinels (tri-stat), Mutants & Masterminds and other games without having to bash the others (although I never hesitate to knock GURPS Supers... :p )
 

Joshua Dyal said:
I take it you've never spent much time at "my hat of d02 know no limit" rpg.net then? :D

Nope. I'm fine in the lovable confines of ENWorld. Should I go there and post something like "D20 is the Best.System.Evar.!"? :D
 

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