Is it "wrong" to not like other systems?

[kigmatzomat]

To the original poster: Nope. There is nothing wrong with preferring one system above all others.

I agree. Most gamers have a preference for their game of choice, be it setting or system motivated.

But there are problems. Extremism is bad, mmmkay. For instance:

The only system I will play these days are d20 based. If it ain't d20, then I will not play it. Why should I go to the trouble of learning a new system or spending money when one system will do everything I like?

See, this is how trouble begins. It's in most gamers' best interest to check out other games for two reason.

Reason #1) It improves your d20 games by providing settings you can use for d20 or mechanics you can rebuild. Not every good idea will be published as d20.

Reason #2) Expanding your options for gaming. I'll be the first to admit some game systems have a suck factor that approaches the event horizon. Despite that, you may still have a riotous amount of fun because of the DM/group/playstyle. I had a giggly time playing Twilight 2k despite having crapulous rules. The same goes for my one encounter with HoL. Had I been "hard20 core" I wouldn't have had the fun of those games.

And the last is a reason I would think is self evident. d20 is not the end of the gaming evolution. Better mechanics with equally engaging settings will eventually show up. It took centuries of english playwrights for Shakespear to show up, and millenia of mathematicians before Newton devised calculus. Both stood on the shoulders of those who had come before and the same will be said of the future gaming geniuses.

 

[billd91]

Just so we're clear - if I were to have read the 3E D&D core books, fiddled a bit with character creation, etc. but never played it with a group, my opinion of it would be essentially irrelevent (and wrong)?

I need more information. Ever played a fantasy RPG? Ever played in a game based on classes and levels before? If so, then your opinion isn't uninformed. Remember that I said that close is close enough. Similar experience allows you to make more informed opinions with less information and experience with the real thing.

No experience whatsoever, then no opinion worth considering.

 

[Zappo]

This is one of the things I disagree with. To use a consciously unfair analogy, do I have to repeatedly eat poop to be able to rightfully say, "No, I don't think I like to eat poop,"? Do I even have to eat poop once?

Extremes, extremes. I am aware of the existance of FATAL, Synnibar and RaHoWa, but I think my statement holds in the general case.

Besides - I've not played FATAL, but I've skimmed through it and I couldn't understand anything. Being unable to play even if I wanted to, and knowing that I'm not an idiot, I feel justified in saying that it's a dung heap.
I've not played Synnibar, but I would bloody well have a one-shot if I got the chance. I'm sure it can be quite fun, with the right mindset and excessive amounts of alcohol.
As for RaHoWa, I ain't playing that in a million years, but that's for "political" reasons, not because of the system.

 

[Thanee]

d20 is great, especially D&D (and a few others), but I've yet to see a d20 game, which handles any non-heroic genre in a (to me) sufficient way, that is comparable to some of the other game systems out there.

Anyways, opinions cannot be wrong.

So, the people who tell you, that you are wrong, are obviously wrong.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

I have yet to see something that d20 cannot do. I have seen bad representations of d20 by companies that barely understood it, but nothing that the system cannot handle.

Now, I am not saying that other systems do not have aspects that are superior to similar aspects in d20. What I am saying is that no other system makes for an across the board general system that can handle multiple genres. That is the strength of d20.

Most of the detractors of d20 are gamer elites who are far more into "real" roleplaying and who laud diceless or classless systems as the ultimate of RPGs.

I am the first to point out that D&D 3e has flaws and could be imporved upon, but I think that d20 may be the best all-purpose system ever created.

I always wonder at this point... what is the d20 system?

I don't think there is any book or comprehensive collection of data, which could be labeled that, or is there?

Anyways, I don't see d20 as a generic system. d20 is more like a huge collection of similar games, or something like that.

GURPS and HERO are generic game systems. One book and you can play virtually *everything* with it.

There is no such thing for the d20 system AFAIK, or is there?

Bye
Thanee

 

[MonsterMash]

Its not necessarily wrong, but you're cutting yourself off from a lot of good stuff by only playing D20 games.

Personally I've played
OD&D(1974)
1e AD&D
3e and 3.5 D&D
Conan RPG
Traveller
BRP CoC
BRP RuneQuest
Bunnies and Burrows
Metamorphosis Alpha
Superhero 2044 (Hero44)
Champions
Paranoia

And read
Bushido
Warhammer FRP
D20 Modern

And I still play 3.5 D&D, BRP CoC and (Soon) Paranoia and they're all still good.

Some genres work better with different systems, I don't think a D20 version of Paranoia (IME) would be much use and I think the BRP rules work well for Call of Cthulhu, but that is my belief and choice. On the whole who you play with can have a much bigger influence than the ruleset, but to me saying I'll only play D20 now is like saying I'll only eat chicken every day, too limiting.

 

[Geoff Watson]

WFRP is definitely a new favourite, and Unisystem is a constant presence as well.
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But back to the thread topic -- one of the reasons why many non-d20 folks resent d20 is the perception that (many/some) d20 fans think that d20 'can do anything', and the fact that many fine non-d20 systems were 'd20-ized' during the beginning of the new 'd20 era' (e.g. Deadlands is often cited as the worst offender here). In contrast, advocates of non-d20 systems rarely make similar claims about their systems.

Rarely?
Maybe on ENWorld, but on RPGnet there are plenty of 'such-and-such game is best and can do anything' posts; most commonly 'rules-light' games.

Geoff.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

If, as in your case, you've tried a bunch of systems and d20 is your favorite, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just your personal preference.

If on the other hand you refuse to try anything else, then I would say that's narrow and wrong, although I don't see why anyone would care uness it's somehow preventing them from playing what they want to.

 

[MoonZar]

Some people are just more intelligent than others and understand that no one system is overall better than anything else and that, in the end, it IS all personal taste.

Which can only be wrong in one case...diaglo

hehehe i totally agree, nothing perfect and nothing is totaly a piece of crap.

 

[Psion]

Those saying that preferring d20 primarily or exclusively makes one hidebound or uninformed are, IME/O, just looking for a way to make themselves feel superior, trying to reconcile their cognitive dissonance over the fact that a system that isn't their favorite is continuing to dominate the industry.