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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 4990764">I think what has changed isn't the ability of people to deconstruct rules (for as long as I can remember that has been around), but people's expectations and tastes (just like with music or any other medium).  Here is my take on the history. And it is just that, my take. I don't pretend to have done any reserach here. Just basing it on my experience. Up into the early 90s, people didn't seem as concerned with systems with unified mechanic. Many of the games were super engineered, with charts and different rules for different situations. The idea appeared to be to create a mechanic that worked for each situation. This is a fine approach, but it makes the game less intuitive (and maybe a little clunky). Now the preference seems to be for a streamlined system that revolves around a single principle or small set of principles. So rules for each situation normally have to be derived in some way from the core mechanic. This makes for a highly intuitive game, but can lead to some issues with realism or balance (also sometimes the mechanic feels forced).  I would also just point out, it looks like we have more small publishers and games than we ever had in the 80s or 90s. Maybe I just wasn't  in the right circles at the time. But if anything, now feels like a more exciting time to be a gamer. Every day a new game is released.</blockquote>