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What are bad ideas in RPGs?
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<blockquote data-quote="Rechan" data-source="post: 4526022" data-attributes="member: 54846"><p>I'll definitely agree with the OP's first two.</p><p></p><p>1. System Reference Syndrome. In order to play the game, you have to continually refer back to tables, charts, rules, etc to get anything accomplished. </p><p></p><p>The prime example here is Rolemaster. In order to resolve an action, you have to consult <strong>six</strong> different charts. No matter how amusing those charts may be, it turns a game into going to law school. </p><p></p><p>2. Character Creation Engineering School. The character creation process requires more work than an engineering degree. Taking two to three hours, heavy math, and more options than one can shake a die at. I'm looking at you, HERO and Rolemaster. I've also heard that 3e turned off many newbies by the amount of number crunching and system mastery necessary for character creation.</p><p></p><p>If the creation process alienates new players, or at least is bewildering, that's a definite flaw.</p><p></p><p>3. Combat Timesink. Where combat is both complex, a game of attrition, and (often) has system reference syndrome, resulting in 2 hours or more, or at least a long, grueling process. </p><p></p><p>Battletech is an example of this. A friend played in a game where in the first round, he had his legs blown off, and the next two hours consisted of finishing him off. 7th Sea is another; I've had it relayed to me that players would try their damndest to avoid combat simply due to how long a fight took.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rechan, post: 4526022, member: 54846"] I'll definitely agree with the OP's first two. 1. System Reference Syndrome. In order to play the game, you have to continually refer back to tables, charts, rules, etc to get anything accomplished. The prime example here is Rolemaster. In order to resolve an action, you have to consult [b]six[/b] different charts. No matter how amusing those charts may be, it turns a game into going to law school. 2. Character Creation Engineering School. The character creation process requires more work than an engineering degree. Taking two to three hours, heavy math, and more options than one can shake a die at. I'm looking at you, HERO and Rolemaster. I've also heard that 3e turned off many newbies by the amount of number crunching and system mastery necessary for character creation. If the creation process alienates new players, or at least is bewildering, that's a definite flaw. 3. Combat Timesink. Where combat is both complex, a game of attrition, and (often) has system reference syndrome, resulting in 2 hours or more, or at least a long, grueling process. Battletech is an example of this. A friend played in a game where in the first round, he had his legs blown off, and the next two hours consisted of finishing him off. 7th Sea is another; I've had it relayed to me that players would try their damndest to avoid combat simply due to how long a fight took. [/QUOTE]
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