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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3971548" data-attributes="member: 4937">I'd be happy with a three generation system, in so much as I think all of this is pretty arbitrary and too simplified.&nbsp; But I think that the fourth generation is 'real' and differs from the third in that the designers are by that point themselves RPG players with alot of experience rather than merely game designers with alot of experience.&nbsp; Third generation design tends to produce rules that are elegant to read.&nbsp; I loved reading GURPS books.&nbsp; But I didn't necessarily find them fun to play, because the system simply overpowered the game with too much simulationism.&nbsp; I know that I learned from those games that too much 'realism' could be a negative just as too little could be.&nbsp; I would suggest that the fourth generation of design was marked by a shift to pragmaticism over conceptual elegance; fourth generation games tend to be more elegant to play - designers learned from experience where they needed to stop with the trends that had been developing in earlier generations.&nbsp; Of course, the next generation of games might be at least partially electronic, shifting that burden of calculation over to a computer which might let you have more realism along with your quick and exciting play.&nbsp; Or maybe they'll be designed with the narrative structure in mind more than merely conflict resolution, like Dread, and take the hobby back toward its parlor game-thespian roots.&nbsp; I don't know.&nbsp; If I did know what would be the next big thing, I'd be trying to make it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 3971548, member: 4937"] I'd be happy with a three generation system, in so much as I think all of this is pretty arbitrary and too simplified. But I think that the fourth generation is 'real' and differs from the third in that the designers are by that point themselves RPG players with alot of experience rather than merely game designers with alot of experience. Third generation design tends to produce rules that are elegant to read. I loved reading GURPS books. But I didn't necessarily find them fun to play, because the system simply overpowered the game with too much simulationism. I know that I learned from those games that too much 'realism' could be a negative just as too little could be. I would suggest that the fourth generation of design was marked by a shift to pragmaticism over conceptual elegance; fourth generation games tend to be more elegant to play - designers learned from experience where they needed to stop with the trends that had been developing in earlier generations. Of course, the next generation of games might be at least partially electronic, shifting that burden of calculation over to a computer which might let you have more realism along with your quick and exciting play. Or maybe they'll be designed with the narrative structure in mind more than merely conflict resolution, like Dread, and take the hobby back toward its parlor game-thespian roots. I don't know. If I did know what would be the next big thing, I'd be trying to make it. [/QUOTE]

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