Why simpler - much simpler - is better

[Dethklok]

Then stop acting as though you need a published RPG rather than a simple coin to resolve disputes.

I'm not. One doesn't need published RPGs to play roleplaying games. Indeed sir, that has been one of my points all along.

I said the biggest, not the only.

OK, fine; but I don't think it's very big. Novelty is often an attraction, and besides, one can build up a sort of allergy to familiar annoyances over enough time. In fact, I liked complexity better as a kid than I do now.

I am not sure the thought has occurred to him that Janx wants to play D&D 3.x.

You guys are awfully twitchy about jumping on me for saying things I never said, and eager to tell me things I did say, clearly and straightforwardly, right from the beginning:

That almost all of you reading this find that kind of thing fun is something I realize. I get it. I do see that it is indeed true that most of you derive pleasure from all these rules and complications.

I haven't tried Ultra-Lite.

I did start with Lite (which is also free) though. Now that I have the books I don't use it much, but I know a few people who use GURPS Lite and then just add a few bits and pieces from the full books.[/quote]
Yeah; I'm not surprised that you haven't played Ultra-Light. Most dedicated gamers find that very simple games are not really that fun. But my own perspective is different from most gamers; I have a much lower tolerance for rules and complexity. Though this may be unusual in someone who likes rpgs, it's actually quite common in the typical non-gamer.

And I think this perspective makes clear to me some things that evidently most gamers don't like to accept - complexity comes with costs. To most gamers, these costs are acceptable; some people even take them for granted. Definitely some people react very strongly when their (obvious) existence is pointed out! I suppose that this is merely one more thing in the arena of roleplaying games which One Doth Never Say.

 

[Argyle King]

Yeah; I'm not surprised that you haven't played Ultra-Light. Most dedicated gamers find that very simple games are not really that fun.

If you give Ultra-Lite a try, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. I do not believe I personally know anyone who has used it.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

Back in high school (early 80s) my friends and I worked through campaigns when we walked to and from school. We played D&D and Champions at the time, for the most part. We didn't have books or dice on us at that time, so whoever was DMing used other ways to calculate success - basic common sense, how many birds were in the next tree, etc. It worked just fine.

We used the rulebooks, dice, and all that on the weekends at each others houses. The two campaigns didn't have anything to do with each other.