The ideal player is one who didn't come up through D&D and hasn't learned a whole bunch of assumptions and conventions that don't apply outside it. Of course more intelligent players will adapt and understand that different games require different mindsets. But many players will not.
GURPS is extremely simple, unfortunately it is also GURPS and thus must present itself in a way to make it more confusing and unfriendly. God I hate Steve Jackson, what a dick. Though I should still tweak LEURPS (my retarded GURPS version after Steve Jackson Games threw a hissy fit) to make it less dogshit, but that would mean making more things for it to expand it out.
The issue nowadays is that D&D has assumed the role as [The TTRPG]. It's become so synonymous that onboarding people into any other game has you trying to beat D&Disms out of them at the start. On one hand it's good to have an easy frame of reference - "It's like D&D, but . . ." gets people in the mindset close enough, but the further you deviate from killing goblins in caves for pocket change the harder it gets to rope people in. God help you if they're already "TTRPG Veterans of 10 Years" who have played nothing but D&D 5e.
That is an issue, yeah, but my main problem with it is that it tries to do too many things at once. I dispute the concept of the generic system, where I think a system should be purpose-designed for a particular mood, genre, or setting (part of the reason modern WotC D&D is so crap is because it is spread too thin). Trying to be able to represent (with crunch) everything from the Stone Age to Space Opera with a single mechanic system prevents it from feeling super strongly one or the other. Traveller can do stone age stuff with its tech levels; it is clearly aimed at capturing Space Opera. Even story-focused systems are not made equal, with Burning Wheel, Genesys, and Storyteller all aiming at totally different tones and feelings despite not being crunch-centric. Point being that if I want a genre game, I would be better served by finding a system designed specifically for that genre, though I could see a situation where no such system exists and you don't want to have to make one from the ground up, so collating GURPS subsystems together and filling to fit would suit fine.
It's terrifying that that's entirely possible. I saw a YT video earlier this week from someone espousing their expertise from running Delta Green for "three years" and scoffed.
I believe a good system can suit a lot of different flavours. I've used Hero 6e for both generic fantasy and a Sci-Fi game to great effect. But I do agree with you - systems should be designed with at the least a playstyle in mind. The Aliens RPG is good for a throwaway game and high turn over. For a campaign or more tactical game, it's pretty weak. CoC is reasonable for an investigative game (though actually I think it could be better), but would be middling for something action focused and downright poor for those seeking a more tactical experience.
I fear you are correct. It's not simply an effect on rule systems - others still exist and appear to be doing alright. But the culture is getting very Reddit-y. If people recall my diatribe about Vaesen some pages back, there's this... coddled feel to everything coming out now. I don't think it's all down to D&D though. I think the wider Progressive / IdPol sort of culture is the shit that fertilises it.
Where does Kult fit into everything going on?
Weird outlier, though it was first made in 1993 so that might be why.
I agree, it's not "just" D&D or "only" D&D's fault, it's a broader cultural shift, and my point is that that cultural shift has gone on for so long that not only has it become dominant, but it's become essentially intrinsic. I'm not saying that nobody's doing OSR, or domain play, or high lethality games, or 3d6 straight down, or anything like that. I'm saying that the fundamental philosophy that led to that way of doing things is no longer part of the popular zeitgeist in the hobby. "Troonslayer: A PbtA Game" could get published tomorrow and sell enough copies for the author to be a medium muckamuck in the scene and it wouldn't mean anything different. From now until sometime "after," whatever the "World's Most Popular Roleplaying Game" is, whether it's Dungeons and/or Dragons, or some successor, will have a section or mention of "safety," something that would have been inconceivable to Gary and Dave and Dave and I think another Dave and etc in 1968.
Disagree. Though I do wonder what woke era nostalgia will look like when it hits 20 years from now. Will there be a OneDnD revival community like there is for 4e now?
I don't hate generic systems. But they should be thought of as a launching point that is melded into an actual game people play. Case in point, Basic Roleplaying from chaosium is a generic system, which is a starting point for their other games. This game uses the ORC license which is more permissive than the old OGL. I take BRP and use it to make a game, then I can sell that game. With GURPs I use the generic system, put a bunch of time making a game, then I can play it with my friends but I can't sell it. I like my friends but I'd rather put my time into something I can sell.
This is a broader cultural issue beyond TTRPGs. The "mainstream" of every hobby is a battle ground between communists and fascists. I really like the David Lynch opinion. Don't write your politics/themes into your games, just write something true and good. If people stopped trying to tell us what to think with their stories. Just give something you think is real.
I actually forgot onednd existed and I literally dont know anyone who plays it. 5e is just to popular, my store (one of the biggest in my city) literally only stocks like 2 copies of it at the back. Depending on how far WoTC falls in the next few years, I guess people may look back at onednd with rose tinted glasses?
That's the thing with generic systems: they give you a toolbox you can do pretty much anything with. But like any large, comprehensive toolbox, it's a chore to lift that thing and carry it to your truck whenever you actually want to use it anywhere. So, you have to pick and choose which tools you're going to be using, and supplement it with additional tools the box doesn't come with, but that would be useful for what you're trying to do. Just like you're not going to need your sledgehammer when you're rewiring outlets and replacing light fixtures, but you really should bring that bag of wagos with you.
When the moment comes, make it unforgetable.
That's such a good solution. I can already imagine your players saying "but you promised! We trusted you!" and your monster going "what, you believed me? Lol."