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Author Topic: Could have been a great game! If only...  (Read 4361 times)

Jaeger

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Could have been a great game! If only...
« on: April 06, 2008, 08:11:02 PM »
We've all come across those RPGs that deserved beter than they got. The problem usually was that they had an element that held them back from becoming more popular, and instead headed down the road to being out of print.

 You know, that one game so full of goodness - except for that one glaring issue.

  For me that game is: SPACE 1889

 Good writing - great Setting - hell, it even had good suplements. But the system! If ever a game idea got shackled with a wonky system it didn't deserve, it was this one.

If the system had just been made with a consistent resolution mechanic the game could have done so much better.

 So what games do you think could have been great, if only...


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John Morrow

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« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2008, 08:25:36 PM »
Quote from: Jaeger
You know, that one game so full of goodness - except for that one glaring issue.

The Secret of Zir'an probably would have been far more popular, if not quite successful, had they not decided to underprint the text of the book with a cryptic text in metallic ink that made several chapters difficult if not impossible to read.
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Seanchai
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Could have been a great game! If only...
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2008, 09:12:33 PM »
Quote from: John Morrow
The Secret of Zir'an probably would have been far more popular, if not quite successful, had they not decided to underprint the text of the book with a cryptic text in metallic ink that made several chapters difficult if not impossible to read.


Yeah. That was...Not Good.

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Dr Rotwang!

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« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2008, 09:24:31 PM »
Theatrix was a hell of a good diceless game.  I really mean it; I had a lot of fun with it.  I really knocked some games outta the park with Theatrix.

Now.

If only its first supplement HADN'T been based on a porn comic.
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brettmb2

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« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2008, 10:10:59 PM »
Dangerous Journeys would have been a cool fantasy game if it wasn't trying to do too much and had a system that actually let you make a character without getting stuck.
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J Arcane

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Could have been a great game! If only...
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2008, 10:13:07 PM »
Gamma World 4th could be a great game if instead of taking two different systems and grafting them unnaturally together, they stuck with the proto-d20 side of it, and kept the whole system consistent.
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Lancer

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Could have been a great game! If only...
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2008, 10:48:51 PM »
Victoriana could have been a great FUZION steampunk game, if it had been edited properly! Too many unprofessional grammatical and spelling errors!

The AD&D Planescape setting deserved to be more popular than it got. It was probably the best TSR setting ever made. Unfortunately, it was eclipsed by TSR's other more Tokien-inspired settings.

EDIT: Palladium's Robotech.. Robotech would have been much better suited with a system that better fit the setting (like Silhouette Core or Mekton Z).

TSR's Buck Rogers XXV game. I *love* this sci-fi setting. It was dark, gritty, and mixed in traditional sci-fi elements with post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk. It was unfortunately quickly forgotten.

Ian Absentia

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« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2008, 01:06:28 AM »
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!
Theatrix was a hell of a good diceless game.  I really mean it; I had a lot of fun with it.  I really knocked some games outta the park with Theatrix.

Now.

If only its first supplement HADN'T been based on a porn comic.
Ho-lee crap, yes.

Nephilim would have been a great game if:
  • It hadn't been rushed to print to make GenCon
  • It hadn't been such a straight translation of a rather fast & loose French game
  • It hadn't tried so hard to be Chaosium's World o' Darkness
  • The line editor had really had a clear vision of what he intended the game to be
  • Its follow-up publications hadn't coincided with the speculative collectible card game glut that nearly sank Chaosium
Frankly, given what was stacked up against it, I'm surprised the game had legs for as long as it did.

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Aos

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« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2008, 01:43:49 AM »
FGU's Aftermath, a game I dreamed of playing for at least a year before I got the chance, would have been a great game if- wait no, who am I kidding? It was made completely out of suck.
You are posting in a troll thread.

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peteramthor

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Could have been a great game! If only...
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2008, 01:50:02 AM »
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!
Theatrix was a hell of a good diceless game.  I really mean it; I had a lot of fun with it.  I really knocked some games outta the park with Theatrix.

Now.

If only its first supplement HADN'T been based on a porn comic.


I'll back that one all the way.  I picked up the game and really wanted to see some setting books for it to get more of an idea on how to make it all really work well.  So they put out a supplement that most shops wouldn't carry.  Hell I never have seen a copy of it.
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« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2008, 02:14:26 AM »
Legendary Lives - great premise, everything resolved by one table, cool bizarre chargen but TOO LONG A BOOK.

SLA Industries 1st ed - "how much do bullets cost ?" - crucial errata in a game of copius gunporn.

Unigames' Pocket Universe - could've been a great lite fantasy system but they wanted it to be a jack-of-all-trades and bite into the Buffy market. Then seemed to lose heart.

Underworld - why would I want to play Neverwhere set in New York - it's a Longon ting ?

one for the future:

The Riddle of Steel - "wait, combat that's more than just a duel between two people, oh i dunno"

Levi Kornelsen

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« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2008, 02:18:16 AM »
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!
Theatrix was a hell of a good diceless game.  I really mean it; I had a lot of fun with it.  I really knocked some games outta the park with Theatrix.

Now.

If only its first supplement HADN'T been based on a porn comic.


*Flails in flailing flailhood*

Yes, I agree.

KrakaJak

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Could have been a great game! If only...
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2008, 02:36:00 AM »
Orpheus: Awesome game from top to bottom (and beginning to end). Too bad it came out just at the end of the original World of Darkness (As in they had already announced the end was coming).

Unknown Armies: Would've been great if they had marketed it to non-rpg.net gamers. The whole book is just riddled with the assumption you've played RPG's before.
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Lancer

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« Reply #13 on: April 07, 2008, 02:40:59 AM »
Quote from: Sean


SLA Industries 1st ed - "how much do bullets cost ?" - crucial errata in a game of copius gunporn.



Totally second this. SLA Industries is one awesome dark setting. Too bad nobody knows about it lol.

Caesar Slaad

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« Reply #14 on: April 07, 2008, 08:27:32 AM »
I want to love Thousand Suns more than I do. Everything about it--except one thing--says "Traveller plus 30 years of experience". The one thing holding me back is that I really don't like how it handles attribute cost and advancement. Cost is simple linear and advancement is allowed during lifepath, but not afterwards.
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