This is just a loose observation based on the general themes of many threads on here as of late.

But say what you will it would appear to me that the current edition of WFRP seems to be doing pretty much what many of the other companies have been trying to do or get in on.  Now I'm not specifically talking about the exact details which some people find hit or miss, but lets review.

1) Box set
2) The most important character rules are easily accessible through cards to the players
3) Abstract, none grid based movement
4) Interesting dice mechanic that does more then justify pass/fail
5) Potential for a minor collectable element should they pursue it
6) Very high quality production values
7) Mid level in the light/medium/high rules intensity.
The intention is for a more seamless blend between story and mechanics

Probably some other elements but I think those seem to capture the core lately.  Now I'm not 100% suggesting that the game hits each of those perfectly, that's as debatable as arguing what your favorite colour is.  But it certainly attempts to hit all those points.

Quote from: kryyst;432261 The intention is for a more seamless blend between story and mechanics

This one I am not seeing. There are so many fiddly bits to manage and track that I think it can pull a player right out of what is going on in the imagined gamespace straight to those components.

Yeah, I'm with EW. That's exactly the part that's not doing it for me.
It feels like a fucking euro-boardgame with story/narrative bullshit on top of it. Pass.

The broad statement is that it's their intent to make it more seamless.  The success of that is obviously debatable and like so many rpg systems comes down to personal taste and experience with the game.

I can only attest to my own play experiences and that of my group.  Which is to say I find it works in most areas of the game.  However that type of statement is my current opinion.  The day one play wasn't a 100% seamless experience and even though I've been playing the game for a year now.  I'm still delving into it's various depths and changing up my GM style to accommodate different ways of using the tools at hand.

The 360 concept of the game intended flow is like this:

GM describes an event, players describe an action (standard RPG dynamic there).  The player's action could be a generic action or tied specifically to an action card depending on the situation.

Dice pools are assembled.  The story part injects itself at this point again.  There are no hard modifiers in the game the GM is encouraged to add fortune, misfortune and challenge dice as they see fit.  My general rule when I GM it is that if I start adding adjectives to the situation I'll add appropriate dice as well.  Possibly my favorite part of the die pool rules.

Characters are much more capable in this edition then past editions and many other standard RPG's.  But to put it in past WFRP terms I don't have to worry that a -10 penalty to an action basically means an 80% failure rate.  Now I can add 2-4 misfortune dice and that's not game ending.  This dice pool assembly is fast - a lot faster then it takes to describe it.

So dice are rolled results are determined, did you pass/fail and/or did something else happen (this could be a good or bad thing).  That makes for an interesting situation.  Probably not the first game to do it but certainly the first main stream (non-forgie) game that I've played where a character could fail at their primary action but still have something beneficial happen.  Likewise they could succeed at their primary action but have something bad happen.  These other effects could be story or action driven.

That's the core of the game.  That's the intent I was specifically alluding to, to keep mechanics inline with the story.  Describe the situation, describe the actions, add modifier dice as needed.

The real fiddly bits come in with the tokens.  Now for those that hate - hate - hate tokens they've actually put out an alternative set of rules in the form of a Player Guide, GM Guide, and Creature Guide that provide for alternative (aka traditional) means of play.  So if you'd rather track stuff on paper they have made a set of rules to cover that and an updated Character sheet(s) to accommodate it.  But personally that level of book keeping I find to be much more distracting  then the token method.

You use a power you put a token on it or in some cases 'tap' the card.  You take some damage you collect damage tokens, you want to spend a fortune point (like a bennie in Savage Worlds) you remove a token.  Cast a spell remove a few spell point tokens.  

Yes from the outside very narrow view, sure it looks like a boardgame.  I guess the alternative would be suggesting that a traditional RPG looks like someone doing their taxes.  The reality is both these statements are false.