Quote:
Originally Posted by safisher
There is also, an active element of chauvinism among some RPG players and writers, who may prejudice certain types of information over others, or misinterpret information, or (and this is the constant danger) simply mishandle the conversion from real world to game system. This is why playtesting is so important, and why it's so important to realize that consensus really does help bring about a better end product. Know-it-alls and maverick experts seldom produce good rules. It's hard to do this job in a vacuum.
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Although lets be careful about the pot calling the kettle black ... I have said elsewhere that giving modern body armour which only covers part of a hit location both a 100% chance of intercepting attacks to it, and the reduced weight and increased concealability and wearability which are the purpose of that incomplete coverage, is a not a choice which I would have made for GURPS. TANSTAAFL, and GURPS games are likely to involve combat which is far from the assumptions about likely threats and angles of attack which the designers of 20th century body armour made.
Edit: I figure that authors are doing the best that they can with the evidence and resources available to them and within the limits of a house style which prevents them from citing sources or discussing how they think something works, what other views exist, and what choices they had to make to represent that reality in GURPS. Academic rigour tends to cost more than games companies can afford, and many of these problems are hard.
I would like to see more RPG products which focus on asking how something works, showing their work and giving a good-enough-for-gaming answer, like the old "omniscient eye" column in Pyramid 2, and gaming stores which had more gamer-friendly nonfiction and less splatbooks. But it seems that books of monsters and hundreds of slightly different variations of D&D are what sells (to the extent that anything in the RPG industry sells enough to keep a storefront open, and the industry does not depend on comic books and CCGs and Atlantean Swords and tee shirts to fund the odd aisle of product).