Are proliferating perks a danger to GURPS?

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Lupo

I resent that implication.
Many (if not most) GURPS players have also a "gamist" perspective and want traits to be balanced; they want to be able to "tactically" plan, build and improve their characters choosing from a collection of equivalent, balanced traits.

I don't think it's true that most GURPS players are gamist--you are gamist, but don't project onto everyone else...I think that GURPS has a wide variety of things in it, and it attracts a lot of different types. I'm not gamist and I'm very attracted to GURPS. I'm a method actor. When I first found GURPS in 1988, the thing that drew me to it was that there were no classes, that there were rules for Dependents, that social skills meant something. The first GURPS game I ran was low fantasy. The three players created a bar maid, a carnie, and a drug addicted broken down gladiator. Only the gladiator took combat reflexes. Not everyone who plays GURPS plays the way that you do. GURPS has a lot to offer for people who are interested in social interaction rather than combat. See for example the whswhs Transhuman Space game I was in where in three years real time we had two and a half combats. And we all progressed in ways that made sense for our characters rather than on what was the most point efficient.

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

Here's a potentially interesting thought-experiment. Take a template from one of the books and say your allowed to add 2 points only to it, in anything including Perks. How often will a player choose two perks vs. anything else?

Not a fair set up. There is little to buy with two points besides Perks. But I'd have lots and lots of players who, rather than buying Perks, would buy another skill or up a technique.

Now, if we go for a more fair 5pts, very few of my players would go with Perks (first off, they may not have the perk allotments)...they'd go with Status, or Attractiveness, or Skills, or some other advantage. Lots of things really. You know something that matched the character concept. And if they went with a perk or two...it would be one that matched their character concept.