The #TTRPG market is so weird in that it has a shocking number of titles promoted for a given style whose systems just do not do that. It is pretty much the norm. This covers everything from #TRPG titans to smaller #indiegames.
If you randomly name a #TTRPG and look at how it is marketed (by both the publisher(s) and fans) vs what it actually does, you have at least a 50/50 shot of naming an example. (Unless you're way deep into one of a few #TRPG #indiegame niches.) It's an endemic issue.
We can even leave #DnD and its derivatives completely out of it. The problem with #TTRPGs still remains. It is still the norm to have rulesets that do not do what they say or at best (or perhaps worse depending on POV) the description is technically correct but deeply misleading.
Gumshoe is great for procedurals and railroads where the mystery is set dressing for the actual action. But we cringe every time it is the default recommendation for mysteries. It is not good for that kind of game. It avoids the (temp) dead ends and ups & downs of investigation
that make mysteries/investigations engaging for a lot of people. Even Sherlock & Jessica Fletcher had to navigate around red herrings and dead ends. The nature of the system makes it hard to emulate without being heavy handed and a hard sell in a game where clues are automatic.
Mind you, again, Gumshoe is great at what it actually does well! It's a very fast flowing and mostly intuitive system. But the very thing it is hyped to be good for is exactly not what it is good at (though arguably genre adjacent). Not picking on it, just an example!
It is not remotely alone. That is the norm. And it is often so difficult to talk about it because designers and fans alike get so defensive about it, going to great stretches of logic to justify it or just arguing over the criticisms about the presentation.
There are a lot of really great games that are just badly mislabeled. (Also many bad ones.) The individual reasons range widely from mere inexperience with the broader TTRPG market to blatantly unethical mislabeling for marketing purposes. Not interested in unpacking that here.
What is currently fascinating us is why it is such a overall widespread and persistent problem. Where it occurs in other markets, the problem is generally much smaller with a lot less fandom buy-in. Offenders usually get dragged pretty hard for the misrepresentation.
But in the TTRPG market there is active support for the phenomena and such criticisms regularly get mired in vicious arguments and a snotty attitude that they complainer just does not "get it". It's fascinating from a market analysis perspective and very frustrating as players.
@threadreaderapp unroll
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
