Nearing 40, which means I've been playing RPGs for 25 years.
Dislikes:
TV & Movie Executives. They always seem to destroy what I like while pimping the crap out of what I can't stand. The idiots who decided jerking Firefly around and then cancelling it should have been thrown into the intake of an aircraft engine.
Angst-driven characters. Get over yourself already - esp. if the angst angle is just to maintain the soap-opera drivel despite being a total badass. For example, you're frakkin Spider-Man for crying out loud. Stop your whining and go kick some criminal's butt.
Angsty-vampires. Per the aforementioned slam by Vincent. Vampires are villains, they're monsters, and I want to read/see stories about decapitating their undead bodies. Monsters are not alternative lifestyles.
Lazy writers. To every author, game designer, or screenwriter that decided to circumvent crappy writing or writer's block by nuking the setting, yes - I'm flipping you the bird.
Preachy Sci-Fi. I don't mind a story that is exploring a conflict, theme, or problem but sci-fi should not equal "oversimplified social issue coated in Splenda shoving one political viewpoint down my throat". This sickness now infects the preconceptions of far too many people such that I can't post to forums asking for Sci-Fi novel recommendations without someone chiming in that in order to be good sci-fi, it MUST be preach Sci-Fi.
MMORPGs. It's a video game. It's less of an RPG than video game RPGs. It may be entertaining, but don't tell me it's comparable, let alone superior, to the real thing. Oh, and I don't rebuy a game or a portion of it every month. Sorry.
RPG publishers thinking they can achieve the same success of a MMORPG with a table-top RPG. 'Nuff said.
Subscription-based electronic RPG material. DDI, I hate the very thought that conceived you. (I have no problem with subscribing to a tangible RPG product, like a magazine, adventure series, or book.) Did I mention I hate MMORPGs?
WotC. Yeah, maybe it's harsh and my ire should go towards 4e. However, it's just a game and I can ignore it. In 25 years of gaming, no other company that received my money seemed as hell-bent on insulting their customers, pissing on the products that got them to where they were, or felt the need to tell me that for all these many years, I was playing the game incorrectly.
Mtv. I watched a ton of it the 80s and 90s, y'know, back when they played music videos. I gave up trying to stomach any of the crap they pass off as entertainment years ago.
(Most) Reality TV shows. The vast majority are total crap and are only on the air b/c they're cheap to make. Every time I see an ad for a new reality TV show, I think "Ok, they've finally hit bottom". Each subsequent show proves me wrong.
Rules-light RPGs. Too prone to GM fiat and arguments that detract from the game. I've played RPGs from one end of the crunch spectrum to the other and I've seen more time wasted arguing over rules & what is or isn't possible at the rules-light end, hands down. Yes, I can play a video game that let's me fly a plane and I'll have a ball. But the enjoyment pales in comparison to the richness of flying an actual plane, despite the complexities involved.
Horror without plot. Senseless gore, undefeatable horrors, inconsistent horrors, and torture porn - you suck. I love horror stories - but I have to be able to get invested in the characters even if 99% of them are going to meet a bad end. Also, don't waste 1:45 showing me how indestructible a monster/eldritch horror/demon, etc. is and then have it killed by a lucky shot by the sole surviving bimbette. I have yet to see Vulnerability: Dramatically Appropriate Attack show up in a RPG.
Rap music. If you didn't hate it already, you will after you have to explain to your child what the lyrics they are repeating actually mean (even if you can explain it at a PG-13 level).
MAPS IN RPG PRODUCTS WITHOUT A SCALE!! Why is this so f-ing hard to remember to include? Seriously.
Likes:
Swords-n-sorcery. My favorite genre of fantasy. Heroics in spite of brutal and gritty worlds filled with less than savory characters.
Conan. I like Conan as a teen, little realizing I had only been exposed to the watered-down version. Thank you REH. Thank you Mongoose (with special thank you to Vincent) for introducing me to the real deal.
Video Games. Some have better plots than movies and TV and most can at least hit "equivalent quality" tier. Plus the variety and technology is incredible. I'd rather be playing RPGs, but these are still a blast. Also, for whatever reason, when I'm sick with the flu or a sinus infection, I can't seem to concentrate well enough to work on RPG stuff, but I can play video games all damn day.
Sci-Fi TV & Movies: Firefly, BSG (new), Lost, (some) Star Trek, Alien, Aliens, Blade Runner, Terminator, etc. I can watch plenty of good sci-fi. Trying to find good sci-fi fiction.... Basically, I like what I call "gamer sci-fi". If I can see the story as a sci-fi RPG session, I like it. If it's General Hospital in Space or Social Commentary in Space (+ Soap Opera!), I hate it.
Conan RPG. Finally, a swords-n-sorcery RPG that didn't require me to develop/house-rule a ton of crunch on my own.
Class & Level RPGs. I also like point-buy systems but with a job and family, class & level are easier to develop NPCs and adventurers for my game. Also, it's easier for my players to develop their characters. I completely thought it'd be the opposite result but after swearing off class & level, it was liberating, rather than confining, to return to them.
GURPS. The ultimate RPG toolkit. I only wish I'd discovered it when I was in college and had the time to tailor-make a campaign. Despite all the crunch and lengthy character creation, it played like a sports cars engine. Unfortunately, the GM prep was like a sports cars' maintenance as well and I just didn't have the time.
Sexy Vampires. They still need to be evil, inhuman monsters, but if they can have 10 levels in Temptress, it's hard for me not to like them.
Pirates. Pirates are cool. Ninjas are over-hyped. Female multi-class Pirate/Temptresses are hot.
Knights. Yeah, I like my swords-n-sorcery and grim-n-gritty settings. And I like the knight that tries to live by his ideals in the midst of all of that. (Angsty knights need not apply.) There's just something iconic about the knight hero.
Superhero comics: A lot of them suck, but when you get the right combination of writer and artist, they're awesome.
Settings that strive for believability. Yeah, it's a fantasy setting, but I don't want flying castles, islands floating in the air and all that crap. I don't want all kingdoms to be the same except for the name of the kingdom. Give me cultures, races, climate, weather and mash them together cohesively so I can see the conflicts!
Good Art in RPGs. RPG art is inconsequential for some, but it always helps inspire me to run a game, get the GM juices flowing, or reinforces the setting or adventure.
Country Music. No, not the twang & truck songs. This is where a lot of 80's rock and roll migrated to as pop and rap took over. You might think it's simplistic & corny, but a lot of this music helps me keep perspective on what's important: Family, God, Country. It reminds me to count my blessings, put my "big" problems in perspective, and cut loose once in a while.
"Brain Candy". I don't need to read War & Peace. Give me fantasy fiction, action movies, and comedies.
The Kingdoms of Kalamar Atlas. Glorious map-filled awesomeness! Psst. Can we please find a middle ground between "maps good only as a player's handout" and the KoKA for maps of Hyborian kingdoms? Pretty please?
The OGL. No OGL, no Conan RPG. Without the Conan RPG, I'd never have given up the search for the "one true system" and I'd never have replaced it with a framework that I could customize through a multitude of 3rd-party sources. If not for the OGL, I'd have been reduced to the same slog of High Fantasy sanitized stuff I'd seen for years. I now have a RPG library that I could only have dreamed of a decade ago.
Mongoose, Green Ronin, and Paizo. My 3 mainstays. Thank you for some of the best gaming goodness I've ever encountered. Plus, you keep bringing me back for more.
Partly nostalgia I think (I remember buying the box set at one of the first Games Day conventions in London just after it came out). I actually liked the nationality bonuses as it gave people more chance to play a 'different' character without being a Melnibonean.... I loved Moorcock as an author so that was a factor too. Although magic was very impractical back in that edition, at least it was rare which seemed more in keeping with the books than later editions. I agree the Mongoose background is good (apart from MAPS!!!!) but I play it with BRP rules rather that MRQ. Incidentally, the 'Rome' supplement for BRP is good if you like that period
Like many, I'm a 40+ guy that has been RPGing since the early 80s. I'm pretty set in my ways and have my opinions. And here they are:
