What I Don't Like About GURPS 4e And Its Releases So Far

Eric said, "Myself, I am NOT pleased with Steve Jackson, of late. Between his ill-thought-out "upgrade" to GURPS, and the ludicrously-expensive format he's selling everything in (do we _need_ slick paper and colored illos and hardback? I'm happier without the hardback, at least---it takes up more room on my shelves) and not having come up with anything I find Interesting in some time, he's irritated me."

I don't care for the slick paper. Seems like the most comfortable position to read in is never the one that the glare from the light isn't where I'm reading.

I've worn the covers off several of the soft covers. I like hard covers. My original AD&D books lasted until I SOLD them. Nearly 20 years. I have killed three copies of Vehicles.

I hate the artwork. I have this thing about the art having something to do with the material on the page it is with. Color does not make it better.

I am VERY unhappy that the current plan places the design rules for vehicles and firearms in pdf format. Gohds but I hate pdf. If it must be digital format, gimme one I can EDIT. That way I can rearrange things to be in the order I need them if I disagree with the author. And bad ordering is a thousand times worse on a computer where I can't just stick a piece of paper in the pages I need and flip back and forth. All he is really doing is passing the printing costs down to me.

Lets talk about the G for a sec. The generic books so far are Basic Set, Magic and Fantasy. Two world books; Infinite Worlds and Banestorm. OK, five books and THREE are specific to FANTASY. I have been done with the Sword and Sorcery genre for something like twenty years. I jumped on Traveller as soon as I noticed it. Then Twilight 2000. Then Champions. Then GURPS, and rarely did I run a straight fantasy world.

They need to make more generic material. Redux of High Tech, Bestiary, Space, Ultra Tech and such. Space is the only one in the pipe. Powers is the next "generic" book and it is more of a "We didn't explain how to use the rules very well when making something other than a plain human, did we?" I make a lot of aliens, so this will be a purchase. But, dammit! This was obviously going to be needed with the huge changes they made in making things with the same effect cost the same.

What I am really cheesed about is how they COMPLETELY DROPPED support for Traveller and World War Two. People are crying for updated Traveller material, what do they announce as the 4e Traveller book? A Traveller setting during the first Imperium? Huh? Why ignore a huge fan base?

While they fucked around making little books for sideshow nations in WW2, they managed to skip Japan and the Soviet Union. Pardon me? The US isn't in the war without Japan and the main European front is the Eastern. There is no plan to EVER publish material for these two pivotal nations.

A good number of us are happy with the rules changes. Happy enough that we want things like conversion guides for existing material, or that material rereleased updated to the new rules.

I really like the new rules and how easy it is to do things that used to require GM fiat to get done. Without official support, I have to go it alone if I want updates. I have done a lot of this for the WW2 stuff, weapons and templates are done. But if I am forced to go it alone long enough, reconciling the offical version with the material I put my blood and sweat into might be too big a job. I hate having to do retroactive continuity.