Nevermind that the "problems" he lists have not reared their heads in *any* playthroughs with *any* groups. The playtest has been downloaded 5,000 times or so? Maybe more? If these issues were as overt as he claims them you would hear about it. Like you, I initially thought his "issues" had some ground to stand on, but they don't.
I won't say any more about it other than players don't play the way he says they do. GMs don't act/react the way he says they do. The game doesn't play the way he says it does. None of these things he presents as "problems" actually exist.
You write as if you are all knowing--know how every group plays and how everyone in the world thinks of the 2d20 System. But, really, isn't your comments just based on your own biased (pro-2d20) opinion?
Just use a little google and start to look at the play reports coming out.
Here's one from two weeks ago:
Clicky, clicky.
There is a very fair write-up of the system. The reviewer likes some aspects of the game and really dislikes others. In the end, he rates the dislikes higher than the likes and decides to....
Like my players, I think the nuts and bolts of the weapons, armor, effects are cool, but again, I agree they don't beat RQ6/Mythras.
So, in the end, I think I probably will do the all-PDF option for this thing, simply for the adventures, and the setting info. I don't know if after more rules come out, the combat will be cool enough to get over the annoying aspects, but it could be a casual game every once in a while, but I don't see it filling the niche of our regular roleplaying sessions, it's not that type of game.
One of the things he says I mention above (and you say "will never happen"), and that is what he calls adversarial aspect to the Doom Pool....
Adversarial Aspect - Yeah, I admit, this really wasn’t one of my criticisms, but it was pretty adversarial, but, my players are the type that actually took that as a challenge. They trust me not to cheat them. As I said in another thread. Pull no Punches is how I roll, so they’re used to Evil NPCs being Evil, and Brutal threats being Brutal.
Taking this a step further, there are groups out there where players will think that the Ref is playing against them because of the choices he makes in his use of the Doom Pool.
If a player's character is killed or somehow effected otherwise through the use of the Doom Pool, it's natural to think, "Why did the Ref choose NOW to play those points? Why not when player X did this, or player Y did that? Why me?"
About the Doom Pool and Momentum points specifically, he says....
Specifically, to the meta-game aspect of the system (again, the Doom Pool), another poster in reply to the reviewer says...
I would be fine if you were describing a boardgame or a minis skirmish game, but as a RPG, the system sounds horrifying to me.
The Doom Pool does feel like a board game mechanic--not something that should be used in a Conan RPG.
Where something like the Doom Pool is acceptable is a game where the effects of the pool can be tied to an element of the game's universe, like "The Force" in FFG's Star Wars gaime, or "Dark Symmetry", from Mutant Chronicles (for which the 2d20 System was originally designed).
The Doom Pool doesn't work well as a straight meta-game mechanic where there is no reason for it in a game universe, and Conan's world certainly does not have a
Yin and Yang--The Force--Dark Symmetry--Kharma--Chaos vs Law--Good vs Evil type aspect to it. In fact, Conan's universe is exactly opposite of that: The Hyborian Age is a place where a lone warrior can stand alone against the world, without need for either gods or demons. One man. One sword. And the will to face one's enemies. There is no overall, overreaching power or force that governs the world and/or otherwise influences it.
The Doom Pool flies in the face of one of the major aspects of Conan's stories.
I find this ironic for a game that purports to be the closest reflection of Howard's Hyborian Age ever put to print in a roleplaying game.
I recognize that some people like and accept the Doom Pool and the 2d20 System as it is.
All I'm suggesting is that a Variant Rule be written that can be used plug-n-play with the official rules so that those of us who don't like the Doom Pool will have a a viable alternative game system to use. I'm not suggesting that the Doom Pool be torn out for everyone. I'm advocating a choice of rules--an alternative.