Why are games so complicated?
So, my friends and I played Shadowrun (version 4) yesterday. It is our second actual session (they had also played a micro version) and it left me a bit irriatated. Don't get me wrong, I have always liked the setting of the game. Kind of a cyberpunk with magic. I also remember playing this game in the early 90's and enjoying it then as well.
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The simplest one is that some people just like crunch. Rules, and tinkering with rules, is what gets them off in RPGs. They want rules for everything, because that's the point of the game.
Slightly more complex comes the issue of creating a game to properly model reality. Reality has a LOT of very complicated rules. Our understanding of those rules has gotten so thorough and in depth that no single person can know them all. People who look for games to be very realistic or hyper-immersive have this knee-jerk assumption that every rule of physics must be modeled with an equivalent rule in the game. To do otherwise is to create an "unrealistic" game. To players who focus on the storytelling side, or even gamists or cheetoists, this is obviously false. But, many simulationists tend to follow that line of thought.
On a slightly more subtle note, huge loads of crunch is also often a sign of poor design. It certainly was in AD&D 1e and 2e. It means that the core mechanic has a serious flaw, and cannot be cleanly extended. It also means that the design team has a tendency to make up a new rule for each situation, rather than stepping back to evaluate the situation as equivalent to a number of similar situations. D&D 3e is actually an interesting example here. Sure, it has massive amounts of crunch. But, honestly, most of it is examples of core concepts, or clarifications of specific interactions. As some of the stripped-down versions of d20 have shown, the core mechanics are actually very simple and very strong. And, there are very few subsystems in D&D that aren't simply a variation on a skill check, combat round, or ability check.
The final reason for crunch comes in justifying page count, and justifying additional books. 3e is the classic example of this, but you see it in Rifts and White Wolf, too. Some systems handle it really well, in that the additional crunch is 100% optional and plug-and-play (e.g., new feats, new gear, new alternate magic system). Some systems really don't (the new rules conflict badly with the core rules, show power spiral, or are obviously the same tired old mule in a new dress).
I won't talk specifically as to which, if any, of these reasons apply to Shadowrun. I still haven't gotten around to reading it. But, those are the common reasons.
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