The factors are:
- Character Creation Process
- Materials Needed
- NPC Interaction
- GM Activity
- Combat System
- Game Mechanics
- Inventory System
- "Adventure" Creation
- Total Game Customization
- Freedom Within Game
I'll also include some of my friends characters and quotes about the game
I'm going to use Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as an example:
Character Creation Process: 8
Thoughts: Fairly simple but not without flaws. Magic Users are extremely hard to create. Also the more of the expansion books you get the more complicated it becomes.
Materials Needed: 7
Thoughts: The dice arn't hard to get and you don't need that many. And for Advanced D&D you don't need miniatures so that isn't to bad. The hard part is the amount of paper you need for everything from inventory sheets to maps.
NPC Interaction: 9
Thoughts: D&D always had one of the best NPC interactions out there. The way you choose to interact can be a game changer. I experienced a moment like that during my very first adventure.
GM Activity: 9
Thoughts: The GM (DM) has to be fairly involved which isn't bad. Somethings are kept secret from players that are about the players themselves which means you can't switch GMs halfway through an adventure without some difficulty.
Combat System: 9
Thoughts: Turn based hack and slash combat. Only real difficulties are magic items (sometimes) and ranged attacks with some weapons. Spell combat can also be frustrating at times.
Game Mechanics: 9
Thoughts: No class has a distinct advantage over another. Assassins and thieves may be very good stealth options that can find secret passageways, pick locks, and lack moral needs, but they lack much fighting ability in direct combat and have armor weaknesses. While characters like Rangers (Which is my favorite class) are very good in outdoor situations, can be awesome in direct combat, and learn some basic spells at higher levels, they have to make moral decisions can't use all weapons. The reason game mechanics arn't a 10 is a few issues like Bards (I hate those guys), the later inclusion of firearms, and the out of combat use of some spells.
Inventory System: 8
Thoughts: Carry weight system is easy to understand can also be frustrating. Also putting items on pack animals can cause frustration if you don't write that down. In the real world it requires a lot of paper to keep a well organized inventory.
Adventure Creation: 10
Thoughts: You don't find games with much more creation ability than this. Using the monster manual and simple maps you can create any number of adventures.
Total Game Customization: 9
Thoughts: You can do a lot of things with D&D but somethings can just be frustrating with some simple things.
Freedom Within Game: 10
Thoughts: You can murder, lie, steal, start a gang, get drunk, slaughter random people, turn on your allies (NPC of course) use weapons and items in unconventional ways. And do crazy things with spells.
Thanks for reading.
