In another thread, Imperator said:

Quote from: ImperatorD20 didn't introduce the idea of a unified mechanic. AFAIK, that idea exists since RuneQuest, back in 1978.

Now, I won't dispute this (basically because I have no idea about RQ), but my question is: did it make an impact then, or did this become the norm after D&D adopted this concept?

A similar thing happens with PDF sales. Did the "industry" give its blessing to them before DriveThruRPG and RPGnow?

Personally, I think you don't just need a good idea, but implementation and a certain gravitas. Only when WotC and White Wolf threw their weight behind certain ideas did we see a tangible result.

What do you think?

Seems fairly obvious to me that the unified rules of RQ made an impact on the people who played RQ.  And then the unified rules of D&D made an impact on the people who played D&D.

So I guess ... what are you asking?  Are you looking for a definition of when "Making an impact" transitions into "Making a real impact"?

Based on rule books over time, I think a unified mechanic didn't crystalize as a good idea right away.  Runequest didn't change the world, but people playing it and other stuff over the years might have noticed the difference and tried to make similar implementations.

I think Monte Cook had a big effect on PDFs.  He wasn't the very first but he was the first "name" to do so and had decent success.  RPGNow seems to have gathered together those following Monte's example.  Drivethru cam later - their thing seemed to be enticing print publishers onboard with the promise of DRM.

A lot of the things that make D20 great can be found, individually, in other games.

It took the "killer ap" of D20 itself, the concept to formalize some of these principles, to turn them into conventions of gaming; to give them the fame that they have now.

Runequest had a single unified mechanic, but it lacked all the other things D20 has that ends up making the single unified mechanic shine.

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Quote from: JongWKNow, I won't dispute this (basically because I have no idea about RQ), but my question is: did it make an impact then, or did this become the norm after D&D adopted this concept?

A similar thing happens with PDF sales. Did the "industry" give its blessing to them before DriveThruRPG and RPGnow?

Personally, I think you don't just need a good idea, but implementation and a certain gravitas. Only when WotC and White Wolf threw their weight behind certain ideas did we see a tangible result.

What do you think?

Unified mechanics became the norm in the mid-to-late eighties for new designs.  While old-style designs like AD&D and the Hero System still were around, it's pretty hard to find a new game other than small-press D&D clones which don't have a unified mechanic since then.

Hi Jong! Very good questions here

Quote from: JongWKPersonally, I think you don't just need a good idea, but implementation and a certain gravitas. Only when WotC and White Wolf threw their weight behind certain ideas did we see a tangible result.

Well, I agree that you need a good idea, implementation and gravitas. Superbly formulated. But I also agree with jhkim in that such things were well known in mid - eighties, well before WW or D20. Actually, the very best thing (IMO) that WotC did for the D&D game was using all that well-known ideas at last for the game. After 25 years, D&D could have a unified mechanic, skills, merits, and many other things that most games around had since a long time ago. I feel that that mightily improved the game.

OTOH, the emphasis in storytelling, and rules for sharing the GM role and other similar things appeared first (AFAIK, maybe someone can add more info) in Prince Valiant, a game by Greg Stafford in 1989. That idea was influential (according to Mr. Tweet) in the development of Ars Magica, which influenced Rein·Hagen in the ideas behind Vampire. I think that Prince Valiant is a jewel of game design. But I also am a big fan of Mr. Stafford's designs so I admit I may be biased

Not always the first idea is the one who sticks, but I find cool and funny to know where such a things come from.