There's a lot of these; things that when you first read them you think sound really great, but in practice end up being either too bland, or too much trouble for what they're worth, or too difficult to control.

My example: Every "magical tattoo" system I've ever seen.

RPGPundit

If my memeory serves 1e AD&D grappeling.

I'll see Pundit's 'tattoo magic' and raise him 'Rune Casting'.

Vehicle chases, anyone?

My nomination: Legendary Abilities in Mongoose's new edition of RuneQuest.

The idea isn't too bad - they're a bit like D&D feats, only there's actually some attribute and skill prerequisites before you qualify to buy them (which is what occasionally irks me about D&D feats - what, suddenly the guy with Dex 3 is a goddamn acrobat?). The implementation - at least in the core rulebook - left a lot to be desired. The list of abilities seemed pretty dull and uninspired, the sort of thing that you could probably brainstorm in a couple of hours rather than the product of what was supposedly a thorough playtesting process.

Quote from: JongWKVehicle chases, anyone?

I've run two car chases using Savage Worlds and they actually worked.  Hell, the second instance was a d20M game.  I like the SW chase system so much the first time that I actually used them in a different game.

Quote from: Warthur(which is what occasionally irks me about D&D feats - what, suddenly the guy with Dex 3 is a goddamn acrobat?).

Not a very good one: roll, tumble, flip, splat!

Disadvantages/Flaws/Quirks

Any and every version of the "virtual reality cybernet" I've ever seen.

Though 4e shadowrun's is a little better than previous ones, though largely only because it conveniently escapes actually being a "virtual reality" in most cases, replacing it with an "overlapping reality"!

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditAny and every version of the "virtual reality cybernet" I've ever seen.

Yeah.  I tend to steer clear of cyberpunk games and near future stuff for this very reason.

VR cybernets are bad for two reasons. One is the half-assed view of computers, even in a time a few decades in the future. The other is the old split-party problem, especially when the VR action happens ten times as fast as the real-world stuff...

And if you use it for information gathering, you'll run into the old "Chloe" problem:

"Decker, I need the way to the next sewer entrance!"
"I roll to see where the next sewer entrance is"
"You succeed. The next sewer entrance is just around the corner to the left"
"The sewer entrance is just around the corner to the left!"

This actually might work out in some kind of shared story-telling excersize...

Quote from: RPGPunditThough 4e shadowrun's is a little better than previous ones, though largely only because it conveniently escapes actually being a "virtual reality" in most cases, replacing it with an "overlapping reality"!

Sparked up another bowl?  It isn't actually replaced. They just gave a better description for what was buried deep, deep before, and made wireless Matrix connections it a lot easier and vastly more prevalent.  You could always turtle on an Imagelink while walking down the street. You just needed a small backpack, deeper knowledge of hidden corners of the rules, and carry around a freaking keyboard (or custom made, but well within canon spirit DNI) to do it.

But generally I agree with you. It is a step closer to a usable asis system and miles ahead of SR3. The core of the problem being is they didn't actually provide the full system in the core book, and what is there is poorly organized thus harder to grok. By far the weakest part of that book.  I really need to take up JongWK on that prompting and write up a SR4 review.

Cybergeneration had a augmented reality cybernet before people dreamt of Bluetooth and wireless
(It also had eight-year old cybersuperheroes, so not everything was okay)

Quote from: SosthenesThe other is the old split-party problem, especially when the VR action happens ten times as fast as the real-world stuff...

I have seen and am currently running what is effectively a Decker in SR4. Er, well actually I'm GMing over the rough equivalent of an Otaku (Technomancer, but they aren't kiddies anymore). Easy to use and prevalent wireless gear be The Answer™.  SR4 brought the deckers out of their mom's basements, and also took away a lot of the entry barriers so it doesn't play like a class system.

I have actually turned my own PC into a passable "hacker" during play! He can't hang with the big boys, but he can get some thing done. Last session he was partially physically issolated from the rest of the team and pinned by a 6-legged, Essense sucking dog is some Istanbul shithole market and totally hooped when he wirelessly accessed and detonated a smoke grenade the dog was standing on. It is a very long story with many twists and background, but the end of it was he survived (barely).

I like the way that A/State - admittedly, not a very traditional cyberpunk RPG, but a cyberpunk game nonetheless - handles its equivalent of the information superhighway - it is less useful than the real-world internet, and doesn't involve any VR nonsense.

Specifically, it is a poorly rigged-together amalgam of a bunch of barely compatible communications technologies (hampered by radio tech being unavailable in the setting) which don't work especially well - furthermore, certain types of computer (especially difference engines) require physical access if you want to do really clever hacking. An attempt at hacking tends to involve first working out what form the data is being communicated in (a tight microwave beam packed with data? Hard disks transferred by courier across the city? Morse code along a rusty copper wire, delivering data that has to be entered by hand into the poorly-maintained difference engine at the other end?) followed up with a whole lot of dumpster diving, social engineering, and occasionally physical infiltration in order to actually get the information you want.

In short, it tends to involve the entire party. That's much cooler than having one player sit in the corner doing the cyberspace boogie and hogging the limelight.