Not sure if I could say what is 'worst' as that would be so subjective. Much of what I dislike is much loved by others here. FR is mediocre but there are some great supplements buried in the mountains of material.

Perhaps Brave New World...  In the core book it comes across fairly well, Alt-history with supers, the U.S. a dictatorship-in-all-but-name, etc.  But as soon as you read the GM secrets, it sort of fell apart.  And I gave up on it entirely once I read how being a Bargainer (one of the core PC types) turned out.

Honestly? The only game that's even nominally popular that I nonetheless can't even see the basic appeal of?

Dungeons & Dragons. Any edition. Any retroclone. Any imitation that doesn't do some serious reconsidering of the basic principles.

And yes, the fact that I can at least theoretically get behind every single roleplaying game except the one that sees ten times as much actual play as all the rest of them combined is a bit troublesome at times, actually...

Well I hate Shadowrun and Spelljammer - certain approaches to combining fantasy + sf just don't work for me. 'Orcs in space' and 'elves on the subway' certainly fall into that. I think it's the mundanification of fantasy that bugs me in Shadowrun. Conversely I love the Wilderlands approach of making technology seem weird and magical.

I strongly dislike Deadlands' backstory having the South abolish slavery but continue the Civil War, enough that I refused to play in a friend's offered Deadlands campaign.

Quote from: RPGPundit;962627Forget the ones that were never successful, like heartbreakers or most Forge games.

I mean games or settings that sold moderately well or more, and yet you think they sucked absolute ass.

Shadowrun. All of it.

Worst RPG? Well, I never liked Rifts. Mega Damage stuff shoved out any notion of playing a normal.

Savage Worlds. Great settings. Frustrating rules. No one ever seems to die or even stay hurt. No danger and no resolution.

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;962683When I was young and pretentious and had a big stick up my ass I would have said "Palladium", but since then I've gotten less mature and realised that there is nothing wrong with grown men pretending to be mutant ocelots and horned toads with katanas and uzis having epic battles with ninja in the middle of 80's strip malls.

sure, I can see that, but does it have to be done with one of the worst RPG systems possible?

Quote from: RPGPundit;962627Forget the ones that were never successful, like heartbreakers or most Forge games.

I mean games or settings that sold moderately well or more, and yet you think they sucked absolute ass.

Quote from: Dumarest;962633I'm not taking that bait!

I will take the bait and say Dungeons and Dragons.

I mean, it is clearly successful, and even though I would not mind playing it if nothing else is offered, I would actually prefer almost any other game.
It could be that there actually are really good settings for it, but even then I still don't like the system, be it the magical system, the combat system, the alignments, the character specs, the levelling system, or the classes(even if multiclassing is ok).
The general setting is not very fun either, perhaps just because it has become what one often refers to as "generic fantasy".
Yes, I know that can be seen as unfair, as it being "generic" is a result of it being successful, and therefor often having been copied in multitude versions.
(The only settings I think is worse, is Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.)

I find so many flaws and things in it that I really don't like, so even though i'm aware of that others like it, I think it is The Worst. (With LotR a close second due to having the worst Setting.)

Quote from: S'mon;962779Well I hate Shadowrun and Spelljammer - certain approaches to combining fantasy + sf just don't work for me. 'Orcs in space' and 'elves on the subway' certainly fall into that. I think it's the mundanification of fantasy that bugs me in Shadowrun. Conversely I love the Wilderlands approach of making technology seem weird and magical.

I strongly dislike Deadlands' backstory having the South abolish slavery but continue the Civil War, enough that I refused to play in a friend's offered Deadlands campaign.

Elves on the subway...hilarious...I've never played the game as the whole "cyberpunk" thing was not my thing. And the cover art just made me laugh, but not in a good way.

Orcs in space...were they ripping off The Muppet Show? PIGS IN SPAAAAACE!

So the South abolished slavery but kept fighting the Civil War because...?

Quote from: Headless;962687I can't see how anyone could answer this with out claiming someone (actually many people since it must be a popular game) are haveing bad/wrong fun.

I can, not only because i'm smart and knows it would upset a lot of people, but also because I know that others may like what I don't like.
It's as simple as that.

Quote from: RPGPundit;962627Forget the ones that were never successful, like heartbreakers or most Forge games.

I mean games or settings that sold moderately well or more, and yet you think they sucked absolute ass.

Forgotten Realms, Palladium's setting (and system, of course), Shadowrun pretty much top my list of places I don't want to visit;).

Very personal reactions against these:
Eberron as a setting.
Shadowrun as a setting and system.
Palladium's system.

World of Darkness and its goddamn awful fiction and patronizing prose and non-sensical setting.

You can't kick a garbage can without disturbing a changeling, two werewolves, a mage and a weeping ghost while a vampire is killing someone and a wereshark terrorises New-Jersey.

It always felt to me like the unholy wedding of a telenovela and Anne Rice's novels. Any soap opera episode can be turned into a WoD adventure : just replace the old guy with a Vampire Prince, the gardener with a werewolf and the young lovers nemesis with a technocrat Mage.

It's pretty much The Young and the Restless, with a supplement of fangs and fur.

Any setting longer than 2 pages sucks.