I have been reading through ICONS rpg game. The game has a lot of potential but it also has a high barrier of entry for the new gamer and the new DM/GM. The game makes it really easy to create a character along with powers and specialities. So here I sit with a bunch of kids who have characters and we are looking at a book full of "gamer terms" that none of us are familiar with. I understand that this game drew inspiration from a lot of games. The sad part is that ICONS now comes with a lot of verbiage that may not be known to all the readers.
Using "gamer slang" isolates the game from a wider audience. What is "retcon"? What is "tagging", "aspects", and "determination"? I know that there are lots of back and forth discussions on rpg.net and the yahoo group regarding clarification of parts of the documentation. The creators of the game need a second edition that clears up the terminology. They need a step by step from character creation to combat. If they can accomplish that then they will have possibly made a game my kids can run.
I really, really want to like this game. I want to run this game but when I have to spend all this time figuring out concepts borrowed from all these other games it makes me think that maybe playing World of Warcraft would be easier. It at least gives your character a set of tasks that grow you from newbie to semi-experienced.
Let's hope for a better day!
