GURPS' line editor on Fallout licensing issues

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But best title ever!
RPG Codex is offering an interview with GURPS' line editor Sean Punch, which among other things touches upon the issues that ultimately led to the original Fallout losing the license for the ruleset.

He doesn't seem to think violence could have anything to do with it, although he also specifies that the matter is not strictly in his area of competence:<blockquote>Fallout 1 was initially supposed to utilize GURPS for its rule system, but in the end it did not. The only information we have been able to find on the subject is that SJ Games were concerned about the amount of blood and gore in the game. Can you tell us more about why a GURPS Fallout failed to happen?

SP: Ultimately, the issue was that the license didn't word the approval process in a way that was good for either party, and it was simply easier to design a new RPG engine than to redo the licensing agreement and all of the approvals. That might sound extreme, but the RPG elements of a CRPG are minor next to the storyboards, level designs, visuals, audio, and all that other good stuff. Whether the specific concern that led to the discovery of the approval issue was somebody at SJ Games disliking blood and gore, I cannot say -- I did not then and do not now handle licensing, and I never saw so much as a screenshot at the time. I can say that geeky guys at my own pay grade on both sides regretted seeing the plug pulled, but apparently my bosses and their bosses viewed that as the right move for financial reasons. To this day, I remain skeptical of claims that a single cut scene, loading screen, dialog line, etc. caused the parting of ways.
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the RPG elements of a CRPG are minor next to the storyboards, level designs, visuals, audio, and all that other good stuff.

No they're not.
 
I submit that a great many games could have a lot better game mechanics, indicating that more time should have been spent on them.
 
Kind of glad they made their own system in the end. I feel it gives the game more personality as the attributes tie in with the gameplay and how the perks are available and such. It makes the game unique instead of feeling like some clone trapped in the DnD world or some other game system.

That being said, future games need to continue balancing the system so that any type of character is possible and players are forced to weigh the pros and cons of how they make their character, instead of there being a "dump" stat which you can set at 1 and still be able to do whatever you want. Whether Bethesda attempts that is a another question.
 
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