Old school RPG guy, 59, in Florida US. Traveller, Hero, Cyberpunk, Action! System, and about a hundred others.
RPGs, much like SF, have always been a mechanism to explore social issues in philosophy, governance, and thought. In Human society I don’t personally believe that “politics” can be avoided in any group anywhere. —of course that’s just one man’s opinion.
Back in the 80s we were just guessing most of the time. At least until Akira was released in the United States in 1988 and only then white people started realizing there was a market.
Some people just love to bitch, especially if that’s all they do. James Wallis said (IIRC) “Game designs aren’t tools, but some game designers are”.
I have never met a dice-pool mechanic I didn’t dislike or despise. What makes your compelling?
As a former writer for 2020 I can say that the idea for exotics came from other source material and not the furry “culture” as it were.