Canon to the right of them,

Canon to the left of them.

Canon to the front of them

volleyed, complained and whinged about the rules.

(The misspelling is intentional).

There are about a bazzillion factions and combinations of rule sets, genres, sub-genres, iterations, editions and errata in the Role-Playing Game hobby.  Two of the oldest, Dungeons and Dragons; D&D, and Traveller each have by my count, something like 5 or 6 different "New" Editions.

"They only make new rules to force us to spend money."  Well, yeah.  Partially.  A game publisher is in the business as a business to make money.  But games, game engines and systems change.  Rules change, someone thinks of a new mechanic, or a better way of dealing with an issue, a new rule that may make for a better game play. 
 
I've built my own rule sets, cobbling together bits and pieces out of other games and my own ideas: FRANKENGAME, Chypworld.  Eventually got to the point where in fit into a 12 cu.ft. foot looker; barely.  Ugh.  Not so good for portable gaming.  The last Traveller universe I created I threw LBB (Little Black Book), Traveller 2300, MegaTraveller, Traveller 4th, GURPS, and anything else I could think of into a blender and poured out a cocktail of OMG UGH. While mixing and matching can often create an amazing, complex, detailed Game world.  It's also a big ole Pain in the ASS.  I've been part of the writing team for a Sci-fi RPG.  I'm still rather happy with the work I did on what would later become the First Edition rule set. 

So, I get it.  Rules change, gamers want something different and new, change.  game designers want something new that hasn't already been done in the past 40 years.

Which kinda brings me back around to the point.  There are about a bazzillion factions and combinations of rule sets, genres, sub-genres, iterations, editions and errata in the Role-Playing Game hobby.   I'm only going to focus on two of those factions.  For me, gaming either as a player or a GM is about my creativity.  There are a lot of us out here, Rules are merely a suggestion.  We create, interpret the rules, sometimes quite loosely, and if that doesn't work, we make shit up on the fly. 

Then, there are the Canon players for whom the rule book is gospel.  If it's not in the rules it doesn't exist and can't work like that.  I have gamed with players who, if they didn't have the rule books memorized, were familiar enough they could tell you where a certain rule, description or example could be found. 

Not putting down the players who are Canon players, just not my style.  You may be sorely disappointed if you sit at my table expecting hard and fast rules.  I'll freely admit to cheating on die rolls, sometimes in favor of the Players, sometimes not.  Always for the sake of the story though.

Have fun, game on...

Thanks.

See you tomorrow.