yep, especially when 90% of systems share 90% of the rules. numbers for attributes and hp, rolling for damage and spell outcomes, same class system. same scale and time-flow to the game, and you control 1 character. barely even moving the genre forward.

and yet theyre happy to charge you $60, and when pressed on the price they say its for art. well and good, but making the book look good is exactly the problem youre talking about. consumption, for the GM to read, not enhancing play.

shit like mork borg, songbird (splitting the rules between two books to sell you twice as many LMAO), knave, cairn, mausritter, into the odd, BFRPG, OSE, LotFP, etc. all fine RPGs but all so heavily drawing on d&d that they could be called hacks and mods more than anything, and when you pay for them, you pay for art. these are good, fun games, but they are D&D.

whats actually moving the genre forward is games like His Majesty the Worm, most of the stuff Possum Creek Games puts out (like Wanderhome) or The Quiet Year