In this post, I suggested that you maybe try starting a game Rules As Written. That simply means using exactly what exists in the manuals for said game, only deviating where the manuals have gaps. This is ultimately how you find out if you like a game or not. I dropped that truth bomb without explaining it at all.
Some people actually dislike every game they own, because they houserule every game they own. They don't recognize this fact though. They think they are fans. This mindset is so prevalent they don't recognize that when a book puts in the useless Rule 0 of "if you don't like it, change it!" the first part of the statement might mean the second part is pointless. I'm a discerning king, so I understand the difference and my line for when a game goes from good to bad is sharp and cuts deeply.
There is a point. The feeling you get that a game should change prior to play is a gut reaction from your own dislike welling up for that game itself. So if you feel that, and you can't let it subside, then you don't like a game and shouldn't play it.
It stands to reason some games out there have no fans. Nobody really likes Palladium games. Nobody really likes Storyteller. Because their design is not worth liking. Those that claim they like betray their ignorance of game design in general. Being a fan requires a degree of intelligence that these "fans" can't muster. Sure they can enjoy a game by playing it incorrectly, but when push comes to shove they don't really *know* the game they like in the context of the overarching hobby.
I *know* what games I like. That's the fundamental difference between myself and normies from within my kingdom and without. Even those who fancy themselves amateur designers often don't *know* what they are doing. That's one of the reasons I can easily point out and complain about a fundamental lack of playtesting in the industry.
In the end Rules as Written is the defining factor behind every game. They measure up or don't. A game's value should not be determined by what you can add or remove. It should be determined by what is there. And in many instances, what is there is not worthy.
