So, per my rant on GNS and my explanation of virtualized realism, you may think I never considered any part of GNS. GNS had a seed of intelligence at it's center. Nothing, not even the stupidest conspiracy theory can last without some basis of rationality or truth. The truth behind the rationale of game mechanics is in GNS. All of it's conclusions are stupid and elitist trash, but the King is here to explain the way of things.
There have only ever been two motivations behind the design of game mechanics. Those being, simulation and gimmickry. The right way and wrong way to design.
Simulation: Design of a mechanic to strictly adhere to odds and probabilities that match the setting in question. Workman-like mechanics.
Gimmickry: Design of a mechanic to do something that could be deemed cool to the players and designers of mechanics. Showy mechanics. Basically any mechanic that, upon first viewing, grant the determination of "that's neat" in the viewer. At least this is the attempt in design, not always successful.
Most games nowadays have both kinds of mechanics. Even WFRP2 isn't immune. Most of that game is simulation-aimed, but finding hit location is a gimmick of reversing the to-hit percentile roll, turning a 27 roll into 72 and checking a table. Instead of just rolling again, or rolling two sets of dice at the same time.
It's taken a while for me to make this determination. Many games are centered on gimmickry with just the barest hint at pushing simulation. Every dice pool game is like this. They have no mechanical ground to stand on. No mechanical identity to rely on.
Gimmicks can be interesting. For a while. But they never have staying power. Gimmicks get boring quickly. And once they are boring, since they don't actually simulate anything, they don't have a point anymore. That's why light games don't have staying power and minimalist games only last a session or two. The novelty dies quickly. It's also why die pool games almost always focus on the tactile sensation of dice rolling and point the odds at success.
You can have very heavy gimmicky systems. There are many jokes about playing a mute albino narcoleptic assassin in GURPS because you get lots of points for that. That's a broken mechanic, erring on the side of gimmickry because it doesn't simulate anything worthwhile. It wasn't considered properly. Generic systems are often gimmicky and the nature of that gimmick is the genericism.
