Be social
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General
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Final
All the above is standard stuff for community web sites, but reminders are good; I hate post-related glitches, and hate to see people run into them on this site. On this or any site, it's a good practice to do a quick "Select All" and "Copy" on your post text before hitting "Preview comment" or "Post comment" – just in case.
For more on the whole topic of interaction with the site, please see User Interaction (opens in new window).
Patron advantage
How's everything?
Enjoying your Games Diner meal? Is the wait staff attentive? Is the chef bathed? (Then it must be a Sunday.) You do know that a little eggshell in the French toast adds calcium, right?
If the cramps haven't set in yet, I hope you'll say Hi to the chef or check out the many ways you can contribute to the Diner.
Now eat. Eat up! You're as thin as a rail.
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THE TAKEOUT MENU
For collaborators, contributors, or the curious. Notice of site updates; project announcements; calls for playtesting; etc.
New players and detail level
I agree about generalization early in the game. The players (especially if new gamers) don't know yet what they need for the setting, or even exactly what character they want to play. Creating highly detailed characters also eats up a lot of time when players are anxious to get adventuring.
Perhaps that's one plus behind D&D's eternal popularity: new characters are quick to make and easy to write up, without a lot of feats or skills or spells or other unique stuff. Beginning GURPS or HERO characters are great in the flexibility and variety they can have, but boy, those character sheets can be packed full of detail...
On specific points:
1) Attribute (or other) costs rising after character creation: I agree, I see no reason to raise costs after character creation. Why punish players for the expected and fun step of character growth?
2) Cost schemes that encourage generalization at the start, specialization later: As long the schemes don't get too complex, I agree, it's a good goal.
3) ESCARGO in all that: The big lists of advantages that can clutter a GURPS character form isn't really a game play problem for new players, IMO; it's simple enough to package a bunch into one lump ("Knight Package" etc.), and hand that to a new player ("Here, this covers most of your knightly stuff"). But the game's skills don't lend themselves to that easy treatment. I like the potential for ESCARGO to create a single, super-simple "Knight skill", whose cost still reflects the number of components that went into it. Sounds like you do as well, or at least a variant system built on ESCARGO.
Thanks!