I live in a remote area of eastern Oregon, so gaming is one of the very few escapes available. Unfortunately, the small population of this area includes a limited number of gamers, so even gaming is a hit and miss. There’s nothing I like better than dissecting, discussing, and reading about Role Playing Games, especially how they work. I’ve read and played hundreds over the past 30+ years I’ve been playing, and the aspect of how they work, the underlying logic behind the rules mechanics, has always been the first thing I look at and try to deconstruct. The one part of any RPG that can make or break for me is the mechanical system. No matter how great the background, the art, the characters, or the popularity of the game, for me nothing can make up for a broken system.
UPDATE: We recently (November 2019) moved to Keizer, Oregon, just north of Salem. Much larger area, and hopefully a lot more gamers around. I just gotta find ’em.