I'm tired of the <Verbed> by <Noun> hacks.
I'm tired, boss. It seems over the last decade this naming scheme has been growing ever more present in tabletop gaming.
The first such example I can think of is the "Empowered by Mana" system, building off the stellar bones of the "Mana World" game. While I got a bit burned out by playing nothing but Mana World for two years straight, I still think it's one of the most important pieces of modern game design.
And then the tag-a-long's came:
"Forged in the Pits of the Demon Prince's Domain"
"Emanating from my Dark Heart"
"Filleted from Fish"
And just oh so many more. It's to the point where I breathe a sigh of relief when something calls itself a hack or clone or uses simple verbiage like "compatible with..."
Is the "Verbed by Noun" thing played out? I think so.
The Morko Manifesto fixes this. Not only does it have a very permissive license (you don't have to use astrolabes, star charts, or the incentivized friendship mechanics at all), but it just gives the option to calling your hacks and games "MorKlones". Brilliant.
Shneeb out.