Community Chat
The biggest thing I like about the FFG system is that it's a narrative approach with a lot of options and flexibility, yet it still has enough structure to be accessible to people who are used to more "traditional" or numbers-based systems.
I also like that the dice system divorces luck from success. In other systems, I tend to determine results based on how far the roll is from whatever the target is; a really close roll might mean that the hit landed but almost didn't, and a larger difference might mean that they bargained successfully for a sword that the shopkeeper didn't know was enchanted. I haven't played any other systems where there's a defined way to succeed at picking a lock and still find a monster behind the door. (GM fiat, on the other hand . . . )
The last SW game I ran, I had a bunch of players who were coming from GURPS and D&D. They wanted to try something more narrative and cinematic, but (except for the one professional author) weren't enthused about more open-ended things like FATE. They liked that the FFG system let them create distinct characters and specialize or not as they wanted, but also had a pre-determined list of skills and powers so they didn't have to create and define their own. They were skeptical about the pass/fail with extras mechanic, but ended up thinking it worked well to reflect the vagaries of luck. (Fate, the Force, whatever.) You can do that in the d20 or d6 versions, but it requires a lot more work from the GM especially when it's not directly related to the pass/fail.
And as the GM, I really appreciated the included suggestion tables for how to use the luck results. I generally gave the players the option to decide what they meant, but starting off they (except the author) weren't comfortable doing that so I did instead. A few sessions in they were making most of the decisions, some sticking to the table options and some coming up with their own.
I still prefer systemless games, but I like FFGs system enough that if I was going to run something with one, I'd take the trouble of adapting it to whatever setting. As a player I don't mind rule- and number-heavy systems, but I won't run them anymore. Even with electronic aids, I can only keep track of so much. :)