I do the same. I have them written in a notebook/file or whatever and when I'm looking for plot ideas I see which aspects suggest juicy compels. During the session I'll sometimes look at their aspects while the group is roleplaying amongst itself to find juicy compels. But honestly, I generally do remember at least the gist of a majority of the aspects in play.

I believe that this method is potentially overlooking the concept that players typically choose aspects they want to use and see compelled. It's one of those things that tells us what players want in a game. If a player isn't seeing something they want, of course they can mention that to the GM. However, being proactive is good. If we expect it of the characters, shouldn't we also expect it of the players (counting the GM as a player). Furthermore, these are tools we can use. And, it's not that I would expect anyone to always keep track of all these things. However, to have them laid out before them and even scan over them for how they could be used. they're useful tools and it's good to have the toolbox open and accessible. Now, I haven't run into "problems." I have seen ways the game could be enhanced by having these things readily at hand and in mind.

Right, and as a player, I generally keep my aspects in mind, and then maybe a few situational aspects.

And as a GM, I try to make a point of periodically going "hrm, is there anything I can compel here" and glancing over the list.

BTW, I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just trying to put out my view of it, and understand yours a bit more.  I do agree that some kind of reference on the aspects (be it 3X5s, a whiteboard, or a virtual playmat) is pretty much indispensable.

I'd also like to point out that I'm not saying there are too many aspects, just something I've heard repeated several times.

Fair 'nuff - and I'm just trying to understand the statement a bit more, since it's not something I've personally ever felt, as a player or as a GM... perhaps slightly more as a GM, but never as a player.

Yeah, that's why I am making note of it, as hopefully some of the people who do normally run into this or find it to be a problem can speak up.

In a 4 player game I "track" at most 12 aspects. For each PC:

- The High Concept
- The Trouble
- The "Hook"

The "Hook" is the aspect I pay attention to (which might not be the High Concept or Trouble but sometimes is) when figuring out how I'm planning on complicating that character's life and making the plot relevant to her.

The Hook changes from session to session or story to story. I don't worry too much about the rest.

The trap is the idea that you have to know all the aspects all the time. You don't. One reason the High Concept and Trouble are called out is so the GM can short-hand what she must know about the PCs to just those two items. Everything else is a bonus and the responsibility for staying aware of 'em is something that can and should be shared with the players.

Just the other day I was in a game with +Leonard Balsera and the biggest compel we saw in the first (and only) hour of play was one he proposed on one of his non HC/non Trouble aspects. That's as it should be. 

The GM ain't going it alone. We're all in this together.

I'm all for "put aspects on a name tent in front of each player" to help, and I'm very glad it's now 5 aspects per character not 10 as in SotC, but other than that, I think it's more of a seasoning/familiarity thing.

Toward that, consider getting your feet wet with FAE-style chargen where you start with only 2 or 3 aspects per character and add more over time.  That cuts down on the initial character detail, but it also reduces the info load.  Of course, it also loses the phase trio, which is a serious loss... but you can do that as a way to make the 2nd game even better than the first! 

Fate Core went down to five aspects per character (from ten, then seven) precisely to help with this issue.

But, yeah, players need to carry part of that weight. 

Also, I find this is something, like knowing the lyrics to a song you've heard a lot, that gets better with time. Given enough repetition, even if you don't remember the precise wording of an aspect, you remember the idea well enough to be like, "Hey, don't you have that smug bastard aspect or whatever?" Just like you remember any emergent character details as a campaign goes on. 

These are a lot of examples on why it isn't issue. Where are the people that I know both +Robert Hanz and I (and others) have heard before saying that it is an issue?

Yeah, part of the gradual "world tour" of characters' aspects you take by changing the Hook each session or story or whatever is the process of becoming more familiar with the PCs' aspects on an instinctual level. But that's a side effect. :)

+Jack Gulick: Off topic, but I'm pretty well convinced that somewhere between the tools provided in FAE and Core is my personal Shangri-La of Fate gaming.

Yeah, in my Dresden Game, with 6 players and 7 Aspects each, it was too much to keep in mind all the time.
I had a cheat sheet with the Aspects on it but i could not watch it all the time. 
The players thankfully helped me frome time to time.

And, case in point, this was brought up in my discussion with Robert in regards to adding aspects rather than a boost for narrative reasons.

The answer is obvious. Don't keep track of everyone's aspects. Keep track of the ones you want to compel.

Not for nothing but even with the five Aspects there's an order of magnitude LESS stuff to keep track of in a Fate game compared to any other RPG I've ever played.

And in most other RPGs there's a lot less incentive for the players to help you by reminding you about a character flaw or the like.

In short, my not so humble opinion is that the 'Too many aspects' complaint is absurd.

It's not generally a problem in my experience, but then 90% of the compels in our group are self-compels, and that's not because the GM is being stingy.  That or one of those occasions where somebody inconveniences themselves because Aspect, the GM hands them a FP, and the player goes "Wait, what is this f- oh, right."

A spreadsheeted list (or table or similar visual display) of Aspects to refer to for inspiration can lead to great moments in gaming. I still track 40 (4 players; Spirit of the Century) not including NPCs.

I do the exact same thing. When everyone's done making their characters, I give them a lined 3x5 card and have them write their Aspects and their Skill Pyramid on the front with any Stunts on the back. I keep these cards in my GM screen for easy reference.

Speaking as a GM, I can't keep track of everyone's aspects either. I keep a spreadsheet, but I can't always look at it (especially when looking at situation aspects, NPC aspects, etc), so I try to keep aware of High Concept and Trouble, maybe one or two others if they're easy to remember, and ask the players to do lots of self-compels or remind me of things that come up. It works pretty well for most players. Some don't ever remind me... so they pretty much never get compelled. Their loss, I suppose ;)

Yeah. When players are talking in character (or metagaming out) that's a good time to glance over reminders about Aspects and toss in an unexpected Compel or four.

Not trying to be a spoil sport here, but if you've got to refer to a list of 40 items...  doesn't that sort of go against the grain of being simple, easy to use, etc. etc?

+Brennan OBrien see my earlier comments.  40 things to remember / record is MUCH leaner than most other game out there, imo.  

Hell, most AD&D games I've had have more data points per character than that.

And as others have said,  you don't really need to actually have them all ready to go on the spot.  

Agreed. It's damned easy in SotC compared to D&D, Champions, Exalted, etc.

The longer you play with a group, the easier it gets because you start to
know the aspects. I would prefer a shorter list ( which is why Core is good
because it reduces the number of Aspects) however there are times when it
definitely gives you options you hadn 't thought about.

If a player is in a spotlight moment , it's also quite handy to have all
their stuff on one tab. Click. Now you have a while list too complicate
their moment with in an interesting manner.

I also do think that some people think of aspects as being similar to conditions - and in D&D or the like, you do have to know who is dazed, who is flanked, etc.

And some aspects are kind of like that.  But in general, memorizing every aspect is like memorizing every spell, power, ability, feat, or whatever in D&D for every character.  It's just not necessary.