I agree there... It's a restatement of something +Fred Hicks has said, that Fate isn't a generic game system.
It's a toolkit you can tune to a lot of settings, but it has significant assumptions as to the nature of the games it works for (in terms of the role of the players, the capabilities of the characters, etc.).
There are a few, perhaps. But the ones that work tend to be VERY slim and limited in what structure they provide, leaving the bulk of the emulation up to the players. (Which is something Fate does as well, but it provides a lot more than the minimum by way of tools to assist with that.)
But yes, for the most part, "universal" is something of a pipe dream of RPG design. And I'm not even sure it's a desirable goal, even if it was achievable.
I don't think it is. I think the real work in design is involved in making decisions and tradeoffs. And since some things will work for certain "games", and others will work for others, you have to make those decisions.
From tinking fate in a couple of different settings I personally find that running fate as a gritty game is tough for me. My group have decided that date is more geared towards the pulp, over the top crazy toes of games and those style of games it seems to really shine.
The Fate Core rulebook puts it nicely: "it works best with any premise where the characters are proactive dramatic lives" (p. 2). Probably ties in with describing it as 'cinematic'; the way blockbusters are cinematic.
Hey, at least it's not "Want to turbocharge your game? You'll never believe this one weird trick!"
It's a toolkit you can tune to a lot of settings, but it has significant assumptions as to the nature of the games it works for (in terms of the role of the players, the capabilities of the characters, etc.).
your doctor+Fred Hicks hates."But yes, for the most part, "universal" is something of a pipe dream of RPG design. And I'm not even sure it's a desirable goal, even if it was achievable.