Hero vs. GURPS, but stay positive

Here is an old thread on the same subject with great input from the current line developer of GURPS.

forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=123214

They're comparing/contrasting Hero 6th and GURPS 4th, neither of which I have. Anyone know how much change there was from GURPS 3rd to 4th? The basic book(s) seems to be twice as long as it was. Of course, the same happened to Hero, which is part of why I ignore 6th's existence.

Except to me the writing in Champions Complete is difficult to get through without my eyes glazing over and it lacks personality and the great advice section that 4th had toward the back. Also, the cover artwork on CC is poor and sets the tone for the interior artwork. I was hoping CC would be a concise new version that I would use, but it languishes on the shelf. I found it pretty poorly done after all the hype, no to mention overpriced for a softcover. It was disappointing as I really wanted to like it and I kept hearing "It's like the BBB for 6th edition!" But it ain't.

Bloat seems to be a recurring trend in RPGs. Wonder why. I suppose the desire to sell more product drives publishers to "fix" games that already seemed just fine to me. WEG Star Wars and Ghostbuters come to mind as 1st editions that didn't need "corrections," and resulted in new versions that (to me) couldn't hold a candle to the originals.

I suppose eliminating Comeliness and breaking out figured characteristics are perfectly fine, but most of the other changes to Hero just seem like rules lawyer minutiae. The legacy of Steve Long, I guess, is why explain a power in one paragraph when you can do it over the course of three full pages and try to cover every conceivable hypothetical abuse of the system rather than rely on the GM. Has GURPS suffered the same? 3rd edition GURPS is pretty concise; I haven't read 4th but I know it takes two books, both longer than 3rd in themselves, to do the same job.

I'm more interested in comparing/contrasting their respective approaches than "can Hero/GURPS do this?": frankly pretty much any game system can be made to do anything so I'm more interested in HOW and WHY it does it one way or another.

I think one of the big differences between GURPS and HERO is the attitude towards additional rules and subsystems. GURPS has no problems with that, if done expertly. And heck, it does have some experts in its ranks, especially when you look at some monographs and Pyramid articles (cf. "technical grappling" or "the mighty spring"). No problem with adding a new magic system or two.

HERO on the other hand is more like Lego: Sure, you can build a castle, but please use the existing building blocks. This won't give you perfect emulations of both Carcasonne and Neuschwanstein, but you don't need to be an architect to assemble them -- or disassemble them to create something closer to your individual wishes.

And once you made that conceit, strict simulation becomes less important in general. Let's just compare the martial arts subsystems: Both systems have dedicated books for that subject. Both list a huge number of styles. But if you take a look at the maneuvers, you'll find that most of the things in HERO boil down to attack/defense/damage modifications and some side-effects. No special task resolution mechanisms, basically your whole martial art can (and does) fit on the character sheet.
GURPS on the other hand again tries to simulate a few specifics, and thus you might have maneuvers that don't balance out (e.g. bonuses and penalties don't add up the same), or require some additional steps.

But to be fair, there were some steps in a more "unified" direction with the release of GURPS 4E. Powers became something you can use in any kind of game, not just supers. And some subsystems are based on that or at least refer to it (so the cost structure might be different for an ability/spell, but it'll use the mechanics of e.g. the "Afflication" power). At some points, the philosophies of HERO and GURPS are within touching distance there, especially if you compare it with some of the more abstract magic systems in hero (perk- and/or skill-based, where you basically pay your huge "Magic!" VPP in installments). To pick up an item of Tasha's post: You do notice the change in editorship, with a physicist at the helm now (IIRC Steve Jackson was a lawyer, too, unless I'm confusing him with the UK one again).