I like THAC0 because it forces my brain to shift into an older style of play. With AAC I have a habit of subconsciously (and unfairly) comparing whatever game I'm in to 5e simply because of the mechanics. THAC0 really allows me to enjoy older editions and OSR games as their own thing.
If you really want the feeling of thac0 at your table you can just do AC - attack bonus to find the number you need to roll over, and bang your head against the table for the rest of the experience.
Playing PbtA games taught me that fictional positioning can have just as big an impact as mechanics. You can't wrap a mace around someone's ankle, but the chain of a flail...
Every system has to decide where to draw the line on the prioritization of realism versus simplicity and speed of play. On one extreme you have the "one page RPG" system where you have exactly two stats and everything uses one or the other, rolled on a single D6. About two thirds of the way to the other extreme you get "Pathfinder has a rule for that," with some systems going into truly absurd levels of detailed minutia in ways that vary from being mote or less mechanically consistent to the old school D&D method of the designers pulling a random table out of their ass for every new thing they don't have a rule for yet and filling it out with whatever nonsense comes to mind in that moment.
I care less about realism than I do about having interesting decisions to make. I think it’s a really big challenge for game designers to make it fun and interesting for players — even highly skilled ones who love to strategize — without the game bogging down by having too many dice rolls/decisions to make.
I agree with this sentiment. I know people love 5e and PF because the interesting choices are when they build their character and deciding what feats and abilities work well together. I tend to gravitate to OSR style games because for me the interesting choices happen around scarcity of resources ( torches, food,money, hp, etc).
What annoys me is when they don't have weapons have distinct special abilities, but they do have different damage dice. You end up with a situation where some weapons are just better than others, and if you think a greataxe fits your character better than a greatsword, you have to choose between dealing less damage, having a weapon that doesn't fit your character, or houseruling that weapons that don't have other differences deal the same damage and ignoring all those stats.
