As with many others I play multiple systems. The problem is that most of the people I play with just want to play Pathfinder
. Now Pathfinder's good, don't get me wrong. But the whole "armour doesn't make you harder to hurt, it actually makes you harder to hit" nonsense doesn't wash with me. It also has the same problem that many other level based games has in that things that were once dangerous and challenging become redundant. You're left seeking ways to constantly escalate things when you could be enjoying the same things that you used to. One afternoon you might just want to kick back and enjoy the good old days but the challenge isn't there any more. Those ogres were a walk over. What happened to the days when they were big and scary?
While I generally prefer skill based systems over level based systems the level based ones have a more defined structure. It's easy to tell what's a level appropriate challenge for players rather than estimating based on experience. I've also found that, while some of the rules might be a little off, they're so well meshed in with everything else that changing any one thing typically breaks the system.
So... I play Pathfinder when I want a mainstream rules heavy clunky game that's very popular and always easy to persuade people to play.
Sometimes I want to sit back and relax. Play something without too many rules that's going to be fun for everyone without them needing to go and learn an encyclopaedia you could concuss a burglar with before they can begin. For games like that I'll play Dragon Age, Shadows of Esteren, Fighting Fantasy, Maelstrom Domesday edition or something of that ilk.
Then again sometimes I want to play a complicated game that doesn't have a whole load of "levels" to scale everything. Something with less of an artificial feel to the structure and more actual rules than many of the rules light games that I enjoy. You know. Serious but not level based. For that I'd opt for something like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Runequest (I've only got 3rd or 4th edition). Those two really grab me. For WFRP I love the old "we don't get high level characters" thing. It's like playing AD&D 1st edition with 1st level characters where monsters are actually dangerous again. For RQ I like the simplicity of the skill system. I don't like the assumed high magic setting where every single living creature is a spell caster but you can get around that by adjusting your mindset regarding what magic actually is. Once you realise that in RQ, most of the times it's just some guy clutching his lucky talisman praying for that rare streak of good luck, then it's not as high magic as it seems. Just a rather magic heavy way of handling things. When you stop thinking "everyone's a wizard" and start thinking "it's folk traditions" then it sort of works.
I really "like" Cursed Empire. I also "hate" it. It's an unfulfilled rules nightmare (a mishmash of Rune Quest, Ars Magica, the spell creation system from the Elder Scrolls computer games & the levelling system from AD&D 1st edition shoe horned in with possibly a little bit of the WFRP & Rolemaster character creations included as well). So the rules are a nightmare. The setting is okay. It's innovative. It's got good potential. The scenarios that have been written for it are really good. Good adventures. Unfortunately while the guy who wrote it is a really great GM he couldn't write a rules system to save his life. Cursed Empire 2nd edition includes two starter adventures that both basically say "if you need combat stats for this bear/these merchants go and look them up in chapter 13" when there's only 9 chapters in the book. It's obviously a revision of the 1st edition more than a standalone piece. Yet somehow the clunkiness of the combat system actually appeals to me (6 different dice rolls and 3 sets of book keeping to resolve a single attack). It's a crumbly clunky archaic system with a setting that's basically the fall of the Byzantine empire set to "the movie 300 for Goths". Yeah. I don't know. Don't ask me why. Fortunately the whole piercings and tattoos thing prevalent in the artwork is apparently mainly there because their main artist is "really into that scene" and does the art at mates' rates.
So to sum it all up. Sometimes I like to play complex systems as a mental work out. Sometimes I like to relax and play something relatively simple that won't require me to think. Sometimes I enjoy the structure of level based systems. Sometimes I enjoy the freedom of skill based systems.