imo that's a silly argument. first of all no rules system is complete different, they all build on the same blocks. once you know one you don't start from scratch, so the actual differences are hardly hundreds of pages (if you stay in the d20 sphere probably even less).
unless you want to do full character creation for a oneshot, those don't apply either. just grab a premade char and write your own name on it. heck you could even go as far and exchange orc for beefy human as long as the math still applies - for the RP part that hardly matters.
the other thing is you don't need to know most rules to begin with. even the crunchiest system is in the end an abstraction. sure, you could do 5 different rolls for the size, velocity, kinetic impact, blast radius and color of a fireball (there are probably systems like that), but in the end it's a test against value, where for most people is to remember where to look for your stats and possible modifiers (and since those don't usually change constantly, just put that number somewhere) to roll against whatever your GM tells you.
this also means that logic still applies. as a halfing rogue you can try to kick in a door, but you won't have much success, do you really need to know the exact mathematical probability?
don't get me wrong, I get laziness and rather spending the time with something you already know instead of learning, but in reality "muh complicated rules" as a pc is a cop-out. as long as the GM knows how it works that's already half the game, and in the end it's a team effort, no newbie gets told to build a char completely on it's own and them memorize every option in the rules unless your group really likes constantly have to look for people.
Yeah, the core mechanics are usually pretty simple (roll dice, add up values/count faces, compare to target number), but I have
a lot more fun when I understand the complex parts of the system too. Sure, I could just tell the GM that my halfling rogue is going to try to hide and the GM can just tell me to roll a d20 and add the little number next to "Stealth" on my character sheet and be none the wiser. But I like knowing the underlying mechanics. I like knowing that the number I rolled is going to be compared against the monsters' passive perception, and all that jazz. That's just one small example, but most systems have tons of smaller sub-systems built on top of them that my engineer brain just finds interesting. Like: Battlemaster maneuvers, attacks of opportunity, grappling (3.5e PTSD flashbacks...), Warlock pact features, monster lair actions, mounted combat (we've never had to
use those rules, actually), spellcasting minutiae, or whatever else is in the book. Or books. I like flipping through the DMG every now and then.
Roleplaying is still very much the main source of enjoyment, but having a firm grasp on the system makes it far more fun because I can confidently say "I'll attempt to do X", instead of having to ask the GM "can I do X?" all the time. The game world feels more immersive to me like that. Maybe it's because I spent a lot of time reading rulebooks without actually being able to play in highschool, I don't know.
On the other hand, and this is probably a reflection of my gaming groups and me growing old and getting locked into my own tastes, I
like what I play and I don't feel like going out of my way to pick up a lot of new games anymore. I've played a lot of different genres in the past, but at this point in my life D&D-style sword-and-sorcery good-vs-evil bullshit works well and it's not hard to find a game (although it may be hard to find a
good game). I'd be up for some old-school Storyteller, too. Check the World of Darkness thread for my misadventures in trying to find a Werewolf game in Current Year. And I'm currently interested in Savage Worlds: I need to finish going through the book and see how I can grok it and whether I can pitch it to the other guys around the table.
Sure, Wizards of the Coast annoys me with their current crop of dangerhair-sourced content, but I still like 5e just fine. I'm not sayng other games are "too complicated" for me to learn. I can do complicated systems just fine, I've played BattleTech with L3 rules in the past. I'm saying
I'm not interested in these games. At least not enough to learn the rules.
ETA: I'll also mention that I think people who relentlessly complain about D&D and then refuse to learn a new system are
fucking stupid.
That's also why I fanboy for Savage Worlds. Enough depth to give the PCs options, yet simple enough it can taught in minutes. As a GM, it's easy to apply modifiers, and I can even stat NPCs on the fly. The game doesn't get bogged down in maths and modifiers so turns are fast.
That's actually the big reason I'm having fun reading about Savage Worlds. Playing online for so long, I really enjoy having a turn go fast these days.
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