The GURPS has no settings Meme

So I answered a poster over on the Steve Jackson Games forums and he made some observations that plague the GURPS community. I replied there but want to address the topic in more generalterms here.

People see a game system where the whole thing is based around some metaplot and your really playing in someone else's campaign, or a system where each country and sometimes cities introduces a new character class or you have so called adventure paths where you buy a series of connected modules and the players go through them in order. Or worse they say GURPS has not had a new edition since 2004?  It must be dead, because system X comes out with a new edition every 5 years or so.
GURPS does not really do that, so they think it has no support because its not what they are used to seeing.

• Fourth Edition GURPS has not had a replacement because it still works and works well. Why force customers to buy and learn completely new rules if the old ones are as good now as they were then?
• GURPS does offer new options and variety but this is handled with a "buy only what you need" approach.
• GURPS has no huge fantastic setting! 
• Fourth Edition has 10 original and 6 licensed settings.
• Third Edition has 21+ original and 26 licensed settings, all of which are easily converted to Fourth Edition as Fourth Edition was primarily streamlining and point cost changes
• The problem here is that its easier to support one setting than dozens, 4 books for one setting makes that setting look more 'active' than 4 books spread across 4 settings.
• What GURPS does is come out with books that can be used in multiple settings, things like Martial Arts, Magic, Psionics, Social interactions, etc.
• But where are my adventures? Fair question, adventures are limited. Adventures are harder to write if they can fit multiple genres and power levels so they are less effective sellers (A fantasy adventure wont sell to a gamer interested in SciFi or Modern Day so the market is smaller as a percentage of the overall GURPS audience.). Mostly we have fantasy adventures and at least 3 more by Douglas Cole are expected out this year.
• GURPS has published one supplement a month, plus a monthly magazine for several years now. A few exceptions when major products like OGRE was being reissued slowed things down for the rest of the company. Something brand new almost every single month is definitely not dead.
• The wide coverage of GURPS does make it harder to see when and how new material is put out for a specific are of interest to any given customer. However most GURPS material is widely useable.  For example, as of now (Jan 20 2019) one book has come out Action 5: Dictionary of Danger is ostensibly for one line, but its a list of environmental hazards (mostly modern day) that could be used in many settings, even science fiction and fantasy ones. The last supplement for 2018 GURPS Monster Hunters 6: Holy Warriors that came out in December is also usable for many fantasy campaigns, and the theology synopsis is useful for historical or other games.

Obviously not every GURPS book will be useful for every reader but Steve Jackson Games has a free PDF preview for every GURPS book that includes the Table of Contents and a page or two so potential buyers can get a good idea of its utility to them before they buy.

Personally, I LOVE that extra customer service.