RPGs don't exist, in that 'role playing' has very different roles and meaning in different games and contexts.

Pre2e D&D is a tabletop war game that includes role-playing as a strategic element. It's great at that. When it tries to be other things, it becomes inadequate or just wrong, and people should just play another game. If you want to spend all session writing backstory and getting into the character's headspace, if you want to be a superhero, just stop breaking D&D to try to make it what you want and play another game.

Old-style dungeon/hex crawl D&D is one of my favorite games, but you really won't find many people to play it correctly except old men who like John Tiller PC games.

Burning Wheel is a great RPG for allowing characters to really drive the story without making them superOP. It also doesn't care about gay feelz-based issues like 'balance'. However, for it to be any good, your players have to be people who could be a good dungeon master. The rules are complex, the game doesn't work right if you don't follow them, and it requires a lot of pro-active behavior on the part of players.

GURPS is awesome as a system, especially if you like crunchy real-worldy simulation style games. GURPS, however, is awful if you have a bunch of people who just want to make 700 point anime characters or have no ability to be creative. GURPS characters depend on a lot of limits set by GMs, and by intelligent investment by the player; when people try to make it the 'anything RPG' where people make 'whatever they want' it ends up a complete trash fest.

Basically, I want a game whose rules actually accomplish a certain set of tasks well, and I need players who have the IQ and tastes to properly utilize that system. I can enjoy just about any RPG with the right people, and the games I like the best usually entails players who are comfortable with logistics and math.