So I want to pose this question to everyone.
A big change from the first printing to the second is that GMs do not get willpower points. Changes are made to the way NPCs utilize talents and such to accommodate the change (in that they are all just free and there is just a limit on how many times you can use them in a turn).
Personally, I think this is a bad way to go and I want to explain why and see what people think.
The first part of this is an argument in favor of GM meta-currencies. In the vast majority of TTRPGs the players play the game and the GM is more of a referee. They don't really PLAY the game because they are not actually bound by any rules. Just guidelines and a list of tools to help them do whatever they want. Meta-currencies, especially those utilized by the GM, make them a player. A asymmetrical player, but a player none the less. Think of Coriolis and Darkness Points. The meta Currency of DP is a tool for the GM that makes them a player and helps facilitate and make fun the back and forth between the player, their environment, and the NPCs they encounter. Willpower Points were that currency in Forbidden Lands. Now they are gone and the GM is no longer really a player.
The second part is to say that tracking individual will power for Individual NPCs is not good. It's a LOT of book keeping for the GM and I agree that that needs a change to something closer to Darkness Points. Wouldn't it be better if each time a player pushed a roll the GM gained 1 WP (or whatever you want to call the meta-currency?) + whatever WP the player generated for themselves. This will power could be spent to fuel NPC abilities, trigger traps and environmental effects, trigger events or hazards, etc etc... Looking back to the first point isn't that just more fun? Isn't that in some way more "balanced" and even easier then telling the GM that an NPC can just churn out magic at no cost?
What do you guys think? Are you happy with the change to no more WP for the GM or NPCs? Would you rather have a meta-currency?