Why is Heroes Unlimited, Heroes Unlimited 2nd edition, and Heroes Unlimited 2nd edition revised listed as gaming systems SEPARATE from Palladium?

Because somebody (probably a couple of different somebodies), at some point, suggested them as separate entities.

Also note that there are a number of systems where different editions are listed individually.

It's confusing to players though.  I have had players tell me they didn't know Heroes Unlimited was a Palladium RPG.  I have had a game not happen because I listed them as Palladium and (before I learned this) Heroes Unlimited (whatever version.)  Then when you go search for a Heroes Unlimited game you have to do 4 separate searches.  Is it every possible these will merge?

Actually, if you just search for Heroes Unlimited, it will list games that use any of the different editions.  One search.

As for why Palladium is listed separately... if I had to guess (and it would be a guess, because we don't require that people tell us their reasons for requesting additions to the list) then my guess would be that the person who suggested it was running one game that utilised several different Palladium rule sets (eg: TMNT, Heroes Unlimited, and Beyond the Supernatural).

Will they be merged?  No.  As I said, the different listings were requested by users who felt they needed to listed separately.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:03, Tue 10 May 2016.

Ok, thank you.  At least there was an answer and a speedy one at that.  ^^

It's actually fairly common for games built on common rules-sets to not be listed under the core rules.  One non-Palladium example is Call of Cthulhu (I believe)...its early editions were based on Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System...but people list CoC under its own heading, not under BRP.  I know of several other games which are typically listed as their own game, rather than the basic rules-set upon which the specific game is built (White Wolf's World of Darkness games are a great example...they're all using the same basic rules...WW's Storyteller system...but you're far more likely to find them listed under Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, etc.)

I imagine, in many cases, there are specific rules in place within the 'subsystem' (HU, to use your example) that don't necessarily fit well with other games based on the same rules.  For instance, I hear Palladium, and I think of the fantasy game...I know there are other games that were built on the same rules system, but I don't consider Rifts and Palladium Fantasy to be the same game, even though they use the same basic rules, because of all the extraneous material that doesn't translate well from one to the other (yes, you can play a Wolfen mage in Rifts...but it's quite likely that he's not going to be anywhere near the same threat as a character when he's surrounded by Glitter-boys or Dog Pack Troopers with MDC-scale weaponry...)  I know there are versions of a Buffy The Vampire Slayer game and a Firefly game that run on the same rules...but characters don't translate well from one to the other there, either.  So, GMs tend to list their games under the narrower concept, so as to avoid attracting players who may not be looking to play the kind of game that the GM is trying to run.  I mean, I know people who would probably get a big kick out of trying to do a Vampire Slayer character in Firefly...but most people I know want their Firefly game to feel like Firefly, not like Buffy Goes to Space.
This message was last edited by the user at 07:03, Tue 10 May 2016.

Seconding what facemaker329 says, Palladium RPG (by Palladium) is a separate game from Heroes Unlimited (by Palladium). Naming things is hard

Maybe they mean the Palladium Fantasy RPG, specifically?

Also, note that it's only confusing to some players. No matter how you decide to organize and label things, some people are going to think about them in a different way and think that you're crazy.

Drop into the discussion on what genres of game should be in the list. There's no winning.