Speaking on Monte Cook, I don't know what his old work was like, but his game Numenera was the big thing that truly brought me into tabletop gaming, and the larger cypher system games that have spawned from it also seem quite popular. At least their kickstarters do well. But they also tend to lean on an assumption of the players being good guys. And regarding Tyranny, it is indeed a brilliant rpg. But I also have only played in ways that are basically heroic. I think your general arguments about people's feelings on evil playthroughts, etc are correct.
