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The famous term 'fantasy heartbreaker' was coined by Ron Edwards and refers to the massive number of D&D-like RPGs on the market which:
I see the problem, and therefore solution, very differently.
Original Fantasy Heartbreaker Article
Someone running an RPG for a long time inevitably has some gripe with the rules. Perhaps it's because White Wolf clearly haven't play tested those high-level abilities they stuck into their game. Perhaps it's just a matter of personal taste.
These GMs then often make 'house rules', then try to remember them, or perhaps stick them on a word document, and (if they're feeling very energetic) perhaps even send them to players.
The story mostly ends here, but some few people have such a lot of house rules, and such a burning desire to get them into a workable, actually usable format, that they'll attempt to rewrite an entire book.
This is the point where we have invisibly lost a lot of great ideas, because writing a book takes more time than most people have, and RPG books may be among the most challenging types of books to produce.
If we imagine that the problem with a fantasy heartbreaker is the author, then we're saying that the solution is for people to change. They must:
1. Be excellent at typography.
2. Edit their own work, or have the money to pay editors.
3. Make quality art for a 100 page book, or have the money for artists.
4. Write great prose.
Any solution which points to the authors as the problem must imply statements like these, and these are ridiculous statements. Any talk of teamwork as a solution really just lumps many of these people in a room, and none of them have suddenly become great with formatting, or art.
Once the book is out, the layout is bland, the art is generic, and spelling mistakes assault the reader on every page. But the central idea is there - the combat system, or new classes, or whatever they wanted, is finally on the page, and they have a proper, convenient book to use at their gaming table.
At this point, the result is a success by any reasonable definition. The only 'tragedy' here is that nobody else can pick up these ideas without exactly the same barrier.
With the problem restated, the solution is simple - make fewer books, and hand out the source files.
Writing an RPG book can take years, but if someone has the source files and just wants to add a spell, they can probably understand the software and add in the spell within an afternoon.
With open books, each additional piece of art, each spell, and combat option, can enter the book, spend some time getting tested, and slowly make its way to a wider channel if people like it.
In this model, there's no need for a central figurehead to tell people what's good and what's not. Most people can select the standard version. Those curious about new rules can read about them in other versions. Over time, people inevitably gravitate towards pulling in the same ideas, and a de-facto 'real version' is made, then labelled '2nd Edition'.
The OGL never lived up to this promise, but a real open source RPG still could.