jasper
Rotten DM
Creating dice rolling apps um Basic software programs on the trash Um TRS 80 with 32K memory. Rolling, rolling, rolling and rolling until they got the stats they wanted. Presenting the dm with a wish list of magic items they wanted to buy. Farming modules. Or reading modules and having a homebrew wealth guidelines.It's not that I don't believe you, but... how were they doing those things? Were they optimizing their non-weapon proficiencies? Practicing their dice rolling in order to try and get the stats they wanted?
The reason this behavior became mainstream in 3E was because 3E introduced point-buy elements into character creation, in the form of feats and expected wealth guidelines; you could plan which feats to take, and which magic items you wanted. AD&D didn't really have avenues by which a player could shape their character, until you got into very late 2E with things like Skills & Powers.
I think someone found a point buy system and ported over to AD&D.
We were doing things that became called crunch and fluff.