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How Gary Gygax lost control of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 6349199" data-attributes="member: 11999"><p>If you're going to consider 3e and 3.5 to be two distinct editions, then it's rather disingenuous to lump everything prior to 2e into the "1st edition" label. You're including at least three distinct versions of D&D in that category, perhaps as many as six.</p><p></p><p>The most relevant measure of an edition's lifespan is how long TSR or WotC continued to produce material for it. This includes reprints of the OD&D set and its supplements in late 1979 (after the AD&D DMG was published), as well as reprints of the 1e PH, MM, DMG, and UA books in 1990 and 1991 (after 2e was released), but not the premium, limited-run "collectors' edition" books published years later.</p><p></p><p>It is also important to remember that TSR had two parallel product lines, each tracing its lineage back to OD&D, and each one replacing OD&D, but proceeding along very different development paths.</p><p></p><p>OD&D: 5 years (1974-1979)</p><p>AD&D: 12 years (1979-1991)[SUP]1[/SUP] [5 years after OD&D]</p><p>AD&D 2e: 11 years (1989-2000) [10 years after AD&D]</p><p></p><p>D&D Basic Set (Holmes): 2 years (1977-1979) [3 years after OD&D]</p><p>B/X D&D: 2 years (1981-1983)[SUP]2[/SUP] [4 years after Holmes Basic]</p><p>BECMI D&D: 8 years (1983-1991) [2 years after B/X D&D]</p><p>RC D&D: 5 years (1991-1996) [8 years after BECMI D&D]</p><p></p><p>D&D 3e: 3 years (2000-2003) [11 years after AD&D 2e]</p><p>D&D 3.5e: 5 years (2003-2008) [3 years after D&D 3e]</p><p>D&D 4e: 4 years (2008-2012)[SUP]3[/SUP] [5 years after D&D 3.5e]</p><p>D&D 5e (2014) [6 years after D&D 4e]</p><p></p><p></p><p>[SUP]1[/SUP] The AD&D Monster Manual was published in Dec 1977, and the Player's Handbook in Jun 1978. Until the Dungeon Master's Guide was published in Aug 1979, these were effectively just supplements for OD&D. Thus, AD&D wasn't really playable as a system until 1979. The MM, PH, and DMG all received a final printing in 1990, and Unearthed Arcana had its final printing in 1991, as stores were still ordering 1e books.</p><p>[SUP]2[/SUP] If D&D 3e and 3.5e are considered to be distinct enough to split into two separate categories, then B/X, BECMI, and RC are distinct enough as well. RC because of the inclusion of the skill system and the wholesale revision of Set 5: Immortals Rules into Wrath of the Immortals.</p><p>[SUP]3[/SUP] The last retail product specifically for 4e rules was published in 2012</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>While Gygax was running TSR, the following editions of D&D and AD&D were released -- over a span of 9 years:</p><p></p><p>OD&D (1974)</p><p>D&D Basic Set (Holmes, 1977)</p><p>AD&D (1978-1979)</p><p>new D&D Basic and Expert Rules (Moldvay/Cook, 1981) (B/X D&D)</p><p>revised edition D&D Basic and Expert Rules (Mentzer, 1983) (BECMI D&D)</p><p></p><p>By 1983, Gygax had already started planning a revised edition of AD&D, of which Unearthed Arcana (1985) was an initial pass of.</p><p></p><p>Under WotC, the 3e to 3.5e change is the anomaly. Every other edition came out at least 5 years after the previous edition was released. This is not releasing a new edition every 2 to 3 years.</p><p></p><p>I will grant you that we did have longer periods of compatible game systems in the past. AD&D and AD&D 2e were on the whole pretty compatible with one another; BECMI and RC D&D were mostly the same rules and were both drawn from B/X D&D, so products of that lineage shared a great level of compatibility with one another. All of TSR-era D&D, while distinct games, mixed-and-matched reasonably well, as they were all iterations upon the same basic system (OD&D). Higher-level BECMI and RC stuff went off the charts compared to AD&D, however.</p><p></p><p>But the customer base in the 2000s is very different from that in the 70s and early 80s. There are far more forms of entertainment competing for our attention -- including much more accessible ones, like electronic games. Expectations have also rapidly changed in this digital era. Look at how many people buy a new $400 cell phone every year or two to replace their still perfectly functional "outdated" models.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Keldryn, post: 6349199, member: 11999"] If you're going to consider 3e and 3.5 to be two distinct editions, then it's rather disingenuous to lump everything prior to 2e into the "1st edition" label. You're including at least three distinct versions of D&D in that category, perhaps as many as six. The most relevant measure of an edition's lifespan is how long TSR or WotC continued to produce material for it. This includes reprints of the OD&D set and its supplements in late 1979 (after the AD&D DMG was published), as well as reprints of the 1e PH, MM, DMG, and UA books in 1990 and 1991 (after 2e was released), but not the premium, limited-run "collectors' edition" books published years later. It is also important to remember that TSR had two parallel product lines, each tracing its lineage back to OD&D, and each one replacing OD&D, but proceeding along very different development paths. OD&D: 5 years (1974-1979) AD&D: 12 years (1979-1991)[SUP]1[/SUP] [5 years after OD&D] AD&D 2e: 11 years (1989-2000) [10 years after AD&D] D&D Basic Set (Holmes): 2 years (1977-1979) [3 years after OD&D] B/X D&D: 2 years (1981-1983)[SUP]2[/SUP] [4 years after Holmes Basic] BECMI D&D: 8 years (1983-1991) [2 years after B/X D&D] RC D&D: 5 years (1991-1996) [8 years after BECMI D&D] D&D 3e: 3 years (2000-2003) [11 years after AD&D 2e] D&D 3.5e: 5 years (2003-2008) [3 years after D&D 3e] D&D 4e: 4 years (2008-2012)[SUP]3[/SUP] [5 years after D&D 3.5e] D&D 5e (2014) [6 years after D&D 4e] [SUP]1[/SUP] The AD&D Monster Manual was published in Dec 1977, and the Player's Handbook in Jun 1978. Until the Dungeon Master's Guide was published in Aug 1979, these were effectively just supplements for OD&D. Thus, AD&D wasn't really playable as a system until 1979. The MM, PH, and DMG all received a final printing in 1990, and Unearthed Arcana had its final printing in 1991, as stores were still ordering 1e books. [SUP]2[/SUP] If D&D 3e and 3.5e are considered to be distinct enough to split into two separate categories, then B/X, BECMI, and RC are distinct enough as well. RC because of the inclusion of the skill system and the wholesale revision of Set 5: Immortals Rules into Wrath of the Immortals. [SUP]3[/SUP] The last retail product specifically for 4e rules was published in 2012 While Gygax was running TSR, the following editions of D&D and AD&D were released -- over a span of 9 years: OD&D (1974) D&D Basic Set (Holmes, 1977) AD&D (1978-1979) new D&D Basic and Expert Rules (Moldvay/Cook, 1981) (B/X D&D) revised edition D&D Basic and Expert Rules (Mentzer, 1983) (BECMI D&D) By 1983, Gygax had already started planning a revised edition of AD&D, of which Unearthed Arcana (1985) was an initial pass of. Under WotC, the 3e to 3.5e change is the anomaly. Every other edition came out at least 5 years after the previous edition was released. This is not releasing a new edition every 2 to 3 years. I will grant you that we did have longer periods of compatible game systems in the past. AD&D and AD&D 2e were on the whole pretty compatible with one another; BECMI and RC D&D were mostly the same rules and were both drawn from B/X D&D, so products of that lineage shared a great level of compatibility with one another. All of TSR-era D&D, while distinct games, mixed-and-matched reasonably well, as they were all iterations upon the same basic system (OD&D). Higher-level BECMI and RC stuff went off the charts compared to AD&D, however. But the customer base in the 2000s is very different from that in the 70s and early 80s. There are far more forms of entertainment competing for our attention -- including much more accessible ones, like electronic games. Expectations have also rapidly changed in this digital era. Look at how many people buy a new $400 cell phone every year or two to replace their still perfectly functional "outdated" models. [/QUOTE]
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