Nostalgia

[Tinker Gnome]

Well i always hear about how old gamers wanting to relive their youth. As well as claiming that older editions of a certain game are better. Well, i do not think it is so much the older edition of the game they miss, as much as the moments they remember with it. What i mean is, they miss beig huddled around in a romm, with their friends , late at night, rolling dice, and drinking soda. Not having a care in the world. I can relate a similar expereince, except it is not with RPGs. I remember a couple of years ago, during winter vacation, i was playing The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask. My brother has some of his friends over, and i had one of mine as well. My parents were playing music downstairs, and were in a good mood. Despite the fact that a roach crawled on my back when i was playing once, everything else was fine.

So, i believe it is the moments they miss, not the older edition itself.

 

[deadboydex]

So, i believe it is the moments they miss, not the older edition itself.

Got it in one, son.

What these people miss is that the joy isn't in the game, or at least it's not solely in the game -- it's the act of playing. I haven't played with my childhood gaming group in nearly ten years, but when I'm with one of my new groups, and it clicks, it's the exact same feeling of <i>there is nothing better than playing this game with my friends</i>, and it doesn't matter what system we're playing under.

 

[jgbrowning]

Well i always hear about how old gamers wanting to relive their youth. As well as claiming that older editions of a certain game are better. Well, i do not think it is so much the older edition of the game they miss, as much as the moments they remember with it. What i mean is, they miss beig huddled around in a romm, with their friends , late at night, rolling dice, and drinking soda. Not having a care in the world. I can relate a similar expereince, except it is not with RPGs. I remember a couple of years ago, during winter vacation, i was playing The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask. My brother has some of his friends over, and i had one of mine as well. My parents were playing music downstairs, and were in a good mood. Despite the fact that a roach crawled on my back when i was playing once, everything else was fine.

So, i believe it is the moments they miss, not the older edition itself.

And these moments become fewer until we're taken by darkness.

joe b.

 

[Piratecat]

Actually, those moments have stayed just about the same for me. The advantage of growing older is that you can still do all the fun things you want to, but now you can afford them.

 

[evileeyore]

Actually, those moments have stayed just about the same for me. The advantage of growing older is that you can still do all the fun things you want to, but now you can afford them.

But now I don't have time to do the good things I can afford to do.

D'oh if you do, D'oh if you don't.

TTFN

EvilE

 

[diaglo]

believe what you want. i'm not gonna knock your religion.

it isn't nostalgia which makes the older editions better. it is the game itself.

OD&D(1974) is the one true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing.

 

[Henry]

You've told us before about the "special" clerics, the tons of background, the inventiveness you and your friends used to inject into old D&D, and you STILL say it's the game system?

OD&D(1974) is the one true game. All the other...

I know, I know. But based on what you, and Olgar and Joe have said about your (D's) old gaming group, it's a different picture on the outside than from the inside.

 

[diaglo]

You've told us before about the "special" clerics, the tons of background, the inventiveness you and your friends used to inject into old D&D, and you STILL say it's the game system?

is was customizable (is that a word?) without causing it to break.

I know, I know. But based on what you, and Olgar and Joe have said about your (D's) old gaming group, it's a different picture on the outside than from the inside.

but that's b/c i drag my style of OD&D into the new stuff. a leopard can't change its spots, nor an OD&Der his dice.

 

[Ranes]

I don't mind wallowing in nostalgia once an epoch but I agree that it's the memory of the fun, rather than the game system, that tugs at the heart.

I don't have my copy of OD&D any more but, if I did, I would happily keep playing 3.0/3.5. My OD&D set would be there to show the little uns when they got old enough or to wow 21st century gaming newbies with my veteran status but it would be just a curiosity, an amusement (my status, not OD&D ).

Having said that, GDW's little black books are to me what OD&D is to Diaglo. I still have those. Nothing has ever improved on them, as far as I'm concerned.

Edit: customisable is a word; I assume customizable is also. At worst they're both neologisms. That's no bad thing. Ramble...

 

[johnsemlak]

but when I'm with one of my new groups, and it clicks, it's the exact same feeling of there is nothing better than playing this game with my friends,

They ought to make an Old Milwaukee commercial based on this. Picture this...

A bunch of guys sitting around a table, rolling dice, munching pretzels and pizza, and sipping their drinks.

One of them says: Guys, it doesn't get any better than this.

Who wouldn't buy a product advertised that way?