Diamondeye
First Post
I suggest that you peruse Dragon magazine and Usenet archives before making blanket statements of this nature.
Usenet did not represent a meaningful portion of the playerbase and whatever was going on there was, indeed, unheard of by everyone else. As for Dragon Magazine, I have access to its entire history at my fingertips.
I suggest you not assume that isolated pre-internet (as we understand it) Usenet archives or Dragon magazine articles represent what went on in the player community. I know exactly what was going on - I was there for it. It was well understood in any context of the time that the DM was responsible for balance in his campaign.