How many years does it take for an RPG to become nostalgic, for you?

[Eyes of Nine]

I am a bit nostalgic for that time when I had "unlimited" time to enjoy reading my books and then spending all day Saturday deep into the night playing. Also I am nostalgic for Traveller Little Black Books being $3.50, and my 1978 Player's Hand book costing $12 or whatever.

 

[Reynard]

I am nostalgic for the days of being able to play for hours and hours, building (what we believed to be) intricate worlds and deep stories.

This thing of short sessions played when possible really doesn't cut it.

 

[Deset Gled]

Of the 90s, I'm nostalgic of DragonDice by TSR. We played it at the local store and had tournaments. It was fun. Then it die abruptly.

Anyway... For me, nostalgia is less about time and more about how hard it is to recreate the experience. For example, I currently have more nostalgia for 2000-ish video games, because emulating systems like the Dreamcast is kinda difficult. Whereas I feel less nostalgia for a lot of NES games, because it's very easy to emulate them.

On the RPG side, I feel mildly nostalgic for 3.X style games with high crunch. But my group is pretty entrenched in 5e right now. I would love to play in a good 3.5e game, and I think it would be a lot of fun to see how they work with a VTT. However, I do not feel nostalgic enough to motivate me to DM one of the those game. Maybe one day. But today is not that day, tomorrow doesn't look good, and next month isn't looking bright, either.

The other thing that 5e is pushing me into nostalgia for is a low-magic game. 5e can do a lot of things well, but the default magic level is very high. Luckily, I got some time at a gaming convention recently where I got to do some OSR stuff that helped a lot.

 

[payn]

I got nostalgic for Traveller, but I really like Mongoose 2E adjustments and modernization. Hits the spot without being too different.

It wasnt that long ago, but the PF1 AP era was an excellent one for me. To this day, PF1 is my fantasy go to. I dont really dig PF2 and 5E is merely ok.

 

[The Soloist]

It wasnt that long ago, but the PF1 AP era was an excellent one for me. To this day, PF1 is my fantasy go to. I dont really dig PF2 and 5E is merely ok.

I never opened of Pathfinder book or read an AP.

 

[The Soloist]

It wasnt that long ago, but the PF1 AP era was an excellent one for me. To this day, PF1 is my fantasy go to. I dont really dig PF2 and 5E is merely ok.

Maybe I should, what are the strong selling points compared to 3.5?

 

[Ath'kethin]

I am not nostalgic for the games themselves; but for the experiences, friends, and time at the table - which the games were a vehicle to facilitate.

Was coming here to say this. Nothing beats the experience of my high school years in the mid 90s for me here: the best friends I ever had, playing D&D for hours and hours and hours across 3-4 different campaigns per week, and just letting our imaginations run wild.

 

[DragonLancer]

Maybe I should, what are the strong selling points compared to 3.5?

Having come from 15+ years of GMing/playing Pathfinder 1st, the Pathfinder adventure paths strong points are fully detailed campaigns running 1st to 16th with room for some player deviation but they are built with the linear (but not rail-roaded) player approach in mind. Interesting stories although to inset into other settings would require some modifications. To my mind they are some of the best published campaigns out there.

 

[payn]

Maybe I should, what are the strong selling points compared to 3.5?

Well, you are in luck because you can get all of the rules off Archives of Nethys for PF1 for free. Some think PF1 is very different than 3.5, but I think its mostly similar. The highlights are a few touches to simplify things, and then a whole lot of additional material for players and GMs. (Mostly combining a combat defense and manuever score for doing things in combat, and a bunch of feat adjustments)

As for the APs, really depends on the themes you enjoy. Even if you dont end up running one, they are good food for GM thought and contain a bit of fiction and setting material within. Curse of the Crimson Throne is a mostly urban campaign and is well reviewed. There is even a hardback out there that covers the entire AP so you wouldnt need to find the installments in softback or PDF. Same with Rise of the Runelords (traditional fantasy RPG) and Kingmaker (domain management and hex crawl campaign).

 

[Laurefindel]

Not a matter of years; it’s a matter of period of my life.

A game becomes nostalgic for me when thinking about it reminds me of a period of my life that felt different from my life now. This could be 2 years or 20, it depends how fast life goes