Recent content by JamesM

Absolutely and, even then, knowing TSR's official line on the matter and accepting it were two different things. I knew people who did take it at face value and insisted that D&D, whether of the LBB, Holmes, or Red Box variety, wasn't the same as AD&D and thus beneath their notice, but I knew...

The Monster Manual's first printing was in December 1977. Though released under the AD&D banner, it is closely compatible with OD&D, since it uses a 0 to 9 AC system rather than the 0 to 10 system. Psionic abilities are those from Supplement III, Eldritch Wizardry. However, the book uses the...

In my earliest profile, which I haven't used since 2008, back when very few people read the blog, I believe I called myself a "student of philosophy and intellectual history," which was a reference to my academic background, nothing more. Maybe I'm weird, but my natural inclination is to assume...

Madness! Truth is I'm not much of a forum-user and never have been. With the exception of Fin's OD&D Discussion, I rarely visit forums, let alone post to them. But I was getting a lot of hits to my blog from this thread and I was curious to see what it was all about, so here I am. Don't worry...

I have no beef with anyone who disagrees, even strongly, with what I actually wrote; it's the intemperate reactions to things I never wrote that drive me batty.

Hey, I love Gamma World and Metamophosis Alpha and say so regularly on my blog; I can't imagine why anyone would think I dislike mutants.

And your opinion would be correct. Unfortunately, there are many people for whom the expression of any skepticism, let alone criticism, of another's plans is tantamount to "negativity." I said in August 2009 and I say again now: I will be happy to be proven wrong in my opinion about the likely...

I'm not sure what bearing being a "true historian" has in this particular case, since I've never claimed to be such and anyone who actually reads my blog with any attention knows I am anything but unbiased.

No one said anything even close to this, so I'm not sure why it's being asserted, let alone now, more than a year after I made the original comments. I've actually had nothing to say on this subject since August 2009, but I guess people enjoy trying to manufacture controversy where there is...

As you wish. I'm a gamer expressing skepticism at the use of "old school" by a designer whose work I don't think fits my understanding of that term. I'm honestly not sure why this is so outrageous, particularly given that I've also made it clear that I'm nevertheless going to keep an eye on the...

You know the kind of game you enjoy and why you enjoy it and that's cool. My reply wasn't meant to be an argument in favor of one approach or another; it was intended solely to elucidate some of the most widely acknowledged characteristics of old school games and play, as well as why I'm...

Not at all. In principle, I agree that old school has a lot to do with a mindset one brings to play, meaning that it is transferable to other rules sets, which is why I like some of the modules that both Necromancer and Goodman put out during the 3e era, even though I'm not super keen on those...

Not entirely, although there's certainly a mechanical component to the evaluation. My point was more that, given that v.3.5, as written and generally played, wasn't much like what I associate with old school gaming, I'm skeptical of attempts to associate the two until I am shown otherwise. I...

I think cri de coeur is a nicer word than "hissy fit," but to each his own. Some people appear to have misunderstood my points in that post, which were twofold: First, I am naturally suspicious of anyone using the term "old school" in reference to a project associated with v.3.5. Second, I am...

If anyone has interpreted my original post as being anything other than trying to piece together what we know about the situation and what it means, they've gravely misunderstood what I wrote. Indeed, if anything, the whole point of my piece was that Mrs Gygax did the right thing by addressing...