D&D 5E (2014) 5th edition driving people back to 1st/2nd edition.

[Jabborwacky]

Well, it's also going to sell better on DMGuild because the buyer will be comparing a professionally made product versus material being shared by DMs. Not that DM shared material can't be professional, just that everyone "knows" it has to be good. People also use it for material in 5th edition, much like some people use material from 3rd or 4th edition. There are some crazy things from 2nd edition, like carnivorous ceilings and walls.

And then there is the flail snail. The poor, innocent, endangered flail snail.

 

[JeffB]

I think overall 5e is probably doing well and I highly doubt is driving people away in some kind of negative way.

I can only offer my own anecdotal evidence:

I seem to encounter the extremes when I talk with other people who game..they only want to play 5th, or they have gone back to PF or maybe trying a osr/older edition as an experiment. I have spoke with several people who are bored with D&D of any stripe and are playing completely different things like FFG Star Wars or board/miniature war games instead.

 

[Lojak]

My own anecdotal experience is limited to my own playing group. We have been playing D&D pretty much exclusively in a weekly game since 2e. We enthusiastically switched to 3e when it came out and did the same with 3.5e and 4e. When 5e came out, the response seems to have been a great big meh. We ran a couple of campaigns but only to mixed results. We then tried going back to 4e but that did not work out either because playing 5e did highlight how complex and rules bound 4e had become for us. Currently, we have left D&D entirely and are playing a Savage Worlds game. I do not think there is really anything wrong with 5e and I like it. However, it is the first edition that did not generate any excitement for my particular play group in well over 20 years. So I guess we count amongst the group which found 5e pushing us away from D&D in general and getting us to branch out to other systems.

 

[DM Howard]

My local scene has nothing but good things to say about 5E. The only sticking point some people have is that they feel not enough is being put out.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Queer Venger]

Something I've noticed in my area is that people are dropping their 5th edition games and going back to playing 1st/2nd edition games. I've noticed on the Dungeon Master's Guild site that the top 7 most popular books are the 1st and 2nd editions of the game. People in my own game are wanting to drop 5th and go back to 2nd edition.

Is this becoming a trend? It's like playing 5th edition is sparking an interest to go back and playing those older editions.

Yours may be a somewhat isolated circumstance. In fact, 1e was my preferred edition and it is what sold me on 5e, there is no reason why I would not chose the superior updated mechanics that are so 'in spirit' like 1e. Ive not played more D&D than with 5e, more so than I ever played 1e. The players in my area have joined 5e groups, and frequent comments are that it harkens to 2e and 1e in terms of simplicity and DM fiat.

Now here is a proposal: lets do an empirical survey and test your hypothesis.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I think 5E will likely be the last edition I ever play. Not that I have any plan on stopping playing anytime soon. I just think that after 40 years and several editions they've ironed things out enough to have made the best all around version of the game that there is. And I've also learned a lot about how the game works and how to change it to suit my needs. I think this edition is the most adaptable and ready for customization.

I don't think this edition is driving people back to the old editions so much as it's sparking interest in the hobby as a whole, and that's caused an increase for all editions.

Someone earlier in the thread said all boats rise with the tide, and that's likely the case.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Is this becoming a trend? It's like playing 5th edition is sparking an interest to go back and playing those older editions.

It would probably count as a minor trend, roughly on par with 5E inspiring people to give 4E a second try.

Personally, I'm thinking of going back to Basic (or an OSR clone thereof) if I run another game anytime soon. The good things about 5E are similar to the good things from AD&D, but the bad things about 5E are much worse than the bad things from AD&D. Any semi-decent retro-clone should be able to fix (most of) the problems of an established system.

 

[cmad1977]

But what happens, like in our group, when you don't have the time and you have to choose one over the other? That can't be good for the edition when you choose an older edition over the new one.

Then you have fun with whichever edition you choose.

 

[Emirikol_Prime]

Well, I buy 1e and BX adventures on DND Classics to use with 5e.

Same here. It's one of 5E's many varied strengths.