AD&D second edition: Why be hatin'?
- Thread starter Biohazard
- Start date
Egad, man! Are you trying to SUMMON HER?!?! 
Scribble
First Post
I find it amussing how much hatred people have towards 2e...
Durring the 2e years most of the CONS I went to featured 2e not 1e. Sure there were always a few 1e games but not very many. Where were all the 1e over 2e people then?
I think it's one of those now that there's a new thing the old one just gets looked down on type of thing.
Personally I always liked 1.5 which was my mixture of 1e and 2e. The two systems weren't really that different.
Durring the 2e years most of the CONS I went to featured 2e not 1e. Sure there were always a few 1e games but not very many. Where were all the 1e over 2e people then?
I think it's one of those now that there's a new thing the old one just gets looked down on type of thing.
Personally I always liked 1.5 which was my mixture of 1e and 2e. The two systems weren't really that different.
rogueattorney
Adventurer
1. It's the "middle child". People tend to like either the first or latest version of things, often times forgetting what went in between.
2. It was known for settings more than anything else. Many of these (Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, etc.) have been adopted to 3e. I think a lot of 2e fans were more fans of the settings than the rules, so they just moved to the new ruleset with the setting.
3. Let's face it, TSR put out a bunch of crap during the 2e days. It started toward the end of 1e, but reached full flower in the early 90's. There was some good stuff in the midst of the drek, but you had to have your crap-filter on high. Part of the problem was they were putting out SO MUCH product that they couldn't possibly have devoted adequate time and effort to playtesting and editing. Compare the product lists of TSR prior to 1986 and/or the product lists for WotC after 3e to sheer volume TSR was producing from about '89 to '96.
4. Politics. The people running TSR at the time of 2e were disdainful of the prior creators of the game, disrespectful of its own customers, and lawsuit happy. They also bowed to pressure and pc-ized the rules.
R.A.
2. It was known for settings more than anything else. Many of these (Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, etc.) have been adopted to 3e. I think a lot of 2e fans were more fans of the settings than the rules, so they just moved to the new ruleset with the setting.
3. Let's face it, TSR put out a bunch of crap during the 2e days. It started toward the end of 1e, but reached full flower in the early 90's. There was some good stuff in the midst of the drek, but you had to have your crap-filter on high. Part of the problem was they were putting out SO MUCH product that they couldn't possibly have devoted adequate time and effort to playtesting and editing. Compare the product lists of TSR prior to 1986 and/or the product lists for WotC after 3e to sheer volume TSR was producing from about '89 to '96.
4. Politics. The people running TSR at the time of 2e were disdainful of the prior creators of the game, disrespectful of its own customers, and lawsuit happy. They also bowed to pressure and pc-ized the rules.
R.A.
Biohazard
First Post
dungeonmastercal said:
Well, technically Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms are *both* official settings. What you're alluding to is the fact that Greyhawk is also the *default* setting. Just because it's the default, doesn't mean it will be used. See default settings on computers as a prime example.
Particle_Man
Explorer
Psion said:
Er...have you seen 2nd ed Spells and Powers and other Players' Option books? Sorry, 1e was a paragon of balance compared to what 2e ended up as.
Psion
Adventurer
Particle_Man said:
You know, when people assume you are stupid or not well read, it's really sort of insulting.
Yes I have. Not that I brought them up. I was strictly talking about that core rules.
THAT SAID, the players options book are the only thing that kept me playing D&D in any form. I was just about to write off D&D due to the lack of flexibility. Yes, you had to house rule it (especially the cleric and the dumb ability score rules), but it was the first book to add much needed flexibility to the game, an arena in which D&D was wallowing in the past compared to other games out at the time.
FURTHER nothing the supplemental PO books did is as bad as lottery psionics (which is in a core book, nonetheless) or some stuff from the UA (free uber special racial abilties for drow and duegar! cavalier-paladins! etc.)
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