AD&D1 is like a B-17

[Silver Moon]

One difference between D&D players and fighter plane aficionados: the propeller heads don't deride one another and pick fights over whether a HUD is bad technology compared to a reflective site. WWII pilots don't harangue Desert Storm pilots, saying, "You have no fighting skill, you just let the computer do all the work." And WWI historians don't take offense when the AWACs crew asks, "Why was such a flamible gas used to float the observation dirigibles?"

The war plane guys can discuss the technologies (brilliance and flaws), the tactical strategies (successful and failed), and the feel of the actions (thrills and terrors) without insulting one another or taking offense at the mere existance of the other planes.

Very true. I guess if you want to add in the insulting behaviors and lack of respect for the opinions of others a better analogy would be between the different gaming systems and types of popular music (classical, R&B, Rock&Roll, Country & Western, Hip Hop).

 

[Slife]

Is there a system that involves a bunch of unwieldy legacy support, except where new stuff is critically needed, which reuses old rules in new ways, and was made for a purpose that never materialized?

Because I know a plane that you could compare that system to.

 

[RFisher]

- everybody likes to play a vibration version that keeps getting goodies and support

Not everybody. Not me. I've had enough of crunch that expands faster that I can wrap my brain around it. I've had enough of fluff that requires constant effort to keep up with.

I've probably already got more than a lifetime's worth of rpg material to explore on my shelf. (Much of which is redundant.) It's awfully hard to find an rpg product that excites me enough to pay its cover price anymore.