An Opportunity for WotC in 2009

[Reynard]

Next year is the 20th anniversary of AD&D 2nd Edition. Last year, the 30th anniversary for AD&D, I was hoping for a special, anniversary edition of 1E. it, of course, never matertialised. But there's still time! WotC could make it happen!

I'm only half joking. I think there's been enough change in the game, and there are officially a couple generations of D&D players now, that WotC could conceivably reintroduce a more "traditional" game line and not necessarily shoot themselves in the foot. Hackmaster did pretty well, all things considered, and it was essentially "AD&D 3E". Maybe they could treat it like they did a lot of settings in the 3E days -- put out the core books themselves (just "special edition" 2E books with little to no edits would be fine) and then grant other companies a license to produce AD&D stuff.

/dreaming

 

[Knightfall]

That's a nice dream but it isn't going to happen.

 

[Remathilis]

Closest your going to get is the "Against the Giants" boxset as an anniversary/legacy adventure.

Considering 2e wasn't all that well liked, I doubt anything special is coming down the pipe.

 

[Reynard]

Considering 2e wasn't all that well liked...

Really? By whom? I know they got a lot of competition from WW at the time, but 2E was still the top of the heap at the time. It also had some of the best settings ever created by, well, anyone.

 

[Knightfall]

Considering 2e wasn't all that well liked...

I have to completely disagree with that statement. 2e was a lot of fun even if the mechanics aren't as good as 3e.

2e had flavor, which 4e completely lacks, IMO. I'd rather play 2e again then play 4e. 2e was all about unique campaign settings and imagination. 3e might be my favorite D&D game mechanically, but it cannot compare to 2e in regards to flavor.

Birthright, Dark Sun, Planescape, Spelljammer. Those setting reinvented what D&D was all about, IMO. Sure, Greyhawk remains my favorite D&D setting, but Dark Sun and Planescape are a very close second and third.

The only way I'll even consider buying 4e is if they revised Dark Sun. (I have a feeling I won't like what they come up with for a new Planescape campaign setting but I'm going to wait to see what happens.)

Regardless, there is no way that I'm ever going to give up my copies of the primary 2e Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer boxed sets. Those products are classics to me.

Anyway, I'm ranting now, so I should stop take a breath.

Cheers!

KF72

 

[Heselbine]

I think I'd have to distinguish between 2e and 2e settings.

To me, 2e was completely unplayable. I had so many house rules I actually had an entirely different game system. On the other hand, many 2e settings were great. Planescape was at times utterly inspired, Birthright was one of my faves and lots of the Forgotten Realms stuff was very good. I'll never forget the Waterdeep city boxed set. I ran 2e FR for many years and had great fun.

Now, if we could have 4e mechanics with great material like we had then, well...

 

[JVisgaitis]

Considering 2e wasn't all that well liked, I doubt anything special is coming down the pipe.

My fondest memories are from the 2e days. I don't know what makes you think it wasn't liked, it was still the most popular RPG at the time. Yeah, the system had some issues, but it worked fine for its time.

 

[Knightfall]

. . . On the other hand, many 2e settings were great. Planescape was at times utterly inspired, Birthright was one of my faves and lots of the Forgotten Realms stuff was very good. I'll never forget the Waterdeep city boxed set. I ran 2e FR for many years and had great fun.

I still have the 2e Waterdeep boxed set. I bought the 3e Waterdeep book too. You can never have too much Waterdeep, IMO.

 

[Remathilis]

caveat: I enjoyed 2e back in the day as well, but any number of polls around here suggest plenty of people skipped 2e (or went back to 1e) before going on to 3e. Because of this, She-who-must-not-be-named, TSR's policies at the time, kits, Realms-Shaking-Events, Skills & Powers, Mein Alf, and the bungling that lead to TSR's failure, few people tend to look back at 2e as the "golden years."

2e is the red-headed stepchild of D&D, overlooked by nostalgia seekers in favor of Basic, 1e, or OD&D and majorly outgunned by later systems like 3e or 4e.

While I find it a superior system to 1e (and ALMOST as good as BECMI) I still think its suffering middle-child syndrome; too old to hang out with the new kids, too new to start a nostalgic revival campaign, and accepted by many but preferred as D&D "edition of choice" by almost none.

 

[WayneLigon]

Really? By whom? I know they got a lot of competition from WW at the time, but 2E was still the top of the heap at the time. It also had some of the best settings ever created by, well, anyone.

The oft-quoted figure is that the D&D playerbase dropped by 50%. I didn't believe that for a moment until (I'm pretty sure) it was confirmed by WoTC or Dancey. I don't have a corroborating post, though.