Being Left Behind

I found it strangely liberating when I didn't switch - suddenly, there was no release schedule to stay current with, there was no pressure to buy new books, and I could do whatever I wanted with the settings safe in the knowledge that my stuff wasn't going to get superseded. (All of those things were technically true before, of course, but it felt different.)

As long as you and your group are happy with what you've got, go for it! The only issue comes if some people want to move and some don't. In which case, I recommend discussing it like adults, and coming to a compromise - can you maintain two campaigns? Can you take turn about between editions? Could you put together some sort of hybrid? Or, if it comes to it, could you consider abandoning D&D altogether in favour of another game - that way, nobody really gets what they want, but you do get to sidestep the issue entirely.
 

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With 2e AD&D it was backwards compatible, so I just used bits of it in my 1e AD&D campaign, which ran on and off from ca 1986 to around 1999.

With 3e I started in 2000 when it came out. When 3.5 came out in 2003 I just used the 3.5 PHB alongside all my 3.0 material.

With 4e I reacted initially by running a 3.5/BECMI mash-up 2008-2009, but eventually I started running 4e from 2009.

My expected reaction to 5e is to keep running 4e, but I may end up with more [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate], OSR games etc.
 

My group stayed with 3.5. It was broken, but we were so familiar with it that when we realized 4e wasn't what we were interested in, we just started tinkering with 3.5. We now play a version of E6, tailored to my campaign world. We're happy with it, and you know what? There's SO much stuff out there for 3rd ed/pathfinder that works great with my game that I don't feel ignored at all.

Find what you like, learn to tinker with it, and don't be afraid. Stop worrying about "is there new stuff?" and look at the wealth of stuff that's out there for games similar to yours. It doesn't have to be the same edition; I use DCC modules, I use Osric stuff. I have every issue of Dungeon Magazine that ever came out in PRINT, and I dive into them constantly. Things like maps, adventure plots, NPC descriptions, etc... never go out of use.
 

I played from the til endof 1E to the end of 3E. Tried 4E but wasn't my taste. So after that started playing a lot more alternatives to D&D. My group had always mixed things up with other games, but D&D had een the go to on most occassions. Once 4E came out, i found myself playing a lot more savage worlds and other kinds of rpgs. Even went ack to revisit older D&D editions like 2E. For me, not making the switch was a good thing and got me out of a rut.
 

I'm strangely content with being left behind. :) If 4e gets old, I think we'll migrate to Savage Worlds, Earthdawn (3rd), WFRP2e, or something else! Heck; maybe Next will turn out to be worthwhile, but it doesn't look geared towards what I want out of D&D nowadays.

-O
 

First of all, the phrase "left behind" is more accurately described as "didn't like the new game so didn't switch." I'm pretty sure that neither TSR nor WotC ever intentionally left a customer out. I'm pretty sure that they're all about making a buck, just like any other company, and that motivates the suits lurking behind the designers.

That said, when I've become disenchanted with one version or another of the game, I've melded, bastardized and fused what I like from it with elements I like from other editions, and hey presto, I'm good to go!

We aren't friends anymore because of the edition wars. Thanks WotC.

As to this, I have plenty of friends I don't game with. I think it's pretty inappropriate to point the finger at WotC (or at D&D itself, or at a given edition, or at a given book) as the cause of the end of a friendship. If your only connection with your old group was gaming, they might have been something like acquaintances instead; otherwise, why not just all go out for a movie or a beer (assuming everyone is of age, etc)? You can hang out without rolling dice.
 

Caught the end of 3e, then played a little 3.5e, then played quite a bit of 4e ... But though I thought many things about 4e were great, it's got stale now. So it's likely that I'll play some pathfinder and 13th age and then make a decision about whether to take the dnd next plunge ...

Given the way I play now its likely that 13th age will be my fantasy system of choice (CoC and nWoD for other genres) for quite a while. If it works well, and if dnd next doesn't bring something really new to the table, I might not bother with it ...
 

So, what happened, or how did you adjust when your edition got 'older' and the print products stopped?
I just found something else to play. When I finally abandoned 2e, it was due to oWoD and a variety of non-fantasy games (including running a retro Gamma World story arc). That held my interest throughout 3.x edition, which I only managed to play a few sessions. I really didn't miss D&D much until 4e brought me back.

I have enough 4e material to last for decades thb and I can see myself running it off and on and tinkering around with the rules. But I plan on finishing my 4e campaign in 18-24 months and then see what else interests me. I look at DDNext with interest, but I'm not sold yet.
 

Personally, I indulged in the bonanza of cheaply available "obsolete" 3.5 books when 4e came out. The absence of new ones didn't become a "problem" for a while until I missed the innovation, which I replaced by reading up on other rpgs and making extensive houserules.

The real problem with playing an "obsolete" game is trying to find other people to do it with you, but that hasn't been a problem for me do to longtime loyal group members/friends.
 

What we have is basically a house rule system based on 2e to PF, and now with some 5e playtest stuff in it. Also has some Talislanta aspects. No matter the setting, even Gammaworld is usually played that way because we can adapt and change as we like, anyway.

So new editions enver mattered that much. We never really switched, we evolved. New groups usually adapted to the house rules quickly, too.

I might have to redo a lot of it to a lite version, now that more games happen online. Mainly for battles.
 

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