Can You Go Home Again? +

[aco175]

I would love to play with the old gang of friends, but not play one of the older editions of the game. I would likely be adding today elements into the old game since it has become so player facing today.

 

[MGibster]

But, on reflection, I don't know that I would, because I am pretty sure it would not be the same experience. It isn't just that post TSR D&D systems have been generally better (for some subset of definitions of "better"). It is also that those memories are just that, memories.

While I played a little 1st edition AD&D, I really came into my own with 2nd edition. I turned 13 the year it was released and it was the first time in my life I had enough spending money to start buying my own books once in a while. I accumulated quite a few 2nd edition books and boxed sets by the time 1997 rolled around. I have very fond memories of those years, but I have zero desire to ever play 2nd edition AD&D again.

What do you think? Can you go home again? Can you return to old games and old campaigns and recapture what you felt 5 or 10 or 30 years ago? Do you, personally, feel like there is more to that desire than nostalgia?

The main reason you can't go home again is because you're not the same person you were 5, 10, or 30 years ago. You (not me) might be able to have a good time playing 2nd edition AD&D, but I don't think it would really be the same experience for you that it was when you were 15. A few years back I ran a Cyberpunk 2020 game for the first time in twenty years and we had a good time. But the campaign's plot was a bit more sophisticated, the players were less likely to engage in stupid violent behavior, and there were elements of the game that never would have been there in 1993. One of the players had a trans character which is something I can't imagine would have happened in any game when I was a teen. We had a good time, but it wasn't the same feeling I had when I was 17.

 

[MarkB]

Weirdly coincidentally timing with this blog post, although that one's more PC game focused.

Yeah, the main thing you realise when trying out really old computer games again is how much you appreciate modern standardised control schemes.

 

[payn]

What do you think? Can you go home again? Can you return to old games and old campaigns and recapture what you felt 5 or 10 or 30 years ago? Do you, personally, feel like there is more to that desire than nostalgia?

I think the formative experience can be a doozy. For whatever reason, I look back fondly on my formative experiences, but dont feel like I need to replicate them. Though, im a curious person by nature and enjoy learning new experiences and ways of doing things. For me, going back would certainly be possible, but id likely need a campaign concept that leans into a particular rule set. Right tool for the right job and all that. Going back because I think it will deliver a better experience? I know the system alone cant guarantee that. I and the players involved need to be in the right mindset to make it happen.

I do think folks can slide into what I call chasing the dragon. They have such formative experiences that they spend all their future moments trying to recapture that feel again and misplace the mechanics as the lone responsible factor. It can be such an insidious state that all new systems and campaign ideas are poo poo'd becasue they dont feel right. Can stop a person from thinking about a game critically and only with the lens of nostalgia that is entirely subjective. YMMV.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I am in a unique position. I have still been playing with my lifelong friends. We played in high school, went to school/grad school and moved back.

I mentioned AD&D…we did one day of BECMI. I still love 1e. We played it right up to 3e and 99/00. But…

It is hard to give up options and complexity even in some ways if it is not superior.

I have the most love for 1e perhaps of all of us…but I find it hard to give up the new bells and whistles and lack of restrictions. I am very torn!

I think we will move ahead with 5e for a long time like we did 1e. I don’t see us adopting 5.5 changes fully.

For me, there is no going back and I cannot fully put a finger on why. I kind of want to…

Then again we play 5e with most lore assumptions of 1e…

 

[Reynard]

Weirdly coincidentally timing with this blog post, although that one's more PC game focused.

I didn't know Grognardia was back!

 

[KYRON45]

“I am not like this because I'm in Van Halen. I'm in Van Halen because I'm like this." I'm not sure where this quote originated but i think it applies here.
I think in most cases nostalgia is greater than the sum of its parts. We aren't the same people we were all those years ago.
The trick now is to generate nostalgia for the next version of you.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I was chatting with a friend of mine yesterday and we were discussing favorite RPG experiences as GMs, and I realized most of my favorite GM moments were during the 2E era. I think that is partly because it was a long, formative era for me (mid 80s to late 2000s, through adolescence into young adulthood). I also think it is because 2E enabled the sorts of high fantasy we were aiming for, mostly by getting out of the way. (Note, I have many other great ROG memories, from many other games, right up to the present; I am just speaking in general here.)

When he asked if I would run 2E again, my kneejerk reaction was a resounding YES!, in a New York minute.

But, on reflection, I don't know that I would, because I am pretty sure it would not be the same experience. It isn't just that post TSR D&D systems have been generally better (for some subset of definitions of "better"). It is also that those memories are just that, memories. They are certainly colored by hindsight and nostalgia, and even if they are accurate I am not same as I was at that time. I would run 2E again to recapture those feelings and experiences and I don't think it is possible. I don't think you can go home again.

What do you think? Can you go home again? Can you return to old games and old campaigns and recapture what you felt 5 or 10 or 30 years ago? Do you, personally, feel like there is more to that desire than nostalgia?

One Note: This is a plus (+) thread for a simple reason -- I do not wan to talk about editions versus editions. 5E is some folks first D&D and they can be nostalgic for it. Some people played RIFTS as their first RPG, or they fell in love with Vampire The Masquerade. We won't be judging people's preferences in this thread, or questioning peoples' memories. If someone tells you they love(d) a thing, let them have that, please.

I also loved 2e, and most of my RPG experiences prior to 5e were with my old group's 1e/2e campaigns. I have a lot of great memories of those games. But no, I don't think you can really go home again. A big part of the reason for me is simply that playing with those people was a major part of it, and that's never going to happen again.

There are things I can do to get something similar. I loved 1e's assumed playstyle and aesthetic, and there are OSR games out now that do that part even better for me. I loved 2e's lore, campaign settings, and depth of product, and all of that can be incorporated into games I run now. But I can't do much to re-create the feeling of playing with my old friends; I love my new friends, but the history and dynamic is completely different.

Moving on is hard.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I didn't know Grognardia was back!

He goes on and off hiatus seemingly at random, but the blog's been pretty steadily active for at least the last few years after that really big gap. Hasn't changed much, for better or worse.

 

[schneeland]

The short answer is you can't. You can't step into the same river twice. This doesn't mean you can't have fun playing the old games with the old people. It just means it won't be the same. So don't try to get back that same feeling, just try to have fun now.

I tend to agree. I certainly tried, but already when reading the old rule books again it became clear to me that the light-hearted spirit of a bunch of 20 somethings with a lot of time on their hand just figuring out the rules on the go could not be recovered. And that is before taking into account that we no longer live in the same city (not even in the same state, actually).

We did have a lot of fun playing a few sessions of Dungeon World, but enthusiasm quickly fizzled and people are also a lot more busy these days.

The good news is that a lot of the magic of these old sessions is still present when I play online with different people these days. And I tend to say that when doing a hex-crawl/open world campaign in Forbidden Lands, delving into dungeons with Dungeon Crawl Classics and cruising through the Seattle sprawl with Sprawlrunners the rules did a much better job in supporting the group than the old systems did back then. But still that's more like playing a good remake or a modern video game with deliberate retro design than playing the actual old game.