D&D editions/eras timelines

[Glyfair]

I've seen a number of discussions in various places about the "lifespan" of editions. I worked up the timespans, and thought I'd share it since I already did the work.

Discussing editions has a lot of gray areas. Is 3.5 a different edition from 3E? Does the 2nd edition "Skills & Powers" era count as a separate edition? How does BD&D fit in?

I decided to completely ignore BD&D because the versions were concurrent with the "main editions." I have two lists of lifespans after that. The first has the most restrictive definition of edition. The second has a very permissive one, and might even be better called the "D&D era" version.

Limiting things as much as possible, though, we have:

OD&D (1973-1977*) 4-6 years
AD&D (1977**-1989) 10-12 years
AD&D 2nd edition (1989-2000) 11 years
D&D 3E (2000-2008) 8 years
D&D 4E (2008-?) TBD

The most permissive has:

"Pure" OD&D (1973-1975) 2 years
OD&D + Expansions (1975-1977*) 2 years
AD&D (1977**-1985) 8 years
AD&D + Unearthed Arcana (1985-1989) 4 years
AD&D 2nd edition (1989-1995) 6 years
AD&D 2nd edition "Skills & Powers" (1995-2000) 5 years
AD&D 3E (2000-2003) 3 years
AD&D 3.5 (2003-2008) 5 years

* 1977 is not a hard end date, since D&D material was released at the same time AD&D material was and see the next footnote.
** 1977 is a vague start date. The AD&D Monster Manual was released in 1977, but the DMG wasn't released until 1979. PHB was 1978 which might be the fairest choice.
*** Yes, there are still people playing every edition, including OD&D. Saying the OD&D era is still going isn't a very productive definition for comparison.

 

[T. Foster]

OD&D (1973-1977*) 4-6 years
* 1977 is not a hard end date, since D&D material was released at the same time AD&D material was and see the next footnote.

OD&D had its final printing at the end of 1979 and wasn't officially "replaced" until the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh D&D Basic & Expert Sets, released in 1981 -- AD&D was specifically marketed as a separate game from, not a replacement for, OD&D and the Holmes Basic D&D Set was an introductory version, not a full game (and went out of print at the same time as OD&D -- the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh revision simultaneously replaced both OD&D and Holmes Basic). And while it's true that TSR didn't release any new OD&D material after 1978, Judges Guild continued to release new "Approved for Use with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS" (meaning OD&D; they had a separate "Approved for Use with AD&D" line) material and The Dragon continued to run OD&D articles into 1980. So I'd peg OD&D's lifespan as 6-8 rather than 4-6 years.

 

[Glyfair]

So I'd peg OD&D's lifespan as 6-8 rather than 4-6 years.

Yes, I am aware of the issues, thus the footnotes. I decided to go with the definition of "was the dominant part of the D&D market." Even that's not perfect for the "era" list. I think it's impossible to tell now how many were using Unearthed Arcana and Skills & Powers. However, it's clear enough that they changed the landscape of D&D when they are released and thus I count their release as a new era.

 

[T. Foster]

Aha, I gotcha. So the fuzziness around the OD&D/AD&D transition isn't a matter of what was released when vs. what went out of print when, but rather which version was considered the primary or dominant version of D&D among the audience -- so while in 1977 AD&D tehnically existed, by virtue of the Monster Manual, OD&D was still clearly the dominant version (I mean, you can't really play a game with only the MM...); in 1978 the picture is cloudier because on the one hand the release of the Players Handbook and first wave of modules gave AD&D a higher profile, but on the other, without the DMG, most people were probably still "playing OD&D" and just sprinkling in bits and pieces of the new edition; but by 1979 with the release of the DMG and more modules AD&D was finally complete and fully dominant and only a minority of luddites and grognards were still interested in OD&D; even moreso in 1980 when you could still buy OD&D backstock but no new books were being printed, whereas AD&D kept rolling along and picking up steam (Deities & Demigods, The World of Greyhawk, even more modules, etc.).

 

[Sanguinemetaldawn]

Limiting things as much as possible, though, we have:

OD&D (1973-1977*) 4-6 years
AD&D (1977**-1989) 10-12 years
AD&D 2nd edition (1989-2000) 11 years
D&D 3E (2001-2008) 8 years
D&D 4E (2008-?) TBD

Even this I don't really agree with. I'd say...

OD&D (1973-1977*) 4-6 years
AD&D / AD&D 2nd edition (1978-1999) 21 years
D&D 3E (2001-2008) 8 years
D&D 4E (2008-?) TBD

The big difference being the 1st and 2nd Edition. The differences in edition were really minor.

I think the test is conversion.

That is: "How feasable is conversion from one edition to the next?" Converting characters between 1st and 2nd was very easy, and in some cases, literally effortless. There were issues created by the dropping of the 1/2 Orc, the assassin, and the cavalier. But one could easily bring those classes forward from first to second.

Now try converting from 2nd to 3rd. Especially a dual/multiclass caster. It just plain doesn't work. There are some cases where it will work, but even then there are major changes in spell lists, the attribute system is very different, and so on.

If you use the conversion test as a criteria for demarcating the era's, I think you will have a more meaningful result.

 

[jdrakeh]

The big difference being the 1st and 2nd Edition. The differences in edition were really minor.

The differences in system were fairly minor. The differences in both editions were significant enough to divide the player base back in the day (e.g., removal of assassins, removal of half-orcs, renaming of demons, etc).

 

[Glyfair]

in 1978 the picture is cloudier because on the one hand the release of the Players Handbook and first wave of modules gave AD&D a higher profile, but on the other, without the DMG, most people were probably still "playing OD&D" and just sprinkling in bits and pieces of the new edition;.

Not based on my experience, admittedly anecdotal.

I knew a large number of people who got in with Holmes BD&D and went to AD&D as soon as the PHB was released. With that were a significant number of people who played OD&D and switched to AD&D once the PHB was released, using OD&D for "DMG support." There was also a large group that got into D&D through the AD&D PHB when it was released.

So, 1978 would probably be a fairer representation. However, I gave a range and it's right in the middle, so I think I have it covered. The "era" list is obviously less accurate because at each transition point there are people "living in each era." We all know diaglo is still living in the "Pure OD&D" era.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I think 10 years is about right. 8 years for 3E seems a tad too short.

 

[Sanguinemetaldawn]

The differences in system were fairly minor. The differences in both editions were significant enough to divide the player base back in the day (e.g., removal of assassins, removal of half-orcs, renaming of demons, etc).

True, but the similarity in the system made bringing forward those elements easy, which meant even those differences were significant only if you wanted them to be. The whole *loth/tanarri/whatever thing was borderline comical. We just called them demons and rolled right on.

 

[Glyfair]

I think 10 years is about right. 8 years for 3E seems a tad too short.

At the time, I thought that both AD&D eras were too long. I moved away from AD&D towards the middle of the era. When 2nd edition was released I hoped that it would bring me back to D&D. It didn't touch any of the issues I had with the game (even though I did like one or two new things), so I never came back. When 3E was announced I was ready to come back to D&D, and loved what I saw.

While I wouldn't have said this without looking at the history, I think that 3E has lasted as long as I wanted AD&D and second editions to last.

What really mucked up the timing was 3.5 and the way it was handled. It was more of a break than the other "mid-edition" era changes. The "Unearthed Arcana" and "Skills & Powers" eras were clearly based on optional changes. 3.5, however, was a complete change. Everything published for D&D from then on assumed you used 3.5, not 3E.

That one difference sort of makes 3.5 a new edition. Because of that, 4E really feels like it's 5E. 8 years for two new editions is far too short.

Hopefully WotC learned from the 3.5 fiasco. I have confidence they did, but not that they learned everything or that the corporate turnover won't cause that lesson to be lost.