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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Baron Greystone" data-source="post: 6214255" data-attributes="member: 41997">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Asis my usual habit, when I see a topic with this many pages ofresponses, I'll just post without reading all the pages ofreminiscences and streams of consciousness. I started playing D&Din the 70's, in high school, but not 'really' until college. Thegolden age  doesn't have to be twelve, it's whenever you first getthe ball and start to run with it.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Ithink we all evolved, along with the hobby. In the beginning, we hadthe dungeon. But 'They' had already had the battlefield ofminiatures, and Avalon Hill's Outdoor Survival for wildernessactivity. 'They' had had ongoing characters that were alreadylegendary, and we heard about their adventures. These were '[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]stories'[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]as much as any 'storyteller' 'metagame' campaign arc that came later,but they evolved in a group effort. Yes, MAR Barker worked out inadvance the things he wanted to happen as he ran his nascent groupthrough Tekumel, and yes, he improvised when players attempted thingshe hadn't expected. So what? What's actually different?[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Andthe longer we played, and the longer the hobby existed, the morepossibilities we wanted to explore. My opinion is that 'beginningplayers' are more likely to play simple dungeons, while 'experiencedplayers' are more likely to try more advanced plots and story. Then,after having learned and experienced it all, players will groupthemselves into preferred styles of play. Some will go down the roadof shared narrative, others will be simulationists, there will be themin-maxers looking at odds and builds, and still others will staywith rip-roariing dice-fests facing endless challenges a la old pulp.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Sowhat?[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Iremember when JM wrote that piece, and I still feel the same. Sureit's funny to say that Dragonlance had some sort of effect on theindustry, but rather, I say that Dragonlance was just a steppingstone, a product line that resulted from the natural evolution of adeveloping industry.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Compareand contrast with television and the movie industry. Big money goeswith repeating a successful formula. Little guys want to do somethingdifferent.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Andso what. Play the way you want to. Support the guys that produceproducts that you want to spend money on.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]DoI care what happens with 5E? A little, in that there will be ageneration of gamers that will cut their teeth on it, and they maynot be compatible with my style. But then again, how many of them amI likely to play with, anyway? If the hobby goes on, it will outliveme, and the players will play what they like.[/FONT]</blockquote>

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