D&D General Edition Experience - Updated Survey Results (Updated October 2025)

[Thunderfoot]

Heh, I've never seen "broken" used with that definition before. But, I do understand the sentiment I suppose.

Funny thing though. You really, really couldn't play 2e and 1e together without a LOT of work. 2e characters were SO much more powerful than 1e characters. I remember running 1e modules in 2e and having to use modules two, three or four levels higher than the group just to keep up. So, your 2e 5th and 6th level characters were waltzing through Against the Giants and making absolute mincemeat out of it.

I always have to laugh a little when people talk about how compatible 1e and 2e were. They really, really weren't.

Yes. It took some work, sure, but many of the differences were easily rectified (once you learned how. I mean yes there was a learning curve there.) But at the end of the day, their similarities out weighed their differences if you looked at them objectively. Most of the power differences fall in that middle zone that we talk about for 3e. 5th (4th for Pallys and Rangers) though about 9th. If you used a 1e wizard things got interesting at about 12th level because 2e spells capped damage dice and 1e didn't. Fireball is an effective spell, but in the hands of a clever player Lightning Bolt was far more dangerous and deadly.. Specifically the bounce/length/start point of the spell. You had to "throw" the Fireball, you could cast Bolt on the other side of a closed door. So both had their perks and nuances. BTW glad to see you're still around.

 

[CleverNickName]

UPDATE: Survey Results as of January 2024
Sorry for the long delay...this sort of fell off my radar for um, three years. And in that time, hundreds of new votes came in, and most of them were for 3rd Edition. How did that skew the results of 2021?

Here are the survey results as they stand in 2024:

The edition that most people have played: still AD&D 1E, at 83.8%. D&D 3E is gaining on it, though, up 0.4% to to 82.4%
The edition that most people are still playing: still B/X, at 12.8%. D&D 3E is gaining on it also, up 0.3% to 11.0%
The edition that most people didn't play: still OD&D, at 65.6%. None of the others even come close.

The edition that was most favorably regarded: AD&D 1E again, at 86%.
The edition that was most neutrally regarded: Basic D&D, at 18.0%. In 2021 this record was held by B/X D&D, at 17.8%.
The edition that was most unfavorably regarded: D&D 4E, at 36.1%. This is unchanged from last year.

I think it's interesting that out of all 1,452 votes across all 8 editions of D&D that were surveyed, a full 25% of them were for 3rd Edition--and most of those votes came in a year or more after the survey was first opened.

And I think it's unfair that 4E is doomed to languish alone and ignored, with the same 180 votes that it had 3 years ago, because edition warriors couldn't behave themselves and got the thread closed. It wasn't my favorite edition, but it deserved a better legacy than that.

 

[CleverNickName]

Updated survey results, October 2025:

So there's been an increase in votes recently, especially in the AD&D 1E and AD&D 2E surveys. A significant increase, too--almost 300 more votes have come in, and in just the last few weeks. I figured it was time to update the survey results to reflect the new information.

Summary:

• The edition that most people have played: AD&D 2E, at 86.5%...a decrease of 0.3%. D&D 3E is gaining on it, though, up another 0.8% to 83.2%.
• The edition that most people are still playing: still B/X, up 0.4% to 12.8%. D&D 3E lost a bit of ground since last time, down 1.1% to land at 9.9%
• The edition that most people didn't play: still OD&D, at 65.2%. None of the others even come close.
• The edition that was most favorably regarded: AD&D 1E again, at 84.5%. Second is B/X, at 84%.
• The edition that was most neutrally regarded: it's still Basic D&D, at 20.4%. Second place goes to OD&D, at 13.3%.
• The edition that was most unfavorably regarded: D&D 4E, at 36.1%. This is unchanged from last year...which isn't surprising considering the thread got locked after just a few days.

We are now up to 1,750 votes in total...an increase of 298 votes since 2024. And of that total, almost a quarter of them (24.2%) are for 3rd Edition alone.

 

[Zardnaar]

UPDATE: Survey Results as of January 2024
Sorry for the long delay...this sort of fell off my radar for um, three years. And in that time, hundreds of new votes came in, and most of them were for 3rd Edition. How did that skew the results of 2021?

Here are the survey results as they stand in 2024:

View attachment 344595

The edition that most people have played: still AD&D 1E, at 83.8%. D&D 3E is gaining on it, though, up 0.4% to to 82.4%
The edition that most people are still playing: still B/X, at 12.8%. D&D 3E is gaining on it also, up 0.3% to 11.0%
The edition that most people didn't play: still OD&D, at 65.6%. None of the others even come close.

The edition that was most favorably regarded: AD&D 1E again, at 86%.
The edition that was most neutrally regarded: Basic D&D, at 18.0%. In 2021 this record was held by B/X D&D, at 17.8%.
The edition that was most unfavorably regarded: D&D 4E, at 36.1%. This is unchanged from last year.

I think it's interesting that out of all 1,452 votes across all 8 editions of D&D that were surveyed, a full 25% of them were for 3rd Edition--and most of those votes came in a year or more after the survey was first opened.

And I think it's unfair that 4E is doomed to languish alone and ignored, with the same 180 votes that it had 3 years ago, because edition warriors couldn't behave themselves and got the thread closed. It wasn't my favorite edition, but it deserved a better legacy than that.

If you don't like the results don't ask the question. 4Es main problem then and now is its playstyle. It was designed for peopke who enjoy pushing minis around maps.

Its like seafood. You can have the greatest fish dish of all time but if you don't like seafood...... Or vegan . Other option is burger and fries.

 

[CleverNickName]

If you don't like results don't ask the question. 4Es main problem then and now is its playstyle. It was designed for peopke who enjoy pushing minis around maps.

Its like seafood. You can have the greatest fish dish of all time but if you don't like seafood...... Or vegan . Other option is burger and fries.

That's not the problem we're seeing here. In these surveys, the problem was a handful of edition warriors who got the 4E survey closed after just 54 hours of voting. It was on track to having the most votes ever--it got hundreds of votes in that short time, and most of them were favorable--but alas. Some folks just couldn't let it go.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

If you don't like the results don't ask the question. 4Es main problem then and now is its playstyle. It was designed for peopke who enjoy pushing minis around.

Maybe that was the design intent but it sure worked well without a map or minis. We didn’t use either of those more in our 4e game than we did in our 1e game, maybe even less sine the rules were easier to follow.

 

[Zardnaar]

That's not the problem we're seeing here. In these surveys, the problem was a handful of edition warriors, who got the 4E survey closed after just a few days' worth of voting. It was on track to having the most votes ever--it got hundreds of votes in just a few days, and most of them were favorable--but alas. Some folks just couldn't let it go.

Its not like there isn't a vive around here of 5E is terrible all the casuals are idiots for liking it whu don't you like our superior fish sauce though.

You cant really tell peopke what they like or dislike. 4E has that reaction people don't like it.

Even here on the other survey there a grand total of 3 people playing it. Yet still dealing with claims it was popular. Doesn't bother me what you like knock yourself out. But don't tell others what they can and cant like. You can still play 4E now if you want.

 

[Charlaquin]

That's not the problem we're seeing here. In these surveys, the problem was a handful of edition warriors who got the 4E survey closed after just a few days' worth of voting. It was on track to having the most votes ever--it got hundreds of votes in just a few days, and most of them were favorable--but alas. Some folks just couldn't let it go.

Kinda poisons the data well doesn’t it?

 

[Lanefan]

Maybe that was the design intent but it sure worked well without a map or minis. We didn’t use either of those more in our 4e game than we did in our 1e game, maybe even less sine the rules were easier to follow.

Curious: how did you referee or adjudicate all the push-pull-slide forced movement effects and terrain location and effects if running totm?

Or did you bust out battlemats for combats only and run it totm the rest of the time?

 

[CleverNickName]

Kinda poisons the data well doesn’t it?

It really does. I don't know what it is about That Edition, but it's been out of print for more than a decade and people are still aching to fight each other over it. It's still somehow too soon.