NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4863803" data-attributes="member: 467">I think this is one of the reasons why D&D looks the way it does today, and this is the true "generation gap" (with acknowledgement that a lot of people cross the gap, too.)  Simply put, the influences are different -- different in style, tone and atmosphere.  Even leaving literature out of it, just the film differences are amazing. Excalibur used to be one of the ultimate "gamer" movies.  How many "new" gamers (i.e. those that came to D&D with 3E) have even seen it, let alone consider it an exemplary work? Back before we had Jackson's LotR trilogy, we had Ladyhawk and The Dark Crystal. Fantasy in film was not so much more "realistic" but it tended to be more "grounded" -- mostly because of the limits on special effects, I think, but also due to style. While not a fantasy per se, the Matrix redefined genre film from a stylistic and visual standpoint (due in no small part to anime influnces) and that informs the kind of "geek culture" that both feeds and feeds off D&D and related games.Modern genre entertainment tends toward the super-heroic, regardless of the actual genre, and it tends toward badassitude as a major selling point for its heroes. There's less fear, trepidation, uncertainty and just plain retreat and/or failure in modern stories, regardless of medium, than there is in stories from just one or two decades ago. Blame John McCain or Hulk Hogan (yes, pro wrestling is genre entertainment) if you want, but the "action hero" is one who gets "bloodied" but never goes down, who always pulls out a badass move in the end and wins the day. Compare this to earlier, when even Conan was terrified of the undead or demons or magic.I'm not that old, but my preferences lean toward "gritty" and "sword and sorcery", with a big old heaping helping of lovecraftian horror and the attitude that sometimes just getting out with all four limbs attached is a "victory". That, and I prefer it when one can assume "it works just like the real world" unless there's an explicit point at which it doesn't.It should be no surprise that I prefer AD&D 1E above all other versions of the game, but am comfortable with any edition before 4th (though 3E only up till about 12th level). It's not just the anime inspired kung fu attitude -- I love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for example -- but the disconnect from "realism" and "simulation" that creates my generation gap.</blockquote>

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