How did you play back in the day? - forked from Q's Leveling Comparisons

[Doug McCrae]

The original assertion being tested was that megadungeon play was the "norm" back in the golden days of early 1e play. As in, most campaigns mostly used megadungeons. I think that the way the poll is worded is exactly right for testing that assertion.

Ariosto was going even further than that.

Your personal experience of having never encountered a traditional dungeon, to the extent that you seem even to doubt that Gygax intended it to be normative, is suggestive.

Normative -
1. of or pertaining to a norm, esp. an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behavior, speech, writing, etc.

The obfuscatory language conceals just how ludicrous the claim is. He was implying that mega-dungeons were not just commonplace, but best practice.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Ariosto was going even further than that.



Normative -
1. of or pertaining to a norm, esp. an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behavior, speech, writing, etc.

The obfuscatory language conceals just how ludicrous the claim is. He was implying that mega-dungeons were not just commonplace, but best practice.

normative (relating to or dealing with norms) "normative discipline"; "normative samples"

norm (a standard or model or pattern regarded as typical) "the current middle-class norm of two children per family"

WordNet Search - 3.0

Is it possible to avoid putting words into people's mouths here?


RC

 

[Hand of Evil]

Hey, I fought and killed a dragon in a 10x10 room!

My answer, mega-dungeons. 1977 to 1985 - Did not know there were any other kind until I saw the modules at my first GenCon!

 

[Korgoth]

The original assertion being tested was that megadungeon play was the "norm" back in the golden days of early 1e play. As in, most campaigns mostly used megadungeons. I think that the way the poll is worded is exactly right for testing that assertion.

The problem is, what Hussar said was that 3% played in megadungeons and 97% didn't.

I could do that, too. Here's a poll:

Do you still beat your wife
() Yes
() No

With that poll I can prove that 100% of EN Worlders beat their wives.

 

[Storm Raven]

The problem is, what Hussar said was that 3% played in megadungeons and 97% didn't.

I could do that, too. Here's a poll:

Do you still beat your wife
() Yes
() No

With that poll I can prove that 100% of EN Worlders beat their wives.

Use a little more hyperbole, and take statements out of conbtext a little more next time.

 

[Desdichado]

Homebrew intrigue/wilderness games, mostly, or weird duel-games. Never had any interest in megadungeons in the least, and our adventures weren't tenuously linked, they all flowed together like a seamless story.

 

[Umbran]

The obfuscatory language conceals just how ludicrous the claim is. He was implying that mega-dungeons were not just commonplace, but best practice.

Um, Doug, you are assuming that he read your definition before writing, so that he could only mean it in the strict way you state it. Mayhaps you ought to ask if he meant it that way before you make accusations of deliberate obfuscation, hm?

Everyone, please - the English language is only a scientific instrument in certain very formal settings, of which this is not one. If you nitpick enough, you'll find faults in most prolonged statements.

It isn't like you get a prize for "winning" the argument, people. So how about we cut each other a little slack and, you know, be nice to each other instead of ripping everything said into tiny pieces to score points.

 

[Obryn]

I frankly can't remember a lot of how we played AD&D way back when. I know it was mixed in with B/X and CMI (yes, interchangeably). I think I just threw stuff at them and we went with it, but I don't remember 100%. Or even 10%. I remember some character sheets (my brother's Magic-User Zeron and my neighor's fighter Smart), and where I DMed from (on a staircase, since it had a ledge)... but that's mostly it.

I know I used a lot of modules - both BECMI and AD&D ones - but don't remember stringing them together meaningfully. That's what I picked for the poll, though. That was more middle school than elementary school, but I think it counts!

I am sure, since I wasn't even 10 when I started DMing, that I didn't have anything as formal as a "sandbox." I was literally a kid.

I do remember we played a little more Marvel FASERIP than D&D for a long stretch, though. And we certainly used a lot of modules for that!

-O

 

[BryonD]

The problem is, what Hussar said was that 3% played in megadungeons and 97% didn't.

I could do that, too. Here's a poll:

Do you still beat your wife
() Yes
() No

With that poll I can prove that 100% of EN Worlders beat their wives.

funny how the same analogy comes up so easily.......

maybe there is an underlying pattern....

 

[jdrakeh]

"Something Else" — our AD&D 1e DM has his own campaign setting. This setting included at least one mega-dungeon (that we flirted with only briefly) and he dropped in some modules (Saltmarsh was in there, IIRC, as was the Tomb of Horrors) with slight adjustments, but it was mainly a nautical campaign.