How many years does it take for an RPG to become nostalgic, for you?

[Wofano Wotanto]

Depends a lot on how old I was when I was most involved with a game, which doesn't always correspond at all closely to date of publication (or going OOP, for that matter). The group(s) I played with are a major influence as well, not always for the better - probably be a lot more nostalgic for some Palladium games if I hadn't mostly played them with some people I cannot stand thinking about these days, for ex.

Of the 90s, I'm nostalgic of DragonDice by TSR. We played it at the local store and had tournaments. It was fun. Then it die abruptly.

You probably already know, but the game isn't dead. Still grinding along selling whatever fans are left and any new bloods they draw in. Yeah, you probably won't find stores running events or casual pick-up games, but if you put some work into making contact I bet you get some table time for your dice at a convention meet-up or something. You never can tell where you'll stumble over a fellow player even for more obscure games.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It's less about year/time gone by as it is the emotions those games provoked then compared to now. I love the classic D&D archetype that was basic, 1st and 2nd edition of D&D, for example. I have great memories of 3.x but it wasn't the same because the D20 system had different mechanics than the previous editions and were more focused on the system. Same with Pathfinder.

I'd agree.

It's not about the amount of time that has passed, nostalgia is, imho, mostly about two things:

1) Early, formative experiences.

2) Good times remembered (even if there's some rose-tinting or editing/forgetting the bad going on).

So for example with videogames, I have much more nostalgia for Dark Age of Camelot, where I had a great time, than I do for EverQuest, where I mostly didn't, despite playing the latter first.

I'm less nostalgic for 2E AD&D than I am for Marvel FASERIP for similar reasons, and despite playing a lot more 2E. I do have a lot of nostalgia for early-mid 4E days (a pretty short period!), but none for 3E. I think a lot of that is because not only was 4E for more fun for a lot of people I played with, I also played it at a certain time in my life and with some really cool people who have since been scattered to the four winds.

 

[aco175]

It seems that Cinderella knew, as well as Ferris.

 

[Committed Hero]

Chalk me up with those nostalgic for Traveller. Although I think part of it was the release of the floppy black books. I would say about 15 or so years, at least.

 

[GreyLord]

I'm not sure that I get nostalgic for games or game rules. Maybe for when I played them and who I played them with. Certain campaigns.

I mean, if we want to say game rules...it would be the first time I play them, if I like them, I get nostalgic? Because then I want to play them again. So....

.001 years???

However, for a certain campaign or specific group I may get nostalgic. I don't know what time limit that would be. Probably after it ends. So...anywhere from a couple months to a year?

 

[aramis erak]

How many years does it take for an RPG to become nostalgic, for you?

I don't know that they do; It's about setting attachment, and that can happen for me on first read...

I genuinely prefer modern count successes systems, so the settings are what I'm attracted by, but I found also that I can't recapture the feels, so I don't try.

 

[Clint_L]

The only game I'm truly nostalgic for is AD&D (1e). You never forget your first.

And it's not the rules I'm nostalgic for (even at the time, I knew a lot of them didn't make sense), it's the experiences, and the books themselves - reading them over and over again.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I am nostalgic for things made in the 80s and 90s but anything from the 2000s on feels like a recent experience. But I am completely different about other media. For example the early 2000s was when I was still in my 20s and doing a lot of stuff so some movies and songs (especially ones related to when I met my wife) I have nostalgia for

 

[schneeland]

Not a matter of years; it’s a matter of period of my life.

A game becomes nostalgic for me when thinking about it reminds me of a period of my life that felt different from my life now. This could be 2 years or 20, it depends how fast life goes

Pretty similar for me (e.g. I'm both nostalgic for playing with my old 3e group from 30 years back, but also for a particular Forbidden Lands game that happened only 5 years ago). Applies to video games, too.

 

[The Soloist]

The only game I'm truly nostalgic for is AD&D (1e). You never forget your first.

And it's not the rules I'm nostalgic for (even at the time, I knew a lot of them didn't make sense), it's the experiences, and the books themselves - reading them over and over again.

I do that too. For me, the rules are the book plus the illustrations. That is why I don't play OSR games. The BX and AD&D illustrations are missing. They are burned into my memory.