I Love Old School Games

[TwoSix]

I don't know what the point of this argument is in the context of this thread. Is it just to defend new games? Or to disparage old games? I mean, if I said, "I love ice cream, it's so cool and flavorful and rich!" and you made sure to point out that sherbet is also cool and flavorful and rich, and moreover some ice cream is gross, I'd wonder what you were on about.

The point is you don't love "old-school" games, you love games that are "concise and thematic and esoteric and Gm facing and complete in 60-odd pages". That's not the same thing as "old-school".

When your entire post title is a misnomer, you shouldn't be shocked to get pushback.

 

[Reynard]

The point is you don't love "old-school" games, you love games that are "concise and thematic and esoteric and Gm facing and complete in 60-odd pages". That's not the same thing as "old-school".

When your entire post title is a misnomer, you shouldn't be shocked to get pushback.

I find it a little strange you are comfortable asserting to me what I myself meant.

You may have noticed I did not say that the only reason I loved old school games was because they were concise. I also mentioned a few other qualities, all of which are encapsulated by Gamma World 1st Edition. I am a little at a loss how someone can look at that and think, "Oh, yeah, just like Fate Condensed."

No. Not like Fate Condensed. At all. (and for the record, I LIKE Fate)

 

[TwoSix]

I find it a little strange you are comfortable asserting to me what I myself meant.

You may have noticed I did not say that the only reason I loved old school games was because they were concise. I also mentioned a few other qualities, all of which are encapsulated by Gamma World 1st Edition. I am a little at a loss how someone can look at that and think, "Oh, yeah, just like Fate Condensed."

No. Not like Fate Condensed. At all. (and for the record, I LIKE Fate)

No worries, I don't mind helping. I'm very charitable.

 

[Umbran]

I find it a little strange you are comfortable asserting to me what I myself meant.

Your words should say what you mean. You didn't say there were other major factors. "Among other things, these games are X, Y, and Z," would have done it.

 

[el-remmen]

1999 was already over 20 years ago!

Reminds me of when my students write something like this for their papers at the end of my "Writing About Film" unit: "The classic film, The Matrix may have come out before I was born, but. . . "

 

[MGibster]

Huh. In my head it's the reverse -- a lot of older games feel bloated, while more modern games feel more streamlined. I guess it depends on which games you look at! aD&D, Rolemaster, Traveller... lots of big (in both sense of the word) RPGs from the 70s and 80s.

I'm of the same opinion regarding the majority of old school games but it kind of messes with my mind. I have very fond memories of AD&D, Palladium, GURPS, any many other games but I would not care to play them today. I've also noticed a lot of old school strategy games are like that too. Battletech, Star Fleet Battles, Car Wars, and others were tons of fun to play in the 80s and early 90s but I don't care to play them now. I actually played Battletech in December 2019 and halfway through the game I realized why I stopped playing.

There are some RPGs from the era which I think have aged very well. Star Wars and Ghostbusters from WEG immediately comes to mind.

 

[MGibster]

Any definition of "old school" that includes games from 1999 is pretty useless.

Let me tell you about the first time I heard Guns 'n Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" on the classic hits station...

 

[Arilyn]

1999 was already over 20 years ago!

Reminds me of when my students write something like this for their papers at the end of my "Writing About Film" unit: "The classic film, The Matrix may have come out before I was born, but. . . "

Oh yes. I teach adults. One of my students who is in her mid 20s commented about how she can't watch most old movies because of the acting. My mind immediately leapt to the 30s to 60s. She was thinking 80s and 90s...

 

[el-remmen]

Oh yes. I teach adults. One of my students who is in her mid 20s commented about how she can't watch most old movies because of the acting. My mind immediately leapt to the 30s to 60s. She was thinking 80s and 90s...

Technically, I teach adults, too. They are just 18 to 22 year old adults, most frequently.

 

[Reynard]

Your words should say what you mean. You didn't say there were other major factors. "Among other things, these games are X, Y, and Z," would have done it.

My OP:

I just bought Gamma World 1E on a whim -- I am prepping to run Modiphius' Fallout 2d20 RPG so I have post-apocalyptic on the brain -- and man I love the Old School vibe of game design. It is concise and thematic and esoteric and Gm facing and complete in 60-odd pages. As much as there are things about modern RPGs, both in design and aesthetic, that I like, they feel bloated and unwieldy and overwrought at times. Even OSR games fail at this, turning games like B/X (100 pages combined) into 2 or 3 times that length for no real benefit.

So, yeah -- old school games are really great.

And just to be clear, this was never intended to be an attack on any sort of game, just an expression of the actual joy I felt reading through Gamma World 1E.