It's funny how so many of these arguments are nearly identical to old-school vs new-school MMRPG arguments as well. In both, the new games are seen as being too "dumbed down", too "kiddy", or too "easy mode". They resent the attempts to make the game more accessible to a wider audience and attempts to be more fun (and less brutal) presumably because they feel that a new generation of gamers have it too easy and this somehow belittles their "geek cred".
I don't care if people want to play old school. I had good times with the old versions, but I have no desire to go back, but some do. I do realize that there are some good reasons to continue playing old school. If you have a group that has always played it, has had fun, continues to have fun and are content with what you have, go for it. If you don't want to invest in new books, totally understandable. If you want to save money by going retro, that's fine. If you have a group of players that like the old brutal games and prefer more complicated mechanics, that's fine. If you just want to go 'retro' and see what it was like, that's fine too.
However, I do take issue with the folks that come in and try to belittle not only the new version, but the new players (or old players that have converted) as well. The average old-schoolers doesn't bug me, it's old-schooler elitists that get under my skin; the type that amount to anti-fanboys. I would play an old version game with the former, but I don't even like to discuss gaming with the latter. Again, the MMRPG world has the same type of irrational types as well, such as the types of folks that believe that the race, class, or faction that you play has some bearing on your maturity, intelligence, or skill. It's bunk, but I digress.
I'm tempted to point out that some of these folks fail to understand that the average person prefers games that are more fun, easier to understand, and less sadistic. I could point this out, but I think they already know. I say this because I've seen repeated comments about how 4th Ed "encourages too many players of the type that we don't want". I can't imagine what type of person is seen as a socially undesirable among a geek niche hobby... Maybe they are trying to keep away the "normals". ;-)
It's true though, it does draw in types of players that weren't drawn in before. In fact, just yesterday, I was sitting at a 4E D&D table with a group that included 2 sets of married couples. We got into a sidetrack discussion about previous editions of D&D. During the course of the discussion, both of the wives commented how they don't think they could play those old versions, that they didn't sound fun at all. I've heard the exact same story from others as well in regards to spouses, significant others, children, and parents. This kind of stuff speaks volumes about the new edition.
People who prefer old school are welcome to play, and I wish them tons of fun. They just need to accept the fact that they are in a minority, and that most people simply don't prefer that style. That's ok, they don't have to. Just remember that this doesn't make you better player, a stronger roleplayer, or a smarter person. It also doesn't make you worse player, weaker roleplayer or dumber person. You just prefer a different style of game, and it's a style that is of limited appeal to the general populace. You are playing a niche style of a niche game in a niche hobby. Again, that's ok. There's no reason to feel defensive about it, and there's even less reason to go on the offensive about it.
Everyone play and have fun, and don't worry if someone else, that doesn't affect you, is playing something different.
I don't care if people want to play old school. I had good times with the old versions, but I have no desire to go back, but some do. I do realize that there are some good reasons to continue playing old school. If you have a group that has always played it, has had fun, continues to have fun and are content with what you have, go for it. If you don't want to invest in new books, totally understandable. If you want to save money by going retro, that's fine. If you have a group of players that like the old brutal games and prefer more complicated mechanics, that's fine. If you just want to go 'retro' and see what it was like, that's fine too.
However, I do take issue with the folks that come in and try to belittle not only the new version, but the new players (or old players that have converted) as well. The average old-schoolers doesn't bug me, it's old-schooler elitists that get under my skin; the type that amount to anti-fanboys. I would play an old version game with the former, but I don't even like to discuss gaming with the latter. Again, the MMRPG world has the same type of irrational types as well, such as the types of folks that believe that the race, class, or faction that you play has some bearing on your maturity, intelligence, or skill. It's bunk, but I digress.
I'm tempted to point out that some of these folks fail to understand that the average person prefers games that are more fun, easier to understand, and less sadistic. I could point this out, but I think they already know. I say this because I've seen repeated comments about how 4th Ed "encourages too many players of the type that we don't want". I can't imagine what type of person is seen as a socially undesirable among a geek niche hobby... Maybe they are trying to keep away the "normals". ;-)
It's true though, it does draw in types of players that weren't drawn in before. In fact, just yesterday, I was sitting at a 4E D&D table with a group that included 2 sets of married couples. We got into a sidetrack discussion about previous editions of D&D. During the course of the discussion, both of the wives commented how they don't think they could play those old versions, that they didn't sound fun at all. I've heard the exact same story from others as well in regards to spouses, significant others, children, and parents. This kind of stuff speaks volumes about the new edition.
People who prefer old school are welcome to play, and I wish them tons of fun. They just need to accept the fact that they are in a minority, and that most people simply don't prefer that style. That's ok, they don't have to. Just remember that this doesn't make you better player, a stronger roleplayer, or a smarter person. It also doesn't make you worse player, weaker roleplayer or dumber person. You just prefer a different style of game, and it's a style that is of limited appeal to the general populace. You are playing a niche style of a niche game in a niche hobby. Again, that's ok. There's no reason to feel defensive about it, and there's even less reason to go on the offensive about it.
Everyone play and have fun, and don't worry if someone else, that doesn't affect you, is playing something different.
