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<blockquote data-quote="Schmoe" data-source="post: 7371721" data-attributes="member: 913">I think you're being way too dismissive of what he actually said.When I played D&amp;D, because the rulebooks are so opaque, a large part of the game was rife was subsystems, idiosyncratic approaches to microcosms of encounters, and exploring the game was about exploring these subsystems.&nbsp; This ladder required a save vs. petrification to descend due to moisture in the air, that ladder required Wisdom checks every 20' to ascend because of the fear of heights.&nbsp; Sometimes you would find a gem of a ruling tucked away in the corners of a book, and knowing when to apply that ruling was an &quot;aha&quot; moment that brings a certain sense of satisfaction.&nbsp; Other times an adventure would contain marvelous mini-games that brought challenge and uniqueness to each scenario.&nbsp; 1e was rife with rules and systems like that due to its very nature.&nbsp; In my mind, D&amp;D gradually moved away from the arbitrariness that 1e required, and 3e finally codified everything in a unified system.&nbsp; Whereas in 1e a Death Dog might do 1-10 per attack &quot;just because&quot;, maybe because the designers wanted it to be really freaking deadly, in 3e it would just do 1-6 because medium creatures do 1d6 with a bite attack.&nbsp; Things became much more formulaic and, in the process, may have lost some of the charm of the earlier systems.&nbsp; But unquestionably the game lost the aspect of rules exploration that was so prevalent for me and my friends, and that was always something I enjoyed.&nbsp; It's a pleasure all its own that is hard to replicate in any other way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Schmoe, post: 7371721, member: 913"] I think you're being way too dismissive of what he actually said. When I played D&D, because the rulebooks are so opaque, a large part of the game was rife was subsystems, idiosyncratic approaches to microcosms of encounters, and exploring the game was about exploring these subsystems. [i]This[/i] ladder required a save vs. petrification to descend due to moisture in the air, [i]that[/i] ladder required Wisdom checks every 20' to ascend because of the fear of heights. Sometimes you would find a gem of a ruling tucked away in the corners of a book, and knowing when to apply that ruling was an "aha" moment that brings a certain sense of satisfaction. Other times an adventure would contain marvelous mini-games that brought challenge and uniqueness to each scenario. 1e was rife with rules and systems like that due to its very nature. In my mind, D&D gradually moved away from the arbitrariness that 1e required, and 3e finally codified everything in a unified system. Whereas in 1e a Death Dog might do 1-10 per attack "just because", maybe because the designers wanted it to be really freaking deadly, in 3e it would just do 1-6 because medium creatures do 1d6 with a bite attack. Things became much more formulaic and, in the process, may have lost some of the charm of the earlier systems. But unquestionably the game lost the aspect of rules exploration that was so prevalent for me and my friends, and that was always something I enjoyed. It's a pleasure all its own that is hard to replicate in any other way. [/QUOTE]

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