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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 3319492" data-attributes="member: 22882">I think in general, most people who preferred 2e to 1e either prefer 3e to both, or moved on to non-D&D systems like World of Darkness or even 'indie' RPGs.Also, 2e is in an underlying sense the MOST DIFFERENT of the various D&D editions.  Although much closer to 1e mechanically, its design philosophy and expected model of play are very different.  2e is by far the least "gamist," to borrow probably the most useful of Forgite terms, edition of D&D - following in the footsteps of Dragonlance, it's strongly about setting and story, with gameplay (and player choice) taking a back seat.2e was primarily about collaborative storytelling - emphasis very much on the storytelling, not the collaboration.  The assumed model of play, based on the modules, the ratio of setting info to crunch, and reports many players I've talked to IRL and online, seems to have been on the DM telling a story (either his own or an adventure writer's) and the players piping in with their characters' lines and generally enjoying the ride.The emphasis, in practical terms, turned out not to be on 'enjoying.'Now, in that philosophical sense, I prefer 2e to 1e.  As either a DM or a player, I like a strong, game- or GM-driven plot.  However, I recognize this is a rare preference among tabletop RPG players.  The philosophical innovations of that 2e were rejected by a large majority of existing D&D player's - check Ryan Dancey's stats about the cataclysmic falloff in RPG sales in the wake of 2e's launch, long before either Magic the Gathering or 'Setting-itis' had time to work their oft-cited 'magic' on the fanbase, for details.  And unlike 1e and especially Basic D&D, 2e never found a target market for its assumed style of play.MY biggest problem with 2e, in terms of my personal enjoyment, was that while the default play assumptions changed and the game mechanics were cleaned up and clarified, the rules themselves *didn't really change*.  And while 1e's rules are by no means high on my favorites list, they did at least facilitate sandbox roleplay and dungeon crawls, or some combination of the two, fairly well.  Strong central narrative control coupled with urban adventuring, tight plotting and wide genre variance?  Not so much.I firmly believe a game intended to play like 2e, with the immense amount of creativity and panache that went into 2e's settings, with strong narrative control for the GM, with wide genre variance, could work.  But it couldn't work (as well) with D&D's rules then, and wouldn't with the modern D&D rules now; the mechanics don't mesh at all with the model of play, inevitably creating expectations on both sides of the screen that won't be met by the official material.</blockquote>

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