D&D General Playing at the World 2nd Edition, Volume 1, The Invention of Dungeons and Dragons

[darjr]

Jon Peterson's Playing at the World was the serious attempt at the history of this hobby I was always looking for. Sadly I was never able to buy a copy. Now it looks like the 2nd edition is real.

Jon Peterson studies the history of games, especially tabletop role-playing games and wargames. His first book, "Playing at the World," was called "the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons" by the Village Voice.

There isn't a cover as of yet. Edit: the cover is now out!

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Playing at the World, 2E

The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.This...

mitpress.mit.edu

Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 1: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons (Game Histories)

The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games. This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This...

mitpressbookstore.mit.edu

He's also posting fascinating things at this blog.

Playing at the World

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

 

[overgeeked]

Jon Peterson's Playing at the World was the serious attempt at the history of this hobby I was always looking for. Sadly I was never able to buy a copy. Now it looks like the 2nd edition is real.

Jon Peterson studies the history of games, especially tabletop role-playing games and wargames. His first book, "Playing at the World," was called "the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons" by the Village Voice.

There isn't a cover as of yet.

Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 1: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons (Game Histories)

The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games. This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This...

mitpressbookstore.mit.edu

He's also posting fascinating things at this blog.

Playing at the World

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

That’s great. I wonder how he’s going to split the content and what updates he’s going to do.

 

[Alzrius]

I wonder if there'll be a conversion guide for those of us who preferred the first edition.

(All joking aside, I'm curious what this new iteration of the classic title has that its predecessor lacked.)

 

[Reynard]

He's also posting fascinating things at this blog.

Playing at the World

playingattheworld.blogspot.com

Not recently, sadly. But there is a lot of really good stuff on that blog.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That’s great. I wonder how he’s going to split the content and what updates he’s going to do.

I'm (slightly) more interested in whether or not he's doing a "re-write."

I am an unabashed fan of his historical work. That said, I think that his writing style has evolved since he first wrote PaTW, and done do so to retain his core strength (objective analysis based on source material) while making his books much more readable.

PaTW was wonderful scholarship, but it wasn't nearly as compelling as his later books. I hope that, in addition to updating it with the information he learned while researching his later books, he also does a re-write to make it a better (more readable) book.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm (slightly) more interested in whether or not he's doing a "re-write."

I am an unabashed fan of his historical work. That said, I think that his writing style has evolved since he first wrote PaTW, and done do so to retain his core strength (objective analysis based on source material) while making his books much more readable.

PaTW was wonderful scholarship, but it wasn't nearly as compelling as his later books. I hope that, in addition to updating it with the information he learned while researching his later books, he also does a re-write to make it a better (more readable) book.

Absolutely fair. It was more of a slog to read than his others. That sounds like it would be a huge undertaking. But yeah. That would be nice. Especially for other people who haven’t already read the original. The info is too good to be locked behind dense prose.

 

[Parmandur]

Awesome!

 

[Reynard]

I'm (slightly) more interested in whether or not he's doing a "re-write."

I am an unabashed fan of his historical work. That said, I think that his writing style has evolved since he first wrote PaTW, and done do so to retain his core strength (objective analysis based on source material) while making his books much more readable.

PaTW was wonderful scholarship, but it wasn't nearly as compelling as his later books. I hope that, in addition to updating it with the information he learned while researching his later books, he also does a re-write to make it a better (more readable) book.

I would love to see him enhance the accessibility of the original book in the 2nd edition. The things that led to invention of D&D are fascinating and I feel like people who might otherwise be interested are put off by the massive tome and academic style.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'm (slightly) more interested in whether or not he's doing a "re-write."

I am an unabashed fan of his historical work. That said, I think that his writing style has evolved since he first wrote PaTW, and done do so to retain his core strength (objective analysis based on source material) while making his books much more readable.

PaTW was wonderful scholarship, but it wasn't nearly as compelling as his later books. I hope that, in addition to updating it with the information he learned while researching his later books, he also does a re-write to make it a better (more readable) book.

Agreed. Playing at the World was data-dense, but not as readable as his subsequent works.

 

[darjr]

Oh the cover is now live!