D&D 5E Ray Winninger, in charge of D&D, states his old school bonefides.

[dave2008]

Huh. This is an interesting loophole. Do you have any examples of folks doing this to get older rules into their products?

Not off the top of my head.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It is too bad that Old School now has two meanings. There is the legit Old School that wants the older mechanics and crunch in their games and there are the ones who use "Old School" as a code phrase for wanting to keep in all the racist and sexist elements of the older games that 5E has been slowly eliminating. So let's just hope that Ray was not being tricking into replying by one of those people. Nu-TSR can have all of them.

 

[Hatmatter]

That's neat and all...but, 1) doesn't he have better things to do...like literally anything involving life, and; 2) why give the whiny gatekeepers the attention?

Maybe because he cares. He sounds like a nice guy.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Keymaster?

Are you a god?

Pssst... when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "yes"!

 

[darjr]

What is it Ray!

It's the stay puffed marshmallow man.

 

[Dire Bare]

The disclaimer on some of the older products on DMs Guild seems to be the biggest point I've seen with where a lot of older gamers take issue. The original product is there and completely intact (no alterations to the actual original work), and it's not throwing people under the bus or disrespectful to explain that ideas within would be products of their own time.

I think it's largely a generational gap-thing, where the younger generations would notice obvious issues if they were to read through some of the older products today, where the older generation lived through that time and automatically associate it with the time it was printed in (or in some cases, don't see any issue with some of those elements which... is it's own problem we don't need to get into at the moment). It's a good thing to remind a newer audience the context of when they were written.

Age has something to do with it, but it's not really about age or what generation you hail from. I'm Gen-X, started playing D&D in the 80s with the Elmore-cover Red Box, I love classic old-school D&D, and I love many of the newer games that are a part of the OSR movement. If you're old, if you love old-school D&D, that doesn't make you blind to the systemic problems in some of those earlier products. It doesn't mean you have a problem with WotC's current direction with D&D, or that you resent the current reflections on racism and sexism in the game.

It's about fragility vs resilience. You can love a thing, like old-school D&D, and still acknowledge what's problematic with it. You can acknowledge that when you were younger, you didn't see those problems, and might not have seen them until very recently when the spotlight was shown on them . . . you can acknowledge your part in the problem, not get caught up in blame, and strive to do better, personally and in what you support. Those who cannot, or will not, see those problems in our game, are fragile rather than resilient.

 

[Dire Bare]

I really wasn't thinking of older products at all. Specifically, I was thinking about the Campaign Guides line. When 5E first came out, there seemed to be a ton of buzz over what classical settings would be released; Planescape for instance, according to Mearls, was "on the radar"! But over the years we've seen 5 new settings (3 MtG, a Penny Arcade, a Critical Role setting), Ebberon (a 3E setting), and another Ravenloft product (cool, but a bit of a bummer since we already had the Curse adventure and its re-release version). A bit disappointing for older fans.

My line about being "embarrassed of the past" was mostly in regards to WotC breaking away from Dragonlance and its creators over problematic material. I think that was a pretty good indication of how strongly they felt about Classical D&D considering the time, money, and energy that took...

Maybe not though? It seems to me they realized there was some neglect since they announced that 3 classical settings were in the works. I guess we'll wait and see if they stick close enough to the material to get the old fans to buy books again.

So . . . . since not every product is a repackaging of an older setting, some are new . . . that's somehow abandoning older fans?

Regarding Dragonlance, you know not of which you speak. Simply because, none of us do. You are basing your opinions on rumors. And your problem with the supposed situation is the same problem as others have with the disclaimers on the older products on the Guild? Gotcha.

The fact that most of the hardcover adventures harken back to classic old-school modules is lost on you? The reboot of Ravenloft? Ghosts of Saltmarsh?

WotC isn't catering SOLELY to older fans, that doesn't equate to abandoning them. WotC loves you. But it's not all about you, either.

 

[Mercurius]

Are you a god?

Pssst... when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "yes"!

What is it Ray!

It's the stay puffed marshmallow man.

I just re-watched this about a week ago. Still such a fun film.

 

[Lanefan]

Keymaster?

Isn't that just a fancy term for "locksmith"?

 

[Jahydin]

So . . . . since not every product is a repackaging of an older setting, some are new . . . that's somehow abandoning older fans?

Regarding Dragonlance, you know not of which you speak. Simply because, none of us do. You are basing your opinions on rumors. And your problem with the supposed situation is the same problem as others have with the disclaimers on the older products on the Guild? Gotcha.

The fact that most of the hardcover adventures harken back to classic old-school modules is lost on you? The reboot of Ravenloft? Ghosts of Saltmarsh?

WotC isn't catering SOLELY to older fans, that doesn't equate to abandoning them. WotC loves you. But it's not all about you, either.

The adventures are not lost on me. That's why I said the Campaign Guides specifically. It would be nice to see more classical settings in that format rather than in a mega adventure. For those that like to write their own adventures, they're just more useful. Again, nothing to do with the disclaimer issue.

Regarding Dragonlance, from the creators' claim:
"During the writing process, Defendant proposed certain changes in keeping with the modern-day zeitgeist of a more inclusive and diverse story-world."

Implying that was the reason the contract was terminated. A little unfair to say my opinion is based on rumors.

No reason to get lost in the weeds though. My original post was just answering Hussar's question on why OSR fans still care about D&D. My personal experience is I was excited when 5E launched, but over the years D&D has been on a different trajectory (mostly tone and feel) that I'm less then thrilled about; I think I've purchased three books in the last six years. I still like the system though, and appreciate Ray's Tweet and the fact there is multiple classic settings on the horizon. Maybe it will get me back playing again.

I'll just be playing Worlds without Number until then.