I'm stunned, I tell ya, stunned.
Happy to hear of another convert. No reason one can not play OD&D and still enjoy other versions of the game, or other RPGs altogether. I know I do.
The must crucial element, if you ask me (but who the hell asked me?), to enjoying OD&D or any other rules light game is trust in the DM/Referee.
3.x has all the rules, in black and white. So if a player wants his PC to take some particular action then he probably already knows what sort of roll will be required, and all the possible consequences of success or failure. With OD&D, the rule may not already be written or in use in the game. Oftentimes the referee decides, seemingly on-the-fly, what sort of roll, if any, should be made. If the players do not trust the referee/DM, or if the actually see him as an adversary, then there will be all sorts of debate over whether the game is fair.
I don't know if I could run OD&D, or even if I could play in a game run by someone other than diaglo. The guy has so much faith in the game, and runs it with such confidence, and honestly the rules just seem to disappear into the background. Last session I never even looked at my character sheet. I think this is what people mean about the rules not getting in the way of role playing.
Best of luck to Crothian, and to your group.
