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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4878431" data-attributes="member: 80487">In all my experience, it has mattered so little which old edition of D&D was in mind when material was composed that some people were not even aware of the Gygaxian conceit that they were different games. That one did not need to know the rules of 2E to use a scenario with 1E, or of 1E to use one with Basic/Expert or Original, was amply demonstrated by people doing just that. A monster from Empire of the Petal Throne or The Arduin Grimoire could be plugged into any of the above without a second thought (as could one from Metamorphosis Alpha, unless a mutation gave pause).That's wherein lies the big difference to which I referred. "Old school" material is not so useful to players of WotC-D&D, or 4E material to 3E players, or any vice-versa, because it requires conversion work. Even after one has worked out a phrase-book translation of terms, one must deal with radical differences in how the factors interact.To ignore degrees and kinds of difference is to make comparisons meaningless. It is unfortunate that the interaction of corporate culture and geek culture has created such a strong incentive to engage in that as a means to claiming certain words as a form of validation.It does seem like a departure from the thread's topic, though, so I will leave the floor to others to put in whatever last words may seem appropriate.</blockquote>