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Understanding the Design Principles in Early D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8592927" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>I appreciate your feedback, but as I often have to say ... it is great when people <em><strong>read the post before committing to making an argumentative comment. </strong></em>I know that I use words - lots of words. Some of them are big. And there are jokes, too. But it really pays off sometimes to read the whole thing! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Here is a little further into the OP-</p><p><em>And then there was 1e (AD&D). By 1979, with the publication of the DMG, the core three books of 1e were complete. Now, looking back <strong>it's very hard to understand the intent of 1e just by reading what Gygax wrote in the core books</strong> and his columns in Dragon Magazine. One reason for the difficulty is that Gygax contained multitudes, and would often contradict himself by the end of any given paragraph. <strong>More importantly, however, you have to understand the internal battles that he was going through</strong>; we all have the struggle between the angels of our better nature and the demons that drive us, and Gygax was no different. Specifically, he came from a hobbyist background, where rules and ideas were exchanged freely, and people were expected and encouraged to tinker. <strong>But by the time of 1e, he had interests to defend</strong>; he had a product, and he didn't want competition riding on his coattails. <strong>It was a strange dichotomy, and one you can see playing out- he both encourages people to tinker with the game and make it their own, <u>while claiming that 1e is a complete system.</u></strong></em></p><p></p><p>Anyway, Gygax (and others) have repeatedly said that they never ran AD&D, and never expected anyone to run it as a complete system.</p><p></p><p>But sure, your critique sounds interesting, considering it relies on source material I've never seen (sorry, that's sarcastic).</p><p></p><p>I do love to learn more and will incorporate it into future posts. If you add some of the source interviews that I haven't seen yet, please feel free to post them, although note that it would go against the great weight of current authority as I understand it.</p><p></p><p>Thanks.</p><p></p><p></p><p>ETA- just to be clear, when I write that I didn't have my books handy, I didn't mean the PHB or DMG. I mean the books I look at when I am researching more in-depth posts- books like <em>Playing at the World</em> and <em>The Elusive Shift</em>. The information about Gygax's shift w/r/t AD&D can also be gleaned by <em>Game Wizards. </em>You are welcome to look through my past posts on those topics.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8592927, member: 7023840"] I appreciate your feedback, but as I often have to say ... it is great when people [I][B]read the post before committing to making an argumentative comment. [/B][/I]I know that I use words - lots of words. Some of them are big. And there are jokes, too. But it really pays off sometimes to read the whole thing! :) Here is a little further into the OP- [I]And then there was 1e (AD&D). By 1979, with the publication of the DMG, the core three books of 1e were complete. Now, looking back [B]it's very hard to understand the intent of 1e just by reading what Gygax wrote in the core books[/B] and his columns in Dragon Magazine. One reason for the difficulty is that Gygax contained multitudes, and would often contradict himself by the end of any given paragraph. [B]More importantly, however, you have to understand the internal battles that he was going through[/B]; we all have the struggle between the angels of our better nature and the demons that drive us, and Gygax was no different. Specifically, he came from a hobbyist background, where rules and ideas were exchanged freely, and people were expected and encouraged to tinker. [B]But by the time of 1e, he had interests to defend[/B]; he had a product, and he didn't want competition riding on his coattails. [B]It was a strange dichotomy, and one you can see playing out- he both encourages people to tinker with the game and make it their own, [U]while claiming that 1e is a complete system.[/U][/B][/I] Anyway, Gygax (and others) have repeatedly said that they never ran AD&D, and never expected anyone to run it as a complete system. But sure, your critique sounds interesting, considering it relies on source material I've never seen (sorry, that's sarcastic). I do love to learn more and will incorporate it into future posts. If you add some of the source interviews that I haven't seen yet, please feel free to post them, although note that it would go against the great weight of current authority as I understand it. Thanks. ETA- just to be clear, when I write that I didn't have my books handy, I didn't mean the PHB or DMG. I mean the books I look at when I am researching more in-depth posts- books like [I]Playing at the World[/I] and [I]The Elusive Shift[/I]. The information about Gygax's shift w/r/t AD&D can also be gleaned by [I]Game Wizards. [/I]You are welcome to look through my past posts on those topics. [/QUOTE]
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