OSR What Has Caused the OSR Revival?

[ExploderWizard]

That may be true. But, as you note - is any *single* explanation likely to be sufficient to fully explain *everyone's* likes and dislikes? No!

Having fun is not a nostalgia-driven need, but nostalgia can help drive fun! And I say that it is quite possible to be nostalgic for things you never left - all that is required is happy past associations.

In OSR threads, folks (Perhaps not you, EW) often treat the mention of nostalgia as if it is some dirty word or something that must be excised from the discussion. For a hobby entertainment game, nostalgia is JUST AS GOOD a reason as any other, and should be embraced with all the other reasons!

I don't consider nostalgia to be a dirty word or anything it just doesn't really fit as reason to continue doing something that would otherwise not be enjoyable. If one were to be nostalgic about something it might prompt them to revisit it but if that something didn't offer further enjoyment on its own merits then the revisit would remain brief.

 

[Umbran]

I don't consider nostalgia to be a dirty word or anything it just doesn't really fit as reason to continue doing something that would otherwise not be enjoyable. If one were to be nostalgic about something it might prompt them to revisit it but if that something didn't offer further enjoyment on its own merits then the revisit would remain brief.

I think you state it as too digital. Memory and prior association can influence current perceptions. Things that would bug you in a new game may not seem an issue in a game for which you have nostalgic feelings. So, game that whose design you might otherwise consider mediocre could become one you run for a long time with support of nostalgia.

When the point is to have fun, there's no problem with this - however you have fun, you're having it, and that's a goodness!

 

[Bedrockgames]

I think you state it as too digital. Memory and prior association can influence current perceptions. Things that would bug you in a new game may not seem an issue in a game for which you have nostalgic feelings. So, game that whose design you might otherwise consider mediocre could become one you run for a long time with support of nostalgia.

When the point is to have fun, there's no problem with this - however you have fun, you're having it, and that's a goodness!

I guess what i don't like about this is it is kind of dismissive, and suggests you know more about what drives our interest in older editions than we ourselves do. I am sure there is a notalgia factor for me, in terms of flavor especially. But my initial resistance to running AD&D was my memory of the mechanics is they didn't work as smoothly as 3E, but in actual play i was pleasantly surprised how well the mechanics did work. So i don't view it as i am enjoying mediocre mechanics because nostalgia is carrying me through them.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I guess what i don't like about this is it is kind of dismissive, and suggests you know more about what drives our interest in older editions than we ourselves do. I am sure there is a notalgia factor for me, in terms of flavor especially. But my initial resistance to running AD&D was my memory of the mechanics is they didn't work as smoothly as 3E, but in actual play i was pleasantly surprised how well the mechanics did work. So i don't view it as i am enjoying mediocre mechanics because nostalgia is carrying me through them.

Yeah. I'm having fun running an OD&D campaign now and nostaligia has nothing to do with it. I played some Holmes, B/X, and AD&D in my younger days but never had the opportunity to play OD&D until fairly recently. I am enjoying the play dynamics a great deal. They are similar to but not exactly like those of the systems I have fond childhood memories of. The differences between the somewhat familiiar systems are a new experince, and a fun one. I might get the chance to become nostalgic for OD&D play one day in the far future.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

What I find now that I play the old stuff is I have a better understanding of the rules. When I played it back in the day I was a lot younger than I am now.

 

[tenkar]

I'm not sure you can pin down the sudden uptick in the OSR to any one thing in particular. However, there are a few things I think I can point to:

1 - OSRIC and Castles & Crusades were instrumental in bringing "old school gaming" to current, living systems. They showed it could be done. Others have followed.

2 - Many of the OSR games have their rules released for free in PDF format - the buy in is often risk free.

3 - Google+ has a many communities devoted to "old school gaming".

4 - DnD Next has caused some gamers to re-evaluate their game system preferences. Why play systems that WotC constantly changes when OSR systems are "always green" in PDF?

5 - Houseruling - OSR systems are simply made to be houseruled. The vast majority of the non-core systems are houserules of the ones that came before them.

6+ - just about every reason already stated in this thread

As for more recent upticks, Swords & Wizardry Complete going free in PDF earlier this month has certainly raised the profile of the OSR in general. I've distributed over 1750 copies via my blog since 11/5 and ENWorld has distributed over 600 copies since 11/17. These are just the two sources I can find numbers for.

 

[Mercurius]

Because there are a lot of people out there who actually like the rules instead of just wanting to take a trip down memory lane. Saying it's nostalgia is like slapping the rules of previous editions in the face and telling them the only reason people play you is because they want to feel like a kid again.

The rules of the older editions are actually very good. Yes they have their flaws like every edition to date but nobodies perfect.

As far as I can tell, no one is saying that it is only nostalgia, but that nostalgia is part of the picture - along with other factors such as you mention, and others besides. But to say that nostalgia isn't a factor for some/many is simply not true, as I see it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Yeah. I'm having fun running an OD&D campaign now and nostaligia has nothing to do with it. I played some Holmes, B/X, and AD&D in my younger days but never had the opportunity to play OD&D until fairly recently. I am enjoying the play dynamics a great deal. They are similar to but not exactly like those of the systems I have fond childhood memories of. The differences between the somewhat familiiar systems are a new experince, and a fun one. I might get the chance to become nostalgic for OD&D play one day in the far future.

I started on AD&D, and to me old D&D was the red basic set and the later rules cyclopedia. But i recently read the white boxed at the suggestion of a friend and it really shed light on the early game for me. I think what some people miss is what they perceive as nostalgia, is actually more an investigation of parts of the game that came before we started. To it sometimes feels more like being a history student again than an attempt to revisit my childhood (since by the time i started, it was already the tale end of the 80s. At the same time, the stuff i am revisiting, the nostalgia mostly comes from the flavor, because i had longed remembered AD&D as more clunky than 3E and less well developed. And to be sure, parts of it do have issues (and is something lots of people publishing OSR try to address). But on the whole i was surprised how much better AD&D worked at the table when i revisited it than 3E had been working for me. So what I realized is, while there are things i would like smoothed over, AD&D is a better starting point for want i want than 3E. I good friend of mine who is more into the OSR than I am, has basically made the same observation.

 

[Dunnagin]

Seems like there are many possible reasons, here's what we have so far:

Nostalgia/Flavor
Solid Game Design
-Plays well At the Table
-No “Spot/Perception” Rolls
-No “Diplomacy” Rolls
-Less Structured “CR” System
Ease of Play
-Easy to DM
-Easy to Teach
-Easy to Play Online
-Easy to Modify/Houserule
-Quick Character Generation
Less Time Investment Overall
Free Products
Product Support
-Old Modules & Settings
-Newly Created Modules & Settings
Edition is “Complete”

Simplicity seems to be a big factor
Actual Play and Game Design is also big
I'm sure "Free Downloads" helps a lot
Pre-existing and Ongoing Support is big

Nostalgia may be a good hook, but Actual Play decides the product lifespan I think

It's interesting to dissect it like this.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Well you can't think of previous editions as "lesser" editions because they aren't supported any more. I view them as just different editions, unless the edition that came after was intended to correct the mistakes from the previous one, take 3.5 for example. 3.5 was not a new edition, it was just a reprint containing all the errata. There is an excerpt in the PHB that says this.