What is 3.0 & 3.5 missing that previous editions had?

[francisca]

Something else just occurred to me. I think others may have mentioned it in other threads, months and months ago.

The 3E books are just playing boring. This may sound silly, but they read like rulebooks. To me, the 1E books are just a better read. They have an "adventury" feel to them.

And it's not nostalgia. I pulled the 1E books out recently and read the PHB and DMG cover-to-cover. If its after 10PM and I try that with one of the 3E core books, I start rubber-necking and darn near face-plant in the book in under 15 minutes.

 

[fba827]

I miss the _concept_ of speciality priests... though the execution of them itself was not balanced as some specialities were vastly superior to others. For 3.X, while the rulebooks say that PrCs can fill this role, for some reason, that still doesn't sit well with me... I just think they should be special from level 1. (just my two cents).

 

[Pants]

The 3E books are just playing boring. This may sound silly, but they read like rulebooks. To me, the 1E books are just a better read. They have an "adventury" feel to them.

I don't know what it is, but I think this is largely due to Gygax's writing style. It's very... interesting to say the least, but it definitely isn't boring to read at all.

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

Huh?!

Anyone who starts talking about D&D losing its "soul" really needs to start thinking about better words for what they mean.

It's a word used by people who want to put down 3E (or 2E) without actually going past "I don't like the game", and used in a fashion to denigrate the many, many people who play those games.

Since when did I say D&D had lost it's soul?! I think it has a soul today even.

Let me tell you my thoughts on this. If the D&D mentality today was like it was back in the late 70's and early 80's, I don't believe that we would have seen books like 'The Book of Vile Crapitu... Darkness' or 'The Book of Elfpr0.. Erotic Fantasy'

Son of Thunder

 

[MerricB]

Since when did I say D&D had lost it's soul?! I think it has a soul today even.

Well, "As much as I hate to admit it, I do happen to agree with diaglo, especially the Soul part."

And this is in a thread entitled: "What is 3.0 & 3.5 missing that previous editions had?"

I think the inference is obvious.

Let me tell you my thoughts on this. If the D&D mentality today was like it was back in the late 70's and early 80's, I don't believe that we would have seen books like 'The Book of Vile Crapitu... Darkness' or 'The Book of Elfpr0.. Erotic Fantasy'

No, back in the day we had nude pictures in the main D&D books - we didn't have to go to 3rd party products. Oh, then there were the tables for random prostitutes...

Cheers!

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

Well, "As much as I hate to admit it, I do happen to agree with diaglo, especially the Soul part."

And this is in a thread entitled: "What is 3.0 & 3.5 missing that previous editions had?"

I think the inference is obvious.



No, back in the day we had nude pictures in the main D&D books - we didn't have to go to 3rd party products. Oh, then there were the tables for random prostitutes...

Cheers!

Infer all you want ol' boy. But it's not what I meant. As far as the nude pictures in D&D books and random prostitute tables, touche! However, If you consider those examples right up there with the examples I gave, more power to ya.

Son of Thunder

 

[MerricB]

Infer all you want ol' boy. But it's not what I meant.

I'm glad to hear it.

I'd like to think that D&D reflects the soul of the player. Thus if someone thinks 3E is soulless...

Cheers!

 

[Melkor]

I miss the look and the feel of older editions. Not just the art, but the types of paper used, the way the books felt to hold, the scent and texture of the paper. I miss books that are laid out like books, not like final projects from the School of Gaudy Web Design (complete with background art that interferes with legibility). But the non-glossy paper I miss the most of anything from previous editions.

The newness. Back when I feared goblins. Back when I didn't know what in hell a 'Bugbear' was. Back when I didn't have the AC and HP of most monsters memorized. Back when I wasn't the 'default' DM and playing the drunken human fighter with a pentient for boorishness was the pinnacle for roleplaying.

These two sum up my opinions pretty well. I like all editions of the game, but now that I have plaed 3E for a time, i'm actually having a lot of fun going back and planning a new 1E campaign.....I really like Gary Gygax's prose in the original PHB and DMG.

"Newness" adds a lot to the whole feeling of nostalgia, but there's more to it than that - I just can't put my finger on it at the moment.

Cheers.

 

[Toras]

1. Planescape (But Planewalker is working on that.)
2. Spell Jammer
3. Psionics that while broken 5 ways to sunday, were not just spells said different.
4. Dark Sun
5. A suck Skill system.
6. Barely discernable loops of non-linear math, only surpassed in complexity by a Gordian Knot or any other math that requires a supercomputer to calculate.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

This is in comparison to at least one edition that had tables comparing the effect of attacking a man wearing chain mail with a fauchard/fork to attacking a foe in field plate with a Bohemian Ear Spoon. And an edition where every other spell had a different, arbitrarily assigned penalty or bonus to its save.

AD&D and 2e weren't simple either except in the nostalgic imaginations of some.

Yes, simplicity. 3.0/3.5 is anything but simple. Unless you ignore a lot of the "extras".