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<blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 4599826" data-attributes="member: 151">We started with Basic D&amp;D and graduated quickly to AD&amp;D between middle-school and high-school.&nbsp; The idea that AD&amp;D was somehow an 'adult' game would have been met with laughter in the early 1980s.&nbsp; D&amp;D, as a rule, was not generally associated with maturity.&nbsp; While it featured a complex ruleset, it's still a game of make-believe, where a bunch of nerds sit around a table and talk about fighting dragons.&nbsp; The adoption of D&amp;Ds concepts into video and computer games and the widespread popularity of those game types in ensuing years have, to some degree, changed that assertion....but the only people who'd be arguing about one version of D&amp;D being more 'educated' than another would be D&amp;D players;&nbsp; the general populace still considers D&amp;D somewhat juvenile in nature.We played AD&amp;D for several years, but by the time 2e came out, we were pretty much out of the building.&nbsp; By that time, we had switched full-time to GURPS, with AD&amp;D's design choices becoming something that my players and I no longer found compelling.&nbsp; When 2e came out, my general thoughts were:1) Wow, they really like the color blue.2) Looks like they shuffled around a lot of stuff...magic missle is what level, now?3) Huh...still has the same problems that made us leave AD&amp;D.I can't comment on whether 2e was a good system or a bad system, because we never adopted it.&nbsp; I know that it carried over some concepts that we didn't like from 1e (or felt we had found better solutions for) and it also seemed considerably more expensive (whether this had any bearing on reality or not, I don't recall...but that was the perception at the time, during college).2e clearly had lots of setting material and also seemed to have a lot of flavor that was different to 1e.&nbsp; I wouldn't call one better than the other, but different.&nbsp; I remember well the 'Gygaxian' prose style.&nbsp; I picked up Gygax's and &quot;Mastery of the Game&quot; and I certainly didn't think that it was written for adults, per se.&nbsp; In fact, I remember distinctly mocking Gary's style, particularly in his over-use of certain terms, chief among them being milieu.&nbsp; Gary could write some very purple prose when he wanted to and often seemed to want to justify the purchase of a thesaurus.&nbsp; While his writing could be entertaining, it was rarely what I would consider concise.3rd edition was clearly an attempt to win back expatriate D&amp;D players.&nbsp; The 'back to the dungeon' motto was directly aimed at former D&amp;D players who had left D&amp;D and retained nostalgia for it, even though they'd moved on to other games, other hobbies.&nbsp; Every single player in my 3e game had stopped playing D&amp;D after 1e and were lured back to D&amp;D by 3e.&nbsp; We didn't leave 2e, though...we left AD&amp;D.&nbsp; 2e simply failed to lure us back.We've since played 1e after reforming our 3e group.&nbsp; Nostalgia was quickly trumped by rules that we found archaic.&nbsp; That isn't to say we didn't have fun...just that we enjoyed 3e more.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WizarDru, post: 4599826, member: 151"] We started with Basic D&D and graduated quickly to AD&D between middle-school and high-school. The idea that AD&D was somehow an 'adult' game would have been met with laughter in the early 1980s. D&D, as a rule, was not generally associated with maturity. While it featured a complex ruleset, it's still a game of make-believe, where a bunch of nerds sit around a table and talk about fighting dragons. The adoption of D&Ds concepts into video and computer games and the widespread popularity of those game types in ensuing years have, to some degree, changed that assertion....but the only people who'd be arguing about one version of D&D being more 'educated' than another would be D&D players; the general populace still considers D&D somewhat juvenile in nature. We played AD&D for several years, but by the time 2e came out, we were pretty much out of the building. By that time, we had switched full-time to GURPS, with AD&D's design choices becoming something that my players and I no longer found compelling. When 2e came out, my general thoughts were: 1) Wow, they really like the color blue. 2) Looks like they shuffled around a lot of stuff...[i]magic missle is what level, now?[/i] 3) Huh...still has the same problems that made us leave AD&D. I can't comment on whether 2e was a good system or a bad system, because we never adopted it. I know that it carried over some concepts that we didn't like from 1e (or felt we had found better solutions for) and it also seemed considerably more expensive (whether this had any bearing on reality or not, I don't recall...but that was the perception at the time, during college). 2e clearly had lots of setting material and also seemed to have a lot of flavor that was different to 1e. I wouldn't call one better than the other, but different. I remember well the 'Gygaxian' prose style. I picked up Gygax's and "[i]Mastery of the Game[/i]" and I certainly didn't think that it was written for adults, per se. In fact, I remember distinctly mocking Gary's style, particularly in his over-use of certain terms, chief among them being milieu. Gary could write some very purple prose when he wanted to and often seemed to want to justify the purchase of a thesaurus. While his writing could be entertaining, it was rarely what I would consider concise. 3rd edition was clearly an attempt to win back expatriate D&D players. The 'back to the dungeon' motto was directly aimed at former D&D players who had left D&D and retained nostalgia for it, even though they'd moved on to other games, other hobbies. Every single player in my 3e game had stopped playing D&D after 1e and were lured back to D&D by 3e. We didn't leave 2e, though...we left AD&D. 2e simply failed to lure us back. We've since played 1e after reforming our 3e group. Nostalgia was quickly trumped by rules that we found archaic. That isn't to say we didn't have fun...just that we enjoyed 3e more. [/QUOTE]

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