What was so magical about 1E/OD&D art?

[Prince of Happiness]

For me, about the earliest art is that it seems to reflect a post-60s/post-psychedelia comedown vibe to me. Like the cheery world of hobbits and elves that was celebrated in the hippy era got...darker. The other thing that sticks out to me is that a lot of it (Erol Otus's work especially) is that it is so damn weird. The art seems to reflect some of the really, really strange things you find in D&D. That or I'm just a sucker for green water and oddly lit rooms.

 

[Qualidar]

You guys have to remember, WOTC is into this for the buck. They'll drop you 3Eers just as fast as TSR dropped us 1Eers when 2E came out.

This attitude is what I take issue with. TSR didn't drop "us" 1Eers. I was a "1Eer", and with the exception of 2-3 gamers I can think of, so is everyone else I've ever played with. When 2E came out I, and everyone I knew, became a 2Eer. Later, when 3E came out I, and everyone I know, became a 3Eer. They didn't drop "us", "we" moved on, leaving you behind. There's nothing morally wrong with that statement, but it seems to me that your overall perception of editions is coloured by a feeling of having been slighted. It's that undercurrent that distracts me from your points.

~Qualdiar~

 

[Henry]

Delta, thanks for posting that. Wow, so there are old schoolers who actually prefer 3E to 1E (the artwork, rules and all )

I'd even be willing to posit that MOST (over 60%) players of 1st and 2nd edition AD&D prefer 3E and later as their main system of choice. Otherwise, 3E's success couldn't be explained, because the way D&D is usually transferred (and has been since the 1980's) has been from player to player, not with a new player just picking up the rules from scratch. From that I can tell, I'm an exception -- picked it up in a Circus World in 1981 because it looked cool and had no clue what I'd lucked into. Most players I know and people on this forum I know seem to have been introduced by a brother, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc.

Also, don't assume that 3E is the only reason folks hang around here; otherwise, Diaglo would have bugged out long ago, besides his desire for missionary conversion work. And plus a good number of us play the older stuff now and again as a change up -- there's going to be an AD&D Against the giants outing at the NC Gameday this January, and if all the people who have expressed interest actually sign up, my table's gonna be full second ten seconds after registration opens.

 

[Delta]

Delta, thanks for posting that. Wow, so there are old schoolers who actually prefer 3E to 1E (the artwork, rules and all )...

You're welcome. Interesting to hear your thoughts!

 

[Ourph]

What's in the imagination of those kids? Legolas (sleek elf ninja). Harry Potter (awkward but powerful nerd-man-boy). Ash and Pikachu ("average high school kid on adventures" and his adorable pet). Ichigo from BLEACH (dresses in flowing black robes and wields a six-foot hunk of metal that represents his inner psyche...realistic? Piffle). Aragorn (scruffy rogue who fights with destiny and throws torches!). Frodo and Sam (plucky homosexual midgets on an impossible quest invovling a ring and some great evil). Aang from AVATAR (little bald kid who masters the elements and rides a flying bison through Vaguely Asian World). Naruto Uzumaki (lazy ninja student with determination instead of talent).

I think this may be part of the problem with the current art direction at WotC. Early D&D didn't draw its artwork from popular kid culture. It either created its own genre or drew from obscure adult fantasy. When I first got into D&D, it didn't present me with artwork and themes drawn from Jonny Quest, Underdog, The Herculoids and The Muppet Show. Instead, it had its own character and voice. It seems to me that the current art direction at WotC is allowing for too much influence from other sources and that cross-pollination is creating a landscape of tabletop, console, computer and collectible card fantasy art that's much too self-referential to be anything other than bland and trite after a while.

As for the FF12 artwork.... All I can say is that those male characters seem like they would be more at home on the cover of 17 Magazine or promotional posters for Laguna Beach than in any D&D campaign I've ever been a part of.

 

[Scribble]

I have to wonder, however, how much the artist made as a commision for this piece:

 

[WayneLigon]

Delta, thanks for posting that. Wow, so there are old schoolers who actually prefer 3E to 1E (the artwork, rules and all ).

Very much so. I started with the three brown books and feel this edition, art and all, is the best edition yet. In fact, after many many sorties into other game systems I think the current d20/3E rule set is one of the best over-all gaming rules sets period. There are small changes I'd make, changes I'd like to see, but really they are just refinements and clarifications of what's already there. And the various d20 variants like Mutants and Mastermind, True20, Spycraft, d20 Modern, etc just show you how much more versitile and adaptable 3E is than what came before, right out of the box without pages and pages of house rules.

I'd be hard pressed to go backwards to 2E or 1E; a really good GM can of course make any game fun but he'd have to be a true master to make me enjoy a 1E session.

I prefer immersion as well; sometimes we'll have sessions where we just talk in character and barely look at our sheets. And normally we have a very Tolkien-like atmosphere in most campaign worlds we've done.

Just with more body art and some spikey bits.

 

[Nightfall]

Damn, KM, what is that last one from? Sweet.

That's the new Malbranche(sp).

*agrees with Melan about the welcome thingie. *

 

[Numion]

I have to wonder, however, how much the artist made as a commision for this piece:

That's the spell 'evil cleric' casts and 'Lidda' dodges. I would think the commission was mostly for the characters, and not the spell effect.

Or maybe I'm mistaken and artists do get paid piecemeal ("Liddas head - 10 bucks, Liddas torso - 20 bucks, etc..").

 

[Nightfall]

It looked like a neon light to me.