What's your favorite edition of D&D (so far)?

[zepherusbane]

I loved both 1st and 2nd Edition too, but I still had to pick 3.5 for my favorite. I just really loved the way everything worked with that system once I got used to it.

Everyone seems to have their own favorite, he he. In my opinion, they are all great in their own way, it's all just a matter of personal preference.

 

[underfoot007ct]

Yeah, but if you combine 3.x & Pathfinder, well, case closed.

Maybe, depends on how you look at things, as of when I posted this;

1E/2E 32.51 %
3.x & pathfinder 32.20 %
4E 18.27 %
the others combined 17.03 %

I'm a 4E guy, but I think you got to give 1E some respect.

 

[wedgeski]

Yeah, but if you combine 3.x & Pathfinder, well, case closed.

Which isn't really surprising given the genesis of the site, but still, a fine showing from all across the D&D landscape in this poll.

 

[DaveMage]

Maybe, depends on how you look at things, as of when I posted this;

1E/2E 32.51 %
3.x & pathfinder 32.20 %
4E 18.27 %
the others combined 17.03 %

I'm a 4E guy, but I think you got to give 1E some respect.

Statistics are fun!



(Lies, damn lies, statistics.)

 

[Wombat]

I would have to say my favourites were 3.wombat (basically my own personal mangling of the 3/3.5 rules with lots of 4rd party material and house rules to fit more into my style of gaming) followed by The Three Little Books (where everything started for me back in 1975).

Never did really transition to AD&D (tried a few times; not to my taste) and attempted 4e, but it just didn't sing to me.

Given this track record, I will probably be back to D&D with either 6th or 7th edition.

 

[Mercurius]

The question with formulating polls like this is where to set the magnification. We could, for instance, combine editions and sub-editions and come up with broad groups, or traditions:

- "Simple D&D" - OD&D, B/X, BECMI, Rules Cyclopedia, related retro-clones (Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry
- AD&D - 1E, 2E (incl. Player's Options), OSRIC
- 3.x Family - 3E, 3.5, Pathfinder
- 4E - incl. Essentials

I'm going to assume that the votes for retro-clones are all for OD&D or B/X variants, although some may be for OSRIC. This would give the following votes (based upon 330 total, not including the 3 protestations):

Simple D&D: 52 votes, 15.8%
Advanced D&D: 109 votes, 33%
3.x D&D: 107 votes, 32.4%
4E D&D: 62 votes, 18.8%

We could also divide along Old/New School lines, with the first two categories being Old (TSR) and the latter two being New (WotC):

Old 161, 48.8%
New 169, 51.2%

There are two ways to look at this:

One, this is only based upon 330 votes and ENWorld is probably not all that representative of a cross-section of D&D players, and is mainly comprised of very serious/diehard gamers (no one else in my group of seven has even heard of it). Thus this means absolutely nothing and is just a fun poll for ENWorlders.

Two, this is based on a solid chunk of members of one of the largest online communities, and thus means something. Given that diehard/serious gamers are responsible for a large chunk of buying (I think the 80/20 rule applies: 20% of the gaming populace is responsible for about 80% of the dollars spent), it would behoove WotC to take this sort of poll with at least a teaspoon of salt rather than a grain. Which I think they are.

I'm not saying one of the two views is more truthful than the other, but that they both deserve consideration.

 

[Asmo]

Pathfinder

Asmo

 

[Alzrius]

I honestly can't answer this poll, since I have two favorite editions, but for different criteria.

Second Edition is what I call the Golden Age of Fluff. This edition had the best flavor text, story-telling, world-generating span of any edition of D&D. You had a slew of incredible campaign settings springing up here, and the in-game multiverse that 1E laid the foundations for really flowered in 2E. Planescape and Spelljammer provided a great holistic meta-setting that was home to Dragonlance, Greyhawk, the Realms, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and so many others. This was the closest we ever came to D&D presenting a single "setting" for the game that was so expansive that it allowed for one to be something of a "scholar" of D&D.

Likewise, I consider Pathfinder the greatest refinement of crunch that the game has ever had. Working off of the improvements from 3.5, itself an improvement from 3.0, Pathfinder has the best mechanics that give the system unity and coherence while still providing flexibility.

With one favorite edition for fluff, and another for crunch, I can't participate in a single-answer poll.