Why all the Second Edition Haters?

[Remathilis]

Its a question I've been on the fence about since the advent of 3e...

Why does no one have fond memories of 2e?

I don't want to debate whether 1e/3e was better or whatnot, but it seems that that few people have any real fond memories of 2e, or at least not enough to pull out the core books and run it. There is no sites dedicated to it, no messageboards full of gushers, no "keep 2e alive" threads.

I have fond memories of it, and would run it again if I found a few willing players, but in general, there seems to be a 2e = the devil attitude amonst the fans, and I'm curious as to why 1e or basic (or original) gets all the love, but 2e is the red-headed step child?

 

[Psion]

I had fond memories of it, and in fact, I wasn't sold on many of the 3e changes at first.

That said, 2e almost had me leaving D&D entirely. If it weren't for Skills & Powers (which took shoring up, but at least it added the flexibility that was sorely missed by me under 2e), I would have quite playing AD&D entirely. I had a lot of fun playing 2e, but it was a very high maintenance arrangement.

Upon adopting 3e wholesale, I found out that the amount of house rules needed for shoring up of the system dropped dramatically.

 

[diaglo]

the writers, owners, and style.

my hat for SHe who shall not be named know no limit.


edit: that being said..i like it more than the 2000ed or 3.11ed for Workgroups.

 

[reiella]

You'll find plenty of fond memories of 2e on these boards .

Just look at Planescape or Dark Sun threads.

I think a large part of the problem is the problem that 2e doesn't benefit from as much nostalgia as OD&D + 1e, while it isn't the New Thing that 3.x serves now.

2e also had some -Really- bad design decisions (Complete Book of Elves and cross-refernce-o-rama). I think it's also an effect of just how -much- stuff came out for 2e that everyone is bound to have at least something they don't like .

 

[Belen]

I have a lot of fond memories of it. I do not think I would run or play it again, but I have kept every one of those books and still use some of them for the great fluff and ideas that they contained.

Heck, Legends and Lore is a book I still use for every campaign I run!

 

[James Heard]

My problem with 2E is that the great roleplaying moments were just that, roleplaying moments. I don't need rulesets for roleplaying, and in fact an awful lot of time I spent on 2E was in fixing the gaping problems with the system. In 3E I don't get that as much, it runs pretty smoothly with no changes comparatively and when things start getting weird it's usually because I've mucked something up mechanically. But roleplaying moments? I could probably get those inserting character acting into Risk.

Now, some of the non-mechanical writing for 2E though, that was brilliant. I still lust over some of my 2E products just for the sheer depth and innovative thought, even as I cringe from the bad technical implementation.

 

[Umbran]

Why does no one have fond memories of 2e?

I betcha lots of people have fond memories of stories told while playing 2e. I don't think many will have terribly fond memories of the game rules, as they were not really that good. As it seems from where I sit, good things happened in 2e despite the rules, not because of them. Thus, you don't find many folks with love for the system itself.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Despite the fact that I sometimes sound like I don't like 2e, I really have a lot of fond memories playing it. Even though there were bad things about 2nd edition AD&D such as the Complete Book of Elves, 2e also gave us the utterly fantastic Planescape and Dark Sun settings, as well as the three books devoted to the Forgotten Realms deity suppliments.

Switching over to 3e, however, put the things I didn't like about 2e into stark contrast. Having spent the last several years playing 3e, it would be very difficult for me to go back to 2e.

 

[sluggo the sleazebag]

While I loved Planescape and the Greyhawk modules produced during 2e, I never used the sourcebooks. Went striaght from 1e to 3e.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Sorry, no fond memories here, either. At least not of the game itself -- while I managed to have a good time, I hated the system and was considering leaving the game. Fortunately, I found a little site with a bad color scheme run by a guy named Eric...

So yes, fun happened despite the system, not because of it.