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<blockquote data-quote="rogueattorney" data-source="post: 1822203" data-attributes="member: 17551">Linking the bifurcation of AD&amp;D and D&amp;D to TSR's demise is completely ahistorical.&nbsp; The various incarnations of the Basic box were consistently among TSR's best sellers from '77 through the end of the 80's.&nbsp; TSR didn't go belly up until 1998, five years after it stopped supporting D&amp;D.According to the Dragon magazine articles of the time, each version of the Basic set served a bit different purpose.&nbsp; The Holmes set was explicilty an introduction to both OD&amp;D and AD&amp;D.&nbsp; It's probably more analogous to the 3e Adventure Begins box or the new 3.5 Basic box, as it wasn't intended to stand alone as a seperate system.&nbsp; However, it's rules didn't exactly match either OD&amp;D or AD&amp;D, a side effect of being edited by an outside party and being produced about a year before the AD&amp;D PHB hit the market.&nbsp; The Holmes set was seen as the first of a series of products to reorganize the D&amp;D brand, AD&amp;D being the next step.&nbsp; Gary Gygax assured fans of OD&amp;D, though, that OD&amp;D would continue to stay on the market and be supported, and it did, through about 1980.&nbsp; According to a 1980-81 Dragon G.G. column, the popularity of the Basic box demanded further support, resulting in an Expert box to go with it.&nbsp; This project evolved into a re-editing of the Basic box to be more of a stand alone product, effectively replacing OD&amp;D with B/X D&amp;D.&nbsp; The 1981 boxes were designed as both an intro to role playing and as a more flexable and &quot;tinker-able&quot; alternative to AD&amp;D.The 1983 box set was explicitly for the beginning gamer.&nbsp; While the rules stayed pretty much the same as the 1981 set, its format was more of a how-to tutorial.&nbsp; It's with this edition of Basic and Expert and the '84-'86 Companion/Master/Immortals expansions that I've heard about the Dave Arneson connections.&nbsp; In a recent conversation with Frank Mentzer (the editor of the 83-86 BECMI boxes) on Dragonsfoot, he confirmed that some of the changes made in his edition of D&amp;D had to do with keeping things different from AD&amp;D to avoid Arneson related legal complications.The thread:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7606&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0" target="_blank">http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7606&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0</a>R.A.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rogueattorney, post: 1822203, member: 17551"] Linking the bifurcation of AD&D and D&D to TSR's demise is completely ahistorical. The various incarnations of the Basic box were consistently among TSR's best sellers from '77 through the end of the 80's. TSR didn't go belly up until 1998, five years after it stopped supporting D&D. According to the Dragon magazine articles of the time, each version of the Basic set served a bit different purpose. The Holmes set was explicilty an introduction to both OD&D and AD&D. It's probably more analogous to the 3e Adventure Begins box or the new 3.5 Basic box, as it wasn't intended to stand alone as a seperate system. However, it's rules didn't exactly match either OD&D or AD&D, a side effect of being edited by an outside party and being produced about a year before the AD&D PHB hit the market. The Holmes set was seen as the first of a series of products to reorganize the D&D brand, AD&D being the next step. Gary Gygax assured fans of OD&D, though, that OD&D would continue to stay on the market and be supported, and it did, through about 1980. According to a 1980-81 Dragon G.G. column, the popularity of the Basic box demanded further support, resulting in an Expert box to go with it. This project evolved into a re-editing of the Basic box to be more of a stand alone product, effectively replacing OD&D with B/X D&D. The 1981 boxes were designed as both an intro to role playing and as a more flexable and "tinker-able" alternative to AD&D. The 1983 box set was explicitly for the beginning gamer. While the rules stayed pretty much the same as the 1981 set, its format was more of a how-to tutorial. It's with this edition of Basic and Expert and the '84-'86 Companion/Master/Immortals expansions that I've heard about the Dave Arneson connections. In a recent conversation with Frank Mentzer (the editor of the 83-86 BECMI boxes) on Dragonsfoot, he confirmed that some of the changes made in his edition of D&D had to do with keeping things different from AD&D to avoid Arneson related legal complications. The thread: [url]http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7606&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0[/url] R.A. [/QUOTE]

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