Pre-Internet AD&D VS Post-Internet AD&D

[AxeMental]

Did you enjoy AD&D (when played) more before or after going online and learning "the correct way" to play from fellow online gamers?

In my case discovering/employing the correct rules almost two years ago at DF changed the 1E game experience dramatically It's now like playing a different version of D&D, and there's no going back to 1980. So, in a way, learning the "correct way" cut the direct link we had to the past. An era of gaming is gone. That feeling is unpleasant.....ignorance is bliss as they say.

Still, learning the proper way to play re-invigorated me to 1E, and broke a rut I was in....particularly after my big no huge disappointment with 3E.

So, yeah, I'm a little jaded and bored from all the internet battles over rules and gaming philosophies just like the rest of you, not to mention having to watch the homogenization of a once rich landscape of gaming groups into a few bitter camps; but all in all I do prefer the Post internet gaming experience.

I think what I miss more then our non-intentional house rules (and the unique Feel it produced) was the 80s in general, the music, the huge blocks of playing time we had, and the guys we used to play with. Also, the internet has hammered home the reality to how few of us there really are left. We are a dieing breed pushed into an ever shrinking reservation, poked and prodded as oddities by Johnny come lately types. So, yeah, that realization sucks, the game we all love has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird. The Artimoffs and Gnarly Bones “yes men” won and we lost; our numbers did not increase with the internet (as I had hoped) instead they shrunk to the avalanche of D20 games and compromise games like C&C. Idealism doesn’t even have a place on the net…go figure.
Oh well, at least I have most of my original dice (even though some still bare the chew marks from our family dogs over 20 years ago, they still blow away the cheap crappy light and sharp plastic dice of today which fail to role properly. Weird).

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I love post-internet AD&D personally.

My group of players had almost totally migrated away from AD&D before I registered at the Grognard's Tavern; we were playing Rolemaster and to a lesser extent Runequest. The internet community in general and you guys in particular reinvigoured my interest in AD&D 1e and I learned to appreciate nuances I'd not previously found.

One of my co-players is presently running a game of AD&D, and I'm staggered by the extent to which I'm enjoying it. AD&D lets you have a huge cast of characters -v- a huge cast of monsters, which gives it a much more epic feel. (Present gaming group is 7 players plus a DM, and each player has at least one henchperson or hireling, some having several. Other game systems would mostly get horribly bogged down in the face of a PC party like this.)

At the moment I'm playing rather than DMing with my regular group, which is part of the reason I'm loving it. I'm also exploring the Druid class (my druid's about to hit 7th level) which I'd not previously played, which is also enhancing the experience for me.

We are a dieing breed pushed into an ever shrinking reservation, poked and prodded as oddities by Johnny come lately types. So, yeah, that realization sucks, the game we all love has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird. The Artimoffs and Gnarly Bones “yes men” won and we lost; our numbers did not increase with the internet (as I had hoped) instead they shrunk to the avalanche of D20 games and compromise games like C&C.

I don't feel like a dying breed, I must say. From the point of view of someone who wants to write adventures, I'm much more active than ever before, I'm reaching a much wider audience, and I feel as if the stuff I chuck out is appreciated.

I don't feel appreciated by the Dragonsfoot site people, mind. The time it takes them to get stuff uploaded is really pathetic - they've been sitting on Melford, which is a tiny document, for six bloody weeks and they haven't even started proofreading it yet - but they've certainly found time to whine at me for sending in .pdfs which they can't edit.

I feel appreciated by the site audience, though. My stuff's being played by people thousands of miles away who I've never met, and they're telling me they like it.

The internet has also introduced me to a lot of people who've provided some very substantial help, encouragement and advice with my work.

I'm personally convinced that the audience for 1e AD&D products is much bigger than the messageboard community. There are a lot of people who hop over to places like DF, read the site and download the materials without ever registering an account, let alone posting.

I understand that there's a lot of resentment about C&C - but at the end of the day, C&C is one of the potential futures for old school gaming (the other being the new WHFRP.) It's going to enable new Gygaxian stuff to see print, and it's going to empower writers (at least those who're better at it than I am) to produce stuff that they can sell for money.

[mistere29]

PapersAndPaychecks said:

I understand that there's a lot of resentment about C&C - but at the end of the day, C&C is one of the potential futures for old school gaming (the other being the new WHFRP.) It's going to enable new Gygaxian stuff to see print,

Gygax does not need C&C to create old school material. Generic systems compatible with D&D have been around forever. Kuntz was using one right up till d20 came out. I think Gygax was using one too. It's even easier now, thanks to the OGL.

Gygax admits that he prefers LA to AD&D and in anycase has no desire to produce old school modules. Since he always had the capacity to create old school modules, it's safe to assume his interest in C&C comes mostly from his business relationship with the trolls. After all they are now publishing LA.

Well to get back on topic. I prefer post internet, but of course, i didn't get into 1st ed until recently, so there really is no pre-internet first edition for me.

[rogattny]

Post-Internet. It's made me appreciate the rules far more. Even those I don't really use, I have a much better idea of why they're there and what they're for.

R.A.

[foster1941]

I dunno. I think I actually prefer pre-internet AD&D. Yeah it was nice to finally figure out some of the tricky rules-bits that had always confused me, and to get more detail on the behind-the-scenes story of TSR/D&D/Greyhawk, but that's counterbalanced by all the nasty feuding and the frustration of realizing that while there are cool people out there who share the same interests and priorities in the game as I do, they're all so far away that I'll realistically never even be able to meet them in person, much less play a campaign-game with them. I sometimes think I was happier back when I thought that I was the only "old school AD&D grognard" left in the world.

[francisca]

Post Internet:
I have not had my basic means of playing D&D altered by what I read on message boards, in any significant way. I have picked up some nice ideas here and there, but mostly I've had old memories jarred free by observing discussions.

Having said that, I was out of RPGs from about 1986 to 1999, so the 80s era gaming was already gone for me. But as far as I can tell, AD&D and Basic/Expert still have that same feel as they did back then.

Some nice additions due soley to the internet:
1) able to get hold of stuff that I always wanted as a kid via ebay.
2) I maintain a messge board for filing session logs and PBP between face-to-face sessions.
3) I got hold of good scans of the Goldenrod Char sheets!!!! Thanks again, Jerry!!!

[order99]

Don't forget the online sales/freebies you can find online in document/PDF form-places like RPGNow and so forth.I'd rather have paper over PDF,but as long as you can find reprints/modules/sourcebooks in any format,AD&D/BD&D/OD&D aren't dead yet...
And my office supply store down the road only chagres 1.99 to print a file,0.99 per additional...a few bucks for a binder and pouces and I can have my books as well! ;D