Are you part of the "Lost Generation" of RPG gamers?

[Scribble]

I started with the black box too... Well sort of. A friend of mine was going to run a game of D&D, and lent me the red box. That game never materialized though so I went out and bought the black box... The rest of my D&D history kind of mirrors yours, although I think we played basic for a little longer then a year.

I also mixed a lot of 1e into my 2e games.

 

[DnD_Dad]

As part of the "lost" generation id like to say this. The lost generation is the current generators of the new games. We know what we liked and what we didn't and we're not all haughty about where we came from. We want simple mechanics, great progression, and a great gaming experience anyone can enjoy. Down with the elitist who can make a level 7 iron hurler that can do 40d6 damage as a basic attack, and down with interpreting rules that no one(even the writers) understands. Give me dungeons, dragons, lots of treasure and a way to make that happen as simple as possible. That is all.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

nope.

Started with Basic then right into AD&D when it was published, then stayed with first (with houserules) until 3rd came out.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Now kids, I started in 1883, with 1st ed A D&D then was forced into a transition to 2nd ed - which I found to be 'meh, no real change' until players options. IMHO, that all could have done as first ed, however I still enjoyed 2.5 [player's options].

when I saw 3.0 it felt like 'change for the sake of change' which is never a good reason to change. I also saw short people singing "follow the yellow brick road" over this edition. At the attempt ti 'fix' this with 3.5, I remained skeptical and must end with my declaration of my great love of 3.75 [Pathfinder RPG].

But I digress.

Disclaimer: * @ the mod squad: If this post induces an edition war, I give my advanced apologies, as that is not my intention at all. To all non moderators reading this, take note that this no excuse to start an edition war here. There are other places for this kind of nonsense.

Scott incein jeenyus DeWar

 

[Bedrockgames]

Now kids, I started in 1883...

i hear HG Wells was a demon behind the GM screen

 

[Scott DeWar]

Well, he should be. I taught him to be so.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm having trouble following in my mind that point made in the OP. Sure, there aren't any 2e retro projects out there. But why should there be? Mechanically, 2e was an extremely light touch refinement to 1e. In terms of how the books were organized, the 2e standard has pretty much become the new default. In terms of what kind of other products were out at the time; modules, splatbooks, settings--that's kind of become the new default standard as well.

It's a major strawman to say that just because there's no specifically 2e retro-movement out there that the generation that started with 2e is a "lost generation" or are in any other respect being ignored. If anything, the paradigm associated with 2e has so thoroughly suffused the hobby that we're still in that generation, to a very real degree.

 

[Sadras]

Actually, Castles and Crusades is a retro clone of 2E and they have just come out with a revised 5th edition.

To be honest the feel I'm getting from 5E so far is very much a 2E feel - and that makes me happy .
We are not being ignored if anything I believe the creators of 5E are predominantly 2ers, so there are good things to look forward to, if the playtest packets are any indication with their colourful descriptions, character backgrounds, 2E layout and name-dropping of settings.

 

[Weregrognard]

Hmm...maybe I was mistaken in my theory. The poll results suggest to me that either a) those who started roleplaying during this time are a minority, and/or b) fans of 2e (the rules) are a minority. I freely admit dropping 2e like a hot potato when 3e came out. Heck! I had been reading the Dragon preview articles with great interest before then. I was swept up in the d20 feevah just like everyone else.

From your responses, it seems the late 80s/early 90s generation of gamers is not so much "lost" as diffused through different D&D editions, 2e settings, and/or other games. If anything, we were a generation of plenty, gorging on the smorgasbord of 2e books and boxed sets; oblivious of TSR's financial troubles…or maybe we’re not our own generation/thing at all, and I’m just waxing nostalgic

I feel 2e had some good, even innovative, things going for it, but it could never shake the "why can't you be more like your older brother?" problem. Years later, I realize 2e was incomplete - I would not run it today without a copy of the 1e DMG. I did feel something was off about 2e at the time, but didn't pay it any mind (I was playing the “Advanced” game, after all). It was more of a "am I doing this right?"* feeling. Of course, we played anyway, and made 2e our own thing, as I suspect others did too.

Thanks to those that voted and responded!


*When I began with the Black Box, I though D&D had to be played with a large map and (cardboard) miniatures. All my first dungeons were drawn on poster-board. We later gravitated to the Theater of the Mind method.

 

[Desdichado]

Actually, I had that feeling for a long time too; that 2e was not a popular system (relatively speaking) and it was little missed. In just the last couple of years, I've started to see more fond nostalgia for the system than I ever did in the last ten years previously, though.