What Aspects of Older Games Have Aged Well? (+)

[Morrus]

The concept of life paths, which while they have changed and been used in different ways over the years, were definitely an evolution in character generation.

 

[Hex08]

The dungeon crawl. Love or hate them they are still popular enough that they keep getting published.

 

[billd91]

And yet, I know so many old school players who will scoff at d20+bonus to hit target number and say "there was nothing wrong with it before, people just need to learn to do math!"

Yeah, well, people scoffed at women voting, personal computers, and microwaves at one time as well. Didn’t make them right.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah, well, people scoffed at women voting, personal computers, and microwaves at one time as well. Didn’t make them right.

I'm sure some of these old timers still think maximum Strength values for female characters is perfectly valid as well.

 

[Hex08]

The genre of games people play seems to have been pretty consistent and popular over the years, sword and sorcery still remains at the top of the heap.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I don't know if it was the intent or not, but I've heard some 1e DM's wax nostalgic about the pre-Thac0 days, where classes had attack matrices and players didn't necessarily know how good they were at fighting or how they got better.

They would say "that was for the DM to know". If so, it sure does seem to fit with Gary's love of "secret rules" out of the reach of players- the most well-known example being Assassins and poison use.

Those were good days. Back when D&D was about players, and not endless lists and silly traits and abilities. THACO wasn't a bad idea, but it wouldn't carry forward ;it assumed a gamer base that was accustomed to doing math in their head*. Styles have changed.

I played brown box and 1e a lot longer than I played 5e.

*= 'You won't always have a calculator!' Little did anyone know....

 

[innerdude]

See, this is an odd one . . . because there's only 2 pre-2005 rules I have in hard copy. I keep MechWarrior for the lore of pre-Clan Successor States, and the only reason I have Star Wars d6 2nd ed. is because my wife found it at a thrift store for a $1.50.

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Just last week I dumped what little GURPS stuff I had (bought it only to appease a GM a couple of years ago) and gave away copies of Fantasy Craft and Arcana Evolved when I realized I was never ever going to GM a d20 game ever again.

I honestly can't think of what I would pull forward from old games/editions. Everything I own or play is "new tech" from the last 10 years.

 

[James Gasik]

Sometimes that new tech isn't as new as it seems. My usual go-to when people discuss how games have evolved is FASA's Earthdawn, as I've mentioned a few times in this thread already.

I often say it's ahead of it's time, and it was! A mechanic that let you heal throughout the day without using spells? Check.

A mechanic that let you increase your odds of success in critical situations? Check.

A fully fleshed out fantasy world that isn't 'ye olde Ren faire?" Check.

Lots of history, lore, and mysteries? Check.

Non-caster classes that used magic to allow them to perform superhuman feats? Check!

A selection of races both familiar and new, all of which have a place in the world and their own cultures? Check!

A system that supports magic items fully, and has it's own version of attunement to prevent "magical Christmas tree"? AND has a system for items becoming stronger over time in a cool, story-driven way?

CHECK PLEASE!

 

[Hex08]

I honestly can't think of what I would pull forward from old games/editions. Everything I own or play is "new tech" from the last 10 years.

I think a lot of 1st & 2nd edition AD&D adventures still hold up and I use them occasionally. They are super easy to convert to Castles & Crusades and in the last few years I have converted and played U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and G1-3 Against the Giants (I wish I did the entire Queen of the Spiders). I am considering converting and running Night Below in the near future and would love to run Temple of Elemental Evil again.

 

[Yora]

Classic Traveller, 0-3. I am even more in awe of it now than I was 40 years ago.

I think the first edition of the Star Wars RPG from 1987 is still the best Star Wars game. (And D&D B/X from 1981 the best RPG in general.)

I really don't believe that the early RPG designers were some kind of geniuses who understood good game design better than anyone else. They had much less to work with and often completely fumbled in the dark.
But given that these early games still hold up so well, and in many aspects much better than much more recent games, makes me believe that at some point pieces of "conventional wisdom" became established that are just wrong. Thing that people keep repeating even though they are bad ideas.