anyone bashed over 4th edition ?

[oldgamergeek]

I was at my local game shop today and the owner and I got talking o D&D ( imagine that ) wich led to talk of the new edition ( you gonna waste money it ? I don't know yet ). when this punk kid came up to us and told us pull our head from a dark place ( this is the clean version ) and start playing 3.5 then buy 4th because wotc says to .
I wish people would either teach their kids manners or keep them home . anyone else get this kinda for being old school ?

[coffee]

Boy, that kinda thing burns me up.

I mean, I'll cheerfully rant on about how much and why I dislike 3.5 ('though not on this forum!), but I'll be the last guy to TELL someone what THEY should play!

And certainly not because some game company tells me to.

I hope you told him you'd been a gamer longer than he'd been alive, and that you'd be the judge of what was worthy to play.

[redpriest]

coffee said:

I mean, I'll cheerfully rant on about how much and why I dislike 3.5 ('though not on this forum!), but I'll be the last guy to TELL someone what THEY should play!

Exactly. I play non-D&D (any version) games with a bunch of people who normally play 3.5. I don't try to get them to stop playing 3.5; I'm just trying to get them to play O/AD&D too.

[murquhart72]

That's just a pain, bad, unfriendly attitude! I've heard others say "Why don't you get out of the past and play the present." Don't these morons know we all just play different versions of the SAME GAME?!
I'm thinking of trying out 4th edition just to see what it's like, but I'm pretty sure nothing's going to compare to good ol' original D&D. Kids these days just don't know what they're missing!

[Deleted]

oldgamergeek said:

I was at my local game shop today and the owner and I got talking o D&D ( imagine that ) wich led to talk of the new edition ( you gonna waste money it ? I don't know yet ). when this punk kid came up to us and told us pull our head from a dark place ( this is the clean version ) and start playing 3.5 then buy 4th because wotc says to .
I wish people would either teach their kids manners or keep them home . anyone else get this kinda for being old school ?

Nope, but that's because we don't really frequent hobby shops anymore (nothing there that I, my better half, or our friends can't find on the net).

I feel your pain, though. What a s***y comment to say to someone, especially someone that (a) you don't know, & (b) someone that would be happy to pass on years of gaming experience. I hate kids anyway (no really, I despise them--the only way I like kids are boiled... ;D).

I gave up on the edition war a long time ago. Sure, I'll still speak my peace about my dislikes of the newer D&D (I own all the 3.5 core books [& a couple of supplements]): I played it for about a year & a half after I came back stateside (no choice--that's what all my friends [& pretty much everyone I could find] were playing). In fact, the "eliteist" attitiude of 3.X gamers is what drove me from the hobby for a few years. I just flat out quit. But then I dug out my R.C., ran a game for my fiancee & a couple of friends, & blamo!! One day last June I was surfing the net looking for any OD&D material, & I discovered this little forum called "OD&D Discussion", with about 10 or so members. Hmmm...

So here I am (1) year or so later after "rediscovering" the game I love so well (& I finally got my claws on all that OD&D material I was desperately searching for).

The most logical way I could react to that smart a** statement from that waste of you know what would be "So you play a version of D&D that's been around about (8) or so years? Well Billy, I play a version of D&D that's been around (34) years. If WotC & "D&D, v. XXXXX" is around in 2042, we can have this discussion. Now **** off".



Nah. I'd call the missus & ask her to get a pot on the stove; I'm bringing home dinner tonite.

[EDIT]--And seriously, the new editions just don't factor into my life; they're a complete non-entity to me. I just pretend they don't exist...

[badger2305]

oldgamergeek said:

I was at my local game shop today and the owner and I got talking o D&D ( imagine that ) wich led to talk of the new edition ( you gonna waste money it ? I don't know yet ). when this punk kid came up to us and told us pull our head from a dark place ( this is the clean version ) and start playing 3.5 then buy 4th because wotc says to .
I wish people would either teach their kids manners or keep them home . anyone else get this kinda for being old school ?

It's interesting that you should mention this. One of the members of my former gaming group ("former" only in that I'm working on my doctorate, and have set gaming aside for a bit) adopted a rather odd attitude when I ran an OD&D one-shot awhile ago: he treated it like we were all kids again. He acted like he was a kid again, making smart-aleck remarks, and not taking the game very seriously. At the time, I was taken aback - then I realized that since he got his start on Basic D&D, the surface similarity made him react to it as if it were a "kid's game." Which it wasn't but he didn't know that.

This suggests that we might do well to remember that you catch more flies with honey instead of vinegar. If we want others to appreciate the original game, we need to show people what makes us like it so much. Which means taking the time to explain it to them, especially when they have a "new=best" attitude. Sure, we won't convince them all - but we might make some converts, and we definitely will feel better for having taken the high road. Remember - they don't really know what they are talking about, so we need to educate them. (Or so it seems to me)

[murquhart72]

oltekos said:

"So you play a version of D&D that's been around about (8) or so years? Well Billy, I play a version of D&D that's been around (34) years. If WotC & "D&D, v. XXXXX" is around in 2042, we can have this discussion. Now **** off".

Paraphrased for my new signature. Thanks, oltekos!

[Deleted]

themattjon said:

Paraphrased for my new signature. Thanks, oltekos!

You're Welcome! ;D

[Zulgyan]

My days of edition bashing are gone.

I got tired of it, really. Why expose ourselves to what we don't like?

Now I just stay in like-minded forums, having nice chats with like-minded people.

I'm much happier that way.

As for the rest of gamers... let them be.

[Finarvyn]

A quick reminder that our intent here on this board isn't really to discuss 1E, 2E, 3E, or even 4E. (Maybe even 5E in a couple of years.)

Keep in mind that if we do too much edition bashing it's screaming "lock me!", which I hate to do since we're usually so civil towards others.....

Hugs and kisses....
- Your friendly Moderator

[doc]

Hmmm... I COULD remark how kids today have no respect because they were never raised to have to answer for their words or actions. I could also say how a bloke opening up a big ugly mouth when I was a kid would almost certainly get his butt handed to him.

But, I won't.


Let me just say that people will always have opinions, and ignorant people will always have ignorant opinions. In one of my groups we have a big, loud 22 year old kid who very vigorously calls me ancient for preferring classic games and once even told me that I wasn't smart enough to comprehend 3.5 in it's true greatness. I genuinely laughed, pointing out that at 34 I was a licensed psychologist with a thriving practice, beautiful wife, new car, happy kids, and a good reputation while he was a high school dropout who worked part time at Game Stop and lived with his mother. I also pointed out that by his age I'd had a Master's degree and owned my own home.

That shut him up but good.

Rest assured that 10 years down the road some smart-mouth kid is gonna see him playing 4E and ridicule him for not investing in virtual reality games like all the cool folks.

My guess is that this kid who mouthed off to you started out with 3.0 or 3.5 and thus has no real knowledge of anything that came before it. Chances are he's never even seen a second edition book close up. His opinions have no weight to them because he is talking about things that he only thinks he knows about.

Bottom line: don't sweat the small stuff (and I don't mean gnomes)

Doc

[geoffrey]

oldgamergeek said:

this punk kid came up to us and told us pull our head from a dark place ( this is the clean version ) and start playing 3.5 then buy 4th because wotc says to.

LOL!

I would have looked at him like he was beneath contempt, said, "Son, I've been playing D&D since before you were born," and then conspicuously ignored him.

[thorswulf]

Ha! I was at my local game/comic store one day when this androgynous teenage kid comes mincing ( And I do meen mincing) up to me as I was looking through the used section. This yutz says, "remember the good old days of Second Edition?" I was so torn between laughing my arse off, and telling him to bugger offwith a smack to the head, that I just stood there stunned.

I remember when you had to be able to read , do math on the fly, and consult six different tables just play first edition as many of us did. I'll say one thing for D&D mk.XXX, it did simplify things down. In doing so the game lost much of its spirit. So I'll stick with OD&D for obvious reasons.

By the way, I'm happy to say I'm old enough to be that kids father, but even happier I'm not!

[badger2305]

thorswulf said:

Ha! I was at my local game/comic store one day when this androgynous teenage kid comes mincing ( And I do meen mincing) up to me as I was looking through the used section. This yutz says, "remember the good old days of Second Edition?" I was so torn between laughing my arse off, and telling him to bugger offwith a smack to the head, that I just stood there stunned.

I remember when you had to be able to read , do math on the fly, and consult six different tables just play first edition as many of us did. I'll say one thing for D&D mk.XXX, it did simplify things down. In doing so the game lost much of its spirit. So I'll stick with OD&D for obvious reasons.

By the way, I'm happy to say I'm old enough to be that kids father, but even happier I'm not!

And here I thought gaming was a place for misfits to finally not get bugged for being who they were. Sorry, Thorswulf, but I've known too many "androgynous" teen kids who got beat up for not being "manly" enough - and no kid deserves that. I appreciate the anachronistic turn of your tale, but I don't see the need to make fun of how the kid looked or acted.

[Falconer]

Hey, all six of us (males) in my High School 2e AD&D group had long hair worn in ponytails, and half of them wore all black all the time. I still chortle when I think about it. I’m not advocating beating up girly boys or anything like that, but since when is it not cool to poke fun at them?

[badger2305]

falconer said:

Hey, all six of us (males) in my High School 2e AD&D group had long hair worn in ponytails, and half of them wore all black all the time. I still chortle when I think about it. I’m not advocating beating up girly boys or anything like that, but since when is it not cool to poke fun at them?

Did you like it when you were teased? I doubt it. It seems to me that it would be a good idea to apply the Golden Rule, and to try and refrain from it. I've been guilty in the past of making fun of other groups of people, but as I've gotten older, I've begun to feel differently about it.

From an academic perspective, I'm also troubled by teasing, and I don't mean the gentle kind between friends. Teasing can be a form of bullying, and bullying can lead to violence. Here's a link:
usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/bullying.htm

I could go into the academic literature about this, but I frankly don't want to get any further in this debate. I know there are people out there who do not believe this stuff, but when we can trace connections between teasing, bullying, and violence, it's enough for me to think twice about this stuff.

[coffee]

badger2305 said:

I've been guilty in the past of making fun of other groups of people, but as I've gotten older, I've begun to feel differently about it.

Me, too.

I agree that teasing isn't the best use of our time and efforts. Gamers get 'teased' enough by outsiders; we don't need to do it to ourselves.

I only wish this message could be gotten through to the individual who started this discussion, by 'teasing' Oldgamergeek in the first place.

This is why we, the Old Guard if you will, must take it upon ourselves to restore a measure of maturity and dignity to roleplaying, the way it was back in the old days. We need to lead by example.

And I think OD&D is the perfect vehicle for that.

[wulfgar]

The rudeness of a person is just that- the rudeness of the person. It has nothing to do with what version of D&D they prefer, so I'd chalk up the original poster's experience to bumping into a jerk not anything wrong with 4e.

3/3.5e is not for me. That's because I don't like the rulesets, not because that version is inherently jerky. From what I've heard so far I don't think 4e will be for me either, although I am intrigued by a few of the ideas built into it.

In summary every edition has it's jerks.

[simrion]

At our local gaming store the vast majority of "gamers" are of the CCG variety. The store sells a ton of other RPG and wargaming supplies however most customers of those items do the "smash and grab" buying thing. In and out, they just don't hang around the store. Pretty much the folks that hang in the store are playing Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh or some other card game. They don't tease anyone as they are usually preoccupied.

[thorswulf]

In my defense, I did not verbally accost the kid. I just let it go. And by the way I had plenty of static from other folks as a kid too. I let the 3.5 guys do their thing, and stick to my own.

[philotomy]

I've gotten a few condescending comments, but I've also got a few "wow, you're running OD&D -- that's cool." (Usually followed by "not sure if it's for me" or "not sure if my group would go for that," but hey...)

[Stonegiant]

I just want a game store that I don't have to drive 50 miles to get to; I will even take some jerks with it if it means having one here in town.