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Thurbane
2010-07-15, 03:41 AM
Hey all...I'm a self confessed "old fart" of D&D. I started playing about 26 years ago.

When I started, I was mainly playing AD&D 1E, with small amounts of Basic D&D (Red Box). Our group moved on to AD&D 2E when it came out, but unfortunately, the group disintegrated late in 2E's run (people started having kids, and/or starting their own businesses, that didn't leave much time for gaming).

Happily, our group re-formed a few years later, and launched into 3.5 (we missed 3.0 altogether). :smallsmile:

When 4E came out, I flipped through the books, and played a couple of sessions at Game Day, but I just didn't take to it (lets not start an edition war here - my reasons for not playing 4E are purely a matter of personal taste, and I don't have a problem with 4E as a system).

My group still plays 3.5 D&D, at our weekly Monday sessions.

Anyhow, I was wondering how many other old-timer D&D players are on the forum, and what D&D (if any) are you still playing today? :smallbiggrin:

Yora
2010-07-15, 04:04 AM
Is 11 years still "old"? :smallamused:

I started with late 2nd Edition but soon switched to 3rd Ed. because it really streamlined the rules while still maintining about the same feeling and game world assumptions in the core rulebooks. There are a couple of 3rd Ed. books I think are quite good, but I only use them for fluff and still mostly play core only.
Lately I started to use E6, and I really like how it removes the high level siliness of 3rd Ed.

I took some looks at 4th Ed. but I really seems like a very different game that just uses a great deal of the fluff I didn't like about late 3rd. Ed., so I really can't b bothered about it.

Zen Master
2010-07-15, 04:23 AM
I've been playing for 21 years, started on 2e, and we play 3.5 today. I also had a light brush with 4e, didn't like it one bit, and returned to 3.5.

I have an enormous amount of other rpg's too - Earthdawn, CoC, Dark Heresy, Shadowrun, Mythic, and so on.

Psyx
2010-07-15, 04:39 AM
Started 28 years ago with 1e and red box. Discovered RQ and T&T fairly soon after. I went off D&D after a particularly bad campaign with a dreadful GM, but 3.0 bought me back. I avoid 4e, as I think it's utterly dreadful - If I want to play a computer game, I'll go and do that!

At present, I run Dark Heresy and play in some intermittent 3.5 games. I also run a homebrew game, which started off as a mythological Japanese game, but has had spin-offs into the modern era and the viking period. I still do a bit of wargaming, when I get chance. Frankly, I'd quite like there to be something high fantasy and better than D&D on the market which is well supported, so I do feel it to be a 'filler' game in many ways.

In the last year I've also ran a brief Feng Shui game set in mythological Greece and played Requiem, WFRP, SWd6 and OWoD Werewolf.

Kaiyanwang
2010-07-15, 05:38 AM
I started 18 years ago.. red box, up to master, and then AD&D 2nd edition.

I currently play weekly a gestalt 3.5 campaing, and Pathfinder one-shots seldom.

Don't like 4th, at all. Myself, the game is simply called Pathfinder now.

Aotrs Commander
2010-07-15, 05:51 AM
I think I first played D&D fairly early on in my gaming history...but after Rolemaster and Warhammer. We played a modest bit of AD&D, and I certaintly bought all the Complete [class] books and the Encyclopeida Magica; but my preferred system was Rolemaster. Until 3.x came out, and since then, I've never really looked back.

I looked at 4E, decided that, like Thurbane, while it is a mechanically functional system (which is more than most rules are, to be fair) it really was antithetical to my preferences. So, like always, I plundered it for useful rules (solos have been an outsanding adaption back into 3.5). Likewise Pathfinder. It has a lot of very good rules (the skill system, even if I don't agree with all of the skills folded into each other, the death rules), but a lot of equally poor ones. So, I stole the best and fitted 'em back to my own games. (In the end, I didn't think Paizo's houserules were better than my houserules.)

So now I play 3.5 95% of the time, with the odd Rolemaster quest for our favourite RM/SM party of crazies; and the odd WFRP as I have most of the quest books.

Amphetryon
2010-07-15, 05:58 AM
Started playing in 1978. I'll let you do the math. :smallwink: I own the 4e Player's Handbook, but it doesn't hold the appeal for me that 3.5 does. I'm currently just DMing, but hoping to get into some actual games.

potatocubed
2010-07-15, 06:30 AM
I started gaming about 21 years ago, but I didn't get into D&D until a few years later. Got the basic Rules Cyclopedia - I have no idea what edition that was, but it was old enough to be "when 'elf' was a character class". I moved on pretty quickly to AD&D 2nd edition, played that for 5-10 years, then sort of went on hiatus for the late 90s until the arrival of 3.0.

Right now I would play any edition of D&D. I would run Swords and Wizardry or 4e, because I just don't have the time to prep for a 3.5/Pathfinder game.

I do like Pathfinder, though. I prefer it to 3.5 because it (currently) has fewer options to keep track of, and those options are all open content so I can browse the SRD to keep abreast of things rather than buying a zillion books.

Finally, I'm working on my own system that combines D&D with the FATE system. When it's done I'm going to use it to run my old Planescape modules.

Kaiyanwang
2010-07-15, 06:36 AM
Got the basic Rules Cyclopedia - I have no idea what edition that was, but it was old enough to be "when 'elf' was a character class".

Rules Cyclopedia is a compilation of BECMI rules, without the "I" (and few minor changes IIRC).

coffeedragon
2010-07-15, 06:37 AM
I'm a self confessed old timer :smallbiggrin: I started with the red boxed basic set in 1987. Played 1st and 2nd edition but started to lose interest after a while. Tried Star Frontiers and Gamma World.
Took a break for a few years and then a friend talked me into DMing third edition. That lasted about a year before I decided that they had changed too many rules for my liking.
Then a year ago a new friend invited me to play in their 3.5 Freeport campaign. Great DM and a good bunch of players have revived my love for the game.
Now I'm preparing to DM again next year, running a pathfinder campaign.
4th ed holds absolutely no appeal for me.
There are still aspects of 3.5/pathfinder that I find frustrating, such as the magic system and the combat, but I'm working on a set of house-rules to fix that...

Psyx
2010-07-15, 06:44 AM
Rolemaster

*shudder*

Used to enjoy the game, but hated the system. Would never consider running the wretched thing.

Caliphbubba
2010-07-15, 07:08 AM
23 years in the hobby for me.

Started off playing Red Box D&D, did a little Blue Box. Then pretty much straight into AD&D 2nd ed as it was just starting up then.

Played 2nd Ed for many years. and actually still play a 2nd ed game once a month.

Made stops along the way into many other game systems, most notably the oWoD games for a long time. But included such winners as Shadowrun, Rifts, Castle Falkenstein(sp?), Star Wars d6 and many many others.

Happily made the switch to 3rd ed (and 3.5) with most of my games when they came around, and the majority of my gaming is still done with this system.

Have no interest in D&D 4th ed.

Right now I play in:
1. 2nd Ed AD&D, heavily houseruled Dragonlance game.
2. oWoD, Vampire the Masquerade
3. oWoD, Werewolf the Apocolypse
4. D&D 3.5, Greyhawk
5. D&D 3.5, Iron Kingdoms
6. D&D 3.5, Homebrew World
7. Palladium Rifts

panaikhan
2010-07-15, 07:22 AM
I started playing when I was 14 - my parents bought me the 'basic D&D' box. I moved to 'Advanced' pretty quickly, and have followed the roller-coaster ride that has been D&D ever sinse... up until now.

It's been a long and difficult struggle to even interest my current group with 4e.
Almost everyone is complaining they cannot re-envision their favorite 3.x character in 4e, but I remember the exact same problems moving from 2.x to 3e....
Anyway.

Games I have played, but no longer:
Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller, Runequest, Middle Earth, Gamma World, Cyberpunk, Palladium (Heroes Unlimited / Palladium / Rifts), Macho Women with Guns, Paranoia, Warhammer, a large number of pseudo-fantasy or sci-fi board games.

Games I still play (at some point or other):
D&D 3.0 / 3.5
World of Darkness
Call of Cthulhu d20
Car Wars (Yes! Car Wars!)

hamishspence
2010-07-15, 07:26 AM
I've played Basic, 2nd ed, 3rd ed, and 4th ed. I like both 3rd ed and 4th- 3rd for the sheer variety of stuff out there, and 4th for the ease of play.

I've taken part in one game of Star Wars D6- and liked it.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-07-15, 07:28 AM
I learned to play 2e when I was 7 (13 years ago), so while it wasn't all that long ago relative to some others, I think that still counts. After getting us comfortable with that, the DM (a friend's dad) also taught us 1e to mix things up a bit, then about a year after 3e came out I moved, found a new group, and started playing that. I've played several playtest games of 4e, and have decided to stick with 3e (like others, I think it's fine on its own merits but not what I'm looking for in D&D), so I play mostly that with the occasional 2e campaign when I can convince my group to do that.

Psyx
2010-07-15, 07:41 AM
Other stuff on my games shelves (Anyone have fond memories of any of these?):

Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020.
Millennium's End
Torg
Dragon Warriors
Pendragon I-III
SLA Industries
Rolemaster
Runequest 2-3
T&T
Starwars d20
Mechwarrior
Elric
Harnmaster
Sengoku
Stormbringer
WFRP 1&2
Conspiricy X
Mekton
En Garde
Star Frontiers
Dark Heresy
oWoD: Vampire (1st Ed onwards)
nWoD: Requiem
Paranoia
Robotech
Shadowrun 2
Traveller
Amber
Dangerous Journeys

Plus several dozen smaller games with only a rulebook. Most of which have never got played.

Thurbane
2010-07-15, 07:45 AM
...I should mention, other games that I have very briefly played as well as D&D include Twilight 2000 1E, CoC (no idea what edition, and only a handful of games), Runequest (again, no idea what edition, and only a handful of games), and an old edition of Traveller.

@panaikhan - I had a friend or two that I played Car Wars with a few times. Fun game!

Matthew
2010-07-15, 08:17 AM
I was introduced to fantasy adventure gaming about eighteen or nineteen years ago at age eleven or twelve, I think, with the Hero Quest board game. When I get the chance, I typically play some iteration on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, though I have participated in the D20/4e Dark Sun encounters series at my local game shop. I do not have a lot of time to devote to gaming at the moment, so I usually just play whatever is available.

subject42
2010-07-15, 08:34 AM
I only started in the late 90s, so I don't know if I'm an "old timer" or not, but these days I either play Pathfinder (with 3.5 importation), and do occasional playtesting on homebrew systems.

okpokalypse
2010-07-15, 08:51 AM
Hey all...I'm a self confessed "old fart" of D&D. I started playing about 26 years ago.

When I started, I was mainly playing AD&D 1E, with small amounts of Basic D&D (Red Box). Our group moved on to AD&D 2E when it came out, but unfortunately, the group disintegrated late in 2E's run (people started having kids, and/or starting their own businesses, that didn't leave much time for gaming).

Happily, our group re-formed a few years later, and launched into 3.5 (we missed 3.0 altogether). :smallsmile:

When 4E came out, I flipped through the books, and played a couple of sessions at Game Day, but I just didn't take to it (lets not start an edition war here - my reasons for not playing 4E are purely a matter of personal taste, and I don't have a problem with 4E as a system).

My group still plays 3.5 D&D, at our weekly Monday sessions.

Anyhow, I was wondering how many other old-timer D&D players are on the forum, and what D&D (if any) are you still playing today? :smallbiggrin:

Same here. Started playing the Basic set back in the early 80s, moved to Advanced and 2nd E in college. I didn't like 2E much, but I did like the 2.5 Combat & Tactics supplements and such - made games really long, but the group I was in was a bunch of converts from the 40k type of gaming at the time, so we didn't mind long tactical battles...

I didn't play for a while after college and started back up again in 2002 with 3.X and have been playing weekly to bi-weekly since with a good mix of gamers. I've played in a handful of outside games, but I prefer the group I'm with. I also tried a bit of the 4E and just didn't like it at all. So it's still 3.5 for me and my group... We do avoid splatbooks since they create a lot of unmanagable power-creep.

Wow, has it been almost 30 years? Jeez...

Jarawara
2010-07-15, 10:14 AM
30 years here!

I started with AD&D (1st edition), and wasn't even able to buy all the books because they were out of stock in this region for months at a time. I supplimented my collection by adding some of the Basic rulebooks as reference.

After awhile, I saw errors in how AD&D worked, and that Basic had done it better (ability scores is done far better in Basic than in Advanced), so I started a homebrew design combining elements of both systems together.

When 2nd edition came out, I stayed with the 1st edition homebrew, though my system did continue to evolve, as I now researched details from original D&D. I ended up creating specialist wizards without knowing that they had created specialist wizards in 2E. Oh well.

In the early 1990's, I switched to 3rd edition...

Wait. How is that possible? 3rd edition didn't come out till what? 1999? And yet I switched in the early 90's?

Well yes. Because 3rd edition is simply a compiled collection of what most of us gamers were already doing with our homebrews, and so many of the key elements of 3rd edition was already in my homebrew (and surely in thousands of other homebrews, all across the country).

When 3rd edition came out, I officially 'switched over' to using that, so that I would be 'playing the same system' as everyone else. Meaning, I bought the books, never opened them, and continued to play what I've always played.

When 3.5 edition came out, I made a concentrated effort to update my gaming expertise, so that I would be on the same page as everyone else. Meaning, I finally opened up my 3.0 books and tried to figure them out.

When 4th edition came out... I gave up trying to understand 3.0, and am now convincing my players to use a homebrew combination of AD&D/Basic, with elements similar (but predating) 3rd edition. Which I just happen to have.

Online chatroom gaming does not fit well with rules-heavy minatures combat gaming. Instead, we rely heavily on free-form description and the rule of cool.

Ormagoden
2010-07-15, 10:20 AM
I'm 79 years old now and I have to say that I still enjoy 3.5 most of all!

-50 years

Draz74
2010-07-15, 10:21 AM
I started playing 2e 16 years ago. I currently run a 3.5e game. But doing so is greatly increasing my desire to get my spin-off homebrew system, CRE8, into working (and simplified) form so I can switch to that.

I wouldn't mind playing 4e if that's what's available, but I don't think I'll ever "permanently switch" to it.

SimperingToad
2010-07-15, 10:29 AM
"I uhhh... started out as a child." - Bill Cosby

Summer of 1978, a couple of friends got me involved in the Holmes set. Not too long after, we began with AD&D, probably by that Christmas.

I went to AD&D 2E when that was released, and even dabbled in a Player's Option game for a while. Following suit, I even went to 3E and 3.5 when they were released, like so many did.

Never touched 4E other than to look at the rules.

I do not own any 3E books any longer (and never did 4E), and even most of my AD&D 2E books are gone save core.

I've been with a group of AD&D players for about 12 years, introduced by my cousin. I picked up copies of the Classic line which I never played under before (Moldvay/Cook and Mentzer sets), and am now considering a hybrid between Classic and AD&D for my own game (about 75%/25% rules ratio at the moment).

ZeltArruin
2010-07-15, 10:48 AM
My oldest gaming memories are from the mid 90s, playing adnd 2e's The Night Below and also playing Warhammer Quest, not that anyone remembers that amazing-fantastic-awesome game. Since then, I switched over to 3.X (cant remember if it was 0 or 5) in 2001, played that until 4th came out, and I play that too. I still prefer adnd 2e to any other edition, but that is only because if simplicity, I hate 3.5 for the huge amount of splat it has, same goes for 4th. I am kind of 'devolving' now, moving from 3.5/4th to Osric, as that has struck a chord in me and I likely fancy it more than a should.

Other games:
WFRP (preferred 'complicated' rpg)
Warhammer/40k
Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader (have yet to have a not one shot game)
Several completely homebrewed games that my brother and I ran on paper back when we were young, generally involving exploration and killing monsters

Oracle_Hunter
2010-07-15, 10:54 AM
16 years ago I flipped open the rules to the "Dungeons and Dragons" box set (one of the basic sets released as an intro to AD&D) and got to the page that said "read no further unless you are the Dungeon Master."

I've been running games ever since :smallbiggrin:

AD&D was where I cut my teeth, but I played a bunch of contemporary systems as well:

Shadowrun (2nd & 3rd)
Battletech
Heavy Gear
Mage (oWoD)
Werewolf (oWoD)
Vampire (oWoD)
WRFP (1st Edition)
Star Wars (d6)
Deadlands (1st Edition)


Experience with WotC D&D
When 3.0 came out I was excited because Feats added a little depth to the combat system. By the time I got to college I tried running a few 3.5 games but after my first mid-level campaign exploded in a burst of min/maxing I stopped.

4e is a godsend because it runs like I ran AD&D - simple combat rules, uncomplicated character advancement, and plenty of space for non-combat actions.

Today, I wouldn't run a 3.5 game without a gun at my head - and even then, Core Only. I have since played in a few but mostly as a social matter. I run the occasional 4E game - it is my D&D of choice - but I've been tending towards the so-called "Indie RPGs." Each Indie RPG has a particular gaming experience in mind and it delivers it well - by and large.

Indie RPGs I've Played

Bliss Stage
Mountain Witch
Baron Munchausen
Burning Wheel


Aaaand I'm trying to rebuild oWoD Mage in my free time. Y'know, as a rules system as opposed to a morass of GM Fiat :smalltongue:

LibraryOgre
2010-07-15, 10:54 AM
I have been playing longer than some of the people at our table have been alive.

I got started in 1989, playing what I remember as a 1st/2nd edition hybrid under my Senior Patrol Leader, Andy Nuxoll. When we moved to Louisiana in '90, I played some AD&D (again, a 1st/2nd edition hybrid, using a 1e PH and a 2e DMG... and a lot of Dark Sun), some Palladium games, some V&V, and some Shadowrun. When we moved to Houston, I played a lot more AD&D 2e. In college, it was a lot more Palladium, a fair bit of 2e. I embraced 3e when it came out, but was getting married about the time of 3.5, so it took me a couple years to get around to it.

I'm now playing in a 4e Shadowrun game, in a 4e WD&D game that's on hiatus, and in a Castles and Crusades game that recently switched over from Pathfinder. I've also got an intermittent group that plays a simplified variant of Palladium or 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars, depending on who gets together.

arrowhen
2010-07-15, 11:08 AM
27 years here, currently playing 3.5. It's not my favorite system but I'm familiar with it and it's what I can find players for.

My ideal system for adventure gaming would be something halfway between Microlite20 and 4e in terms of complexity.

Psyx
2010-07-15, 11:11 AM
"Warhammer Quest, not that anyone remembers that amazing-fantastic-awesome game."

It's a big pile of awesome!

We're considering using it as a filler game, for when we're down a couple of players.

valadil
2010-07-15, 11:12 AM
Started with MERP about 15 years ago. We switched back and forth between that and AD&D. I don't actually know which D&D that was, but I think it was 1st ed, with a few choice 2nd ed rules backported. Enjoyed 3rd, but it's run its course for me. Currently playing GURPs and Dark Heresy while running 4th ed.

Zeta Kai
2010-07-15, 11:16 AM
I've been playing off & on for 15 years, ever since one of my friends convinced me to play a solo campaign of his, which resulted in my character's death in the first session. I was an unarmed 1st-level half-elf rogue, versus a basilisk that got the jump on me. To this day, I don't know what his problem was, but while I hated his guts for such a jerk-move, I was hooked on the system. I loved the game, & I knew that I could be a much better DM than he was, if I only understood the game better.

That was AD&D, 2.5 as we know it now. I played that until 1998, then I fell in & out of love with Vampire: the Masquerade & other White Wolf games. Then I rediscovered D&D (then 3.0) back in 2002, & bought the books just in time for them to be made obsolete with the release of 3.5 in 2003. I have shunned 4E, as many of you know my opinions on that touchy subject. I have dabbled with other systems, as well, such as MERPs, GURPS, M&M, Paladium, Ars Magicka, Call of Cthulhu, etc.

I currently run a heavily-modified version of 3.5, with a plethora of houserules that rivals the waning days of 2E. It's barely the same game as Core 3E, but it works for my groups, & they have fun, which is the whole point. I've vowed that I will make my own system that is nothing like D&D, 3E or otherwise, & that once I do, I will never run a WotC product again. The basics of my personal gaming system are in place & functional, but the whole thing needs a lot of fleshing out & polishing. One day, I will step out into the bright sunshine, & feel the cool wind upon my face. On that day, I will be free, once & for all time.

potatocubed
2010-07-15, 11:34 AM
Aaaand I'm trying to rebuild oWoD Mage in my free time. Y'know, as a rules system as opposed to a morass of GM Fiat :smalltongue:

Might I recommend Unknown Armies? It's what Mage should always have been, if you ask me.

NowhereMan583
2010-07-15, 11:50 AM
I played my first game of D&D when I was 8, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm twenty now, so that would be 12 years ago. We played some form of 2nd edition (I wasn't the DM so I don't know the particulars) for a couple years, and when 3e came out, we all bought the books and ran that for a while.

I never bought the 3.5 books - not because I objected to the existence of 3.5, but because 3.0 had always worked well enough for us that I didn't see the need to spend the money. When I got to college, everyone there who played D&D played 3.5, so I switched over. I still didn't have the books, but other people did, and the Hypertext SRD was available, so I got by.

I heard about 4e, and figured we were probably going to start switching to that soon, so I pre-ordered the books. I then ran a 4e campaign, which went... mediocrely. It didn't help that a couple of the players in that campaign were also players in the ongoing 3.5 campaign I had started running pre-4e, and when we saw them side-by-side, we concluded that 4e didn't live up to its predecessor. (We tried to embrace it, we really did. We even had a tiefling warlock and a dragonborn in the party; we were ready to accept the new core races.)

We now play straight 3.5, no house rules, (except for one GM's love of the autosuccess) and very few splatbooks (sometimes you just need a prestige class). We have no intention of trying to keep up with the current rules - we have concluded that our time as WoTC's target demographic has passed, and we are being replaced in their eyes much as we replaced our predecessors.

Oracle_Hunter
2010-07-15, 11:55 AM
Might I recommend Unknown Armies? It's what Mage should always have been, if you ask me.
Got a friend who's talked it up - I just can't get behind the Pornomancers :smallyuk:

Also, I really like the straight "Belief defines Reality" fluff/practice of Mage. And the Technocracy.

OK, I probably should read UA. It's just that the Sphere system feels so... right.

Allanimal
2010-07-15, 12:32 PM
My dad bought the D&D boxed set for my brother and me in 1979, and when AD&D came out, we saved our pennies to buy the books. We dabbled with other games like Gamma World and Traveller as well. Eventually I started playing more Car Wars and Star Fleet Battles than RPGs, but I was brought back in in college with Cyberpunk and Twilight 2000 and Over the Edge. After Uni I moved away and lost my gaming group, but always stayed in touch with my high school buddy who went on to write for various gaming companies.
Got back into D&D with 3.5e, after that same buddy happened to be in Europe as a guest of honor at an RPG con. Since I don't get to see him often after I moved to Europe, I made the trip from Germany to Finland to see him, and it re-sparked my interest. My wife was intrigued as well ( her brothers played D&D when they were kids but wouldn't let her join in). We ended up finding a greet group and We're loving it.

So, old timer, but still playing D&D.

JonestheSpy
2010-07-15, 12:40 PM
Been playing almost as long as Simpering Toad. Started with first edition, checked out tons of games in my teens but Runequest was the only one that really clicked. Played off and on as time went by, some DnD and some RQ, then stopped for awhile. Began again a few years ago with 3rd and think it's in general the best around, though it requires tweaking and out and out ignoring silly stuff like WBL.

No interest in 4th, but I would like to check out some of RQ's descendents in my copious spare time (sarcastic emoticon here).

Lord Vampyre
2010-07-15, 12:49 PM
Well I've been playing RPGs for 21 years. I started with the Red Box Set for D&D. Switched to oWoD in high school, mostly Mage at that point. Our group played quite a bit of Palladium, including TMNT and Rifts.

After high school, I played few games of Talislanta, Tales from the Floating Vagabond, d6 Star Wars, CoC, GURPS, WFRPG 1st and 2nd, and Shadowrun. Mostly it was 2nd edition AD&D.

Eventually, I started playing in the Camarilla and did live-action oWoD for a number of years. I was also able to get back to playing 2nd edition AD&D. I switched to 3rd edition when it came out. I was more than ready for a change at that time.

Now, I'm running a 4th edition game and not really able to play much. I like the level playing field, but I'm not fond of the flavor of the game.

I find myself wanting to try out Anima and the new version of WFRPG. If I could find a group, I would go back to 2nd edition AD&D in a heart beat.

Natael
2010-07-15, 01:11 PM
Short answer: GURPS 4e.

Long answer: Started with AD&D 2e in 98 or 99, played that until 3e came out, and mostly stuck to that until 3.5, and mostly stuck to that for a while, occasionally playing some Palladium based stuff, and a bunch of random things at conventions. About three years ago, a friend invited me to a GURPS game after I moved to Minneapolis, and I fell in love with the system. Will still play or even run 3.5 some times, and feel that 4e hasn't done enough to fix things or made things better in any way enough to switch (I have played it a bit). Would like to check out 2e AD&D again some time, just to see how it goes.

Petrankov
2010-07-15, 01:37 PM
I have been playing for 22 years, started with Red box set and Blue boxed set. From there we went to AD&D. In high school I switched to an oWoD Werewolf and Vampire combined game.

I ST'ed a Vampire game throughout college.

Now I run 3.5 D&D and oWoD Dark Ages Vampire. I also play in a Dark Heresy game. (I have never even looked at the 4ED D&D books).

Other games I have played, Cyberpunk 2020, CoC, TMNT, Exalted, Gemini, Kult, Mage the Ascension, Star Wars (Saga).

nedz
2010-07-15, 03:20 PM
31 Years.
I first came across the game after I switched schools.
I played a little in a game run under the "3 Books and Supplements" set. I remember one player reaching 7th level only to be told "Thats it, You've won": the rules only went up to 6th level, which probably tells you why E6 seems to work:smallsmile:
My mates from the previous school started playing about the same time. This was 1E AD&D but with the Blue book from the basic set because the DMG hadn't been published. I remember being quite glad when it was because we were a bit bored with the encounter tables which seemed to always produce 2-5 Vicars:smallsmile:
I completely missed 3.0 because I was still playing 2E.
I've done lots of other stuff including a fair amount of LARP.

Fax Celestis
2010-07-15, 03:36 PM
I've been playing D&D off and on for 20 years, RuneQuest for about the same. Discovered oWoD and LARP and Exalted and Everway in college, fell in love, fell out of love later. During this time, also played Chaosium Call of Cthulhu before discovering 3.5. Have played 4e, not so thrilled with it but I'll play it (just not run it). Now working on my own system.

oxybe
2010-07-15, 03:52 PM
started in what... 97-98? it was during the tail end of 2nd ed anyhow.

my group wasn't grandfathered into the game by another gm; my buddy was given a set of used books by his uncle and we went about trying to decipher it. i'm pretty sure we were doing it wrong now that i look back.

when 3rd ed came around things were better organized in the books and clicked easier.

by the end of 3.5 i was honestly sick of the ruleset. i'll still play it, but i don't play 3.5/PF because it's my fav system, i play it because i like my group and i won't let a system get between me and a good time.

for fantasy pulp gaming i go with 4th ed since it's done what wanted to fix my issues with 3.5: rebuild it from the ground up rather then "update" it and grandfather in the same issues it's always had.

however for intrigue games i go WoD (standard WoD. no vampire/werewolf/ect... those have their own genres and conventions). for most anything else, i go GURPS.

Duck_Dodgers
2010-07-15, 08:59 PM
I don't really ever remember not playing D&D, but it was defiantly before I could read very well. Around 1985ish. I use to rely solely on my big brother getting me through the rules. What we played was a weird hybrid of any rulebook we could get our hands on at bookman's the local used book store. I think it was mostly first edition, with 2e and advanced mixed in when it was available. In middle school and high school I played around with a lot of systems including one which my best friend made up loosely based on the Shanara novels. I also played all sorts of system including Gurps, Shadowrun, Earthdawn, Wearwolf, Vampire, Mage, Toon, and of course D&D. In college I spent more time in miniatures and magic than RPG's. Then I moved to Oakland smack dab in the middle of three game stores right as 3.0 was released, really I had no choice but to start playing again. I also played a little Og which always tickled my funny bone. After I moved to New York I started playing living Greayhawk and a home game. The home game is still going strong with 3.5, and I think we're going to stick with it at least until the main campaign is finished, and It's been going on for 6 years now, so maybe we'll just skip 4e and go straight to 5e.

Balain
2010-07-16, 02:18 AM
I started 26 years ago as well. Red box D&D. Then played mostly AD&D, but also a little D&D expert and master. Over the years I've played tons of games. Here's what I remember off the top of my head, and only games I've played more than once.

T&T, TMNT, Bushido, BootHill, Top secret, James Bond, doctor who, MERP, rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Star Trek, Warhammer Fantasy, Ars Magica, World of darkness (all of the systems), Rolemaster, Some home made games by friends, Pendragon, necroscope, runequest, toon

Currently playing 4th edition Campaign and a home made superheroes campaign

ZeltArruin
2010-07-16, 07:49 AM
"Warhammer Quest, not that anyone remembers that amazing-fantastic-awesome game."

It's a big pile of awesome!

We're considering using it as a filler game, for when we're down a couple of players.

I sadly do not own a copy. If only they would give it the Space Hulk treatment, I would buy it up in a heartbeat.

Matthew
2010-07-16, 09:38 AM
I sadly do not own a copy. If only they would give it the Space Hulk treatment, I would buy it up in a heartbeat.

The review in Dragon for War Hammer Quest was something along the lines of "I have no idea how Games Workshop can afford to produce this".

comicshorse
2010-07-16, 09:45 AM
I started 30 years ago with basic DnD (yes I'm that old)
Now playing Shadowrun,original Vampire and new Changeling and Warhammer

Keyras
2010-07-18, 07:50 PM
I am currently playing in two 4e campaigns and prepping up to run another in the next couple of weeks.

I am NOT an RPG newbie. I have been gaming since OD&D in the late 70s, and like most old timers have played many systems. Off the top of my head: D&D, AD&D, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, 4e, Rifts, Palladium, Robotech, Earthdawn, Conspiracy X, SLA, Saga, Shadowrun -- even briefly a Fudge game. I have also played just about every major computer role playing property from Wizardry 1 to the latest Fallout. This includes most major MMOs -- from writing my own MUds, to betaing Ultima Online, to STO - and just about everything in between.

The thing is, I have plenty of friends begging me to come back to their oldstyle (3.5e, rifts etc.) campaigns, and I simply can't bear it. 4e is such an amazing system -- a true rpg revelation -- that I can't go back. I did try, and was so bored that I gave it up after only a few months.

I think next I shall try the uber-mobility monk class :)

Keyras

Thurbane
2010-07-18, 08:54 PM
Some of the many, many systems I bought books for, but never actually played include (not sure of which editions, but all at least 10+ years old):

Paranoia
Aliens
Living Steel
Phoenix Command
Merc 2000
Dark Conspiracy
Gamma World
Star Frontiers
Cyberpunk
Shadowrun
...and many, many more that i can't even recall

nyjastul69
2010-07-18, 09:06 PM
I started playing D&D in 1982 with the magenta box. We moved pretty quickly to AD&D and I've played through all the versions since then. Our group mostly stayed around the TSR games: Top Secret, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Marvel Super Heroes, etc.

I enjoyed the oWoD games when they came out as a change of pace. I've played numerous other systems as well. I liked MERP, but not Rulemaster.

I'd like to have been able to play more 4e, but my group fired the system before 3rd level. I thought it was okay though.

I'm currently running a 2nd ed. Mage game.

Amiel
2010-07-18, 09:20 PM
I started out with the 2e rules (this was back when 3rd edition was beginning to gather interest); started designing a few characters et al with that ruleset then decided to migrate to the new rules to see what the fuss was all about.

I felt the 3e rules weren't really sufficient to hold my interest and so I moved back to designing within the second edition rules.
That continued for a bit, after which 3rd edition interested me again; I finally completed the migration a few months after those rules were ensconced as the rules of choice of many gamers. When 3.5 came out, I changed with the times; though I didn't bother with 4e.

Now Pathfinder is my system of choice.