Which edition is your preference?

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3.5, all i've ever played and all I ever will play.

 

Torn

I really liked 2nd edition, as it was the edition I first played. However, everyone I knew after that point played 3/3.5, which I definitely don't dislike. I think the d20 system is pretty solid and I obviously loved the skill system and whatnot. I haven't looked into 4e at all yet, although from what I hear, I am in no hurry. I am usually about an edition behind, and 3.5 seems pretty ideal, so I'll probably stay here for a while.

 

2E has wonderful settings and colour, but awful rules. 3/3.5 struck me as bland, with bland rules. 4E sounds very interesting, but I haven't done anything with it.

 

Well I thought I'd give 4.0 a try so for the last few week our gaming group have been running a 4.0 module. My first thoughts are that my character some how felt a bit wooden, it seemed we were just playing a tabletop war game rather than a role playing game. We've spent 90% of the time doing pitched battles, all the character seem to have very similar abilities.
I decided to play a Dwarf fighter, in the first encounter with a few goblins he charged in as any Dwarven juggernaut should and got battered. It was then we decided this was a tactical war game and played it that way.

http://www.dinglesgames.com/tools/NPCGenerator/dnd35/

 

It seems like every 3 to 6 months there is another poll about this issue. Most people opinoins on a game rarely change.

My prefence is 2E; always has and always will be. However, if given the chance to play D&D with some friend I would play whatever edition they use as I really don't care. The point of playing D&D is to get some friends together and have fun. Who cares what edition you use.

 

Each edition plays differently, making the game change. I started on 1st edition, loved having Cavaliers and Kensai. When 2nd edition came out, I grew into it as I thought they were very similar, just cosmetic changes. 3rd edition completely changed the face of the game, but I still enjoyed it. 4th edition makes it a completely different entity and after trying it out, I can say that I will never play it again. It's not D&D anymore. It feels arcadey or something.

 

Munchkin, the poll and this thread are one year old

 

I liked 1/2e better, I just wished they had better incorporated the skills/feats into the 2e rules for the 3e, instead of redoing things like AC.

 

2E with Players Option Skills and Powers (with Players Option Combat and Tactics and Spells and Magic) was pretty good.

 

I would prefer to play 2nd or 3rd edition because they removed part of the alignment in 4e

They argued it was partly because it could act as a straight-jacket on a character. If I were a Dungeon Master, I would give a lot of freedom to my players i.e good characters would still be able to act maliciously from time to time while evil characters are not restricted to care only about themselves all the time. People seem to be too obssesed about following an alignment to the letter. "I'm Lawful Good so I shouldn't attack the evil tax collectors that ravages the region.". In my opinion, people should just use their common sense instead of thinking too methodically when it comes to the alignment.

 

I enjoyed every edition, but I must say that 3.5 is the best, some discrepancies but they are minimal. I really enjoyed playing Pathfinder with in my opinion is like 3.78 its 3.5 rules but adds some stuff, fixes some stuff but with still minimal discrepancies.

In my own personal opinion the only way to tell that 4e is D&D is because it has the name right on the cover. Nothing else in my opinion, it would be a lot better if I were a power gamer. Not everything is bad though I enjoyed some things with the new version. But again in opinion it didn't feel like I was playing D&D.

 

Personally, I enjoy the older editions most assuredly more so in a CRPG format, not as much for PnP. (I admit, I've had great adventures with all rule sets though!) 3.5 is okay; but there's too much to it, I think. I love all the lore and spells, love most things about it; but there's just too much. Now, when I would get around with my group of jobless computer science major college group, I loved 3.5e. Everyone was into their character, we had great adventures, took breaks to shoot bb guns at the walls and see who would get hit, had snacks, stayed up till 5am the day before an exam, etc.

Nostalgia readily goes to 3.5e and before, as well as CRPGs. With a CRPG that has tooltips, and tutorials, time to get acquainted to the game by yourself at your own pace, I love the complexity and all the combination. However, now days, I play with a group of friends (who are all into the fantasy setting and roleplaying, but also have jobs and families), and we play 4e. So far, I'm loving it. I still kick in doors, taunt my enemies, jump onto tables for dramatic effect, et cetera. You can still powergame and make your character yours; but perhaps my favorite change is that everyone has abilities now. No longer do I have to just swing swing swing if I play a warrior. I can play a warlord, order my barbarian friend to charge, then make him attack all with my actions.

Or with a synergized sorcerer, I can order him to cast an acid orb with my attack action and do much more damage than I would if I just swung at the big baddy. The actions you can take are clear and concise, everything is neat and prim. I admit, I was very weary at playing a caster when I saw how the spells were handled; but I made a dragonborn dragon magic sorcerer for my most recent game and he's a blast to play. Named him Biff; party re-named him Biff the Insane. Takes close burst spells, rushes into combat, ah he's fun! I love all the editions, but 4e is, I think, the way of the future, and the easiest way for newcomers to enter into the scene.

I feel it is important to note that in our game we have taken some aspects of past editions and implemented them into 4e; better surprise rounds, critical hits and misses (it's just too fun to laugh at your bulky fighter when they roll a one and drop their mace on their toe!), and some other minor things. But overall, I highly recommend giving 4e a try (at least for few low level adventures); it's fun, simple, but not overly simple as it may first appear, and still allows for the most important part: freedom to do whatever you want.