why does this sound like a comparison of bodice rippers? also, I haven't really seen a whole lot of difference between 3-3.5-4 truthfully, at least nothing truly core to the game, the only significant changes were between 1 2 and 3, and 3 was really just returning to the roots of 1 while keeping the best parts of 2 (and losing some of the worst *shudder THAC0*) so really I don't care what edition I'm playing as long as I'm playing XD
you dont see the difference in 3.5 and 4? Mana or spells stored vs. action rounds. movement by squares, vs, ft. Basically all attacks changed, vs, action rounds again. 4 is supposed to be played as a board game, with one loser and many winners. where as 3/ 3.5 were more story based, your characters had more skills, more things to think/ worry about.
My biggest issue with 3/3.5 is that they began to introduce dice rolls for everything. Want to stand up? Roll a dice. Want to walk to the wall? Roll a dice. Need to grab a book from a tall shelf? Roll a dice. I know I'm over-exaggerating that a bit but they did introduce skills and sub-skills for everything and that got in the way of being able to really play a campaign. And who doesn't like THAC0? It really changed how combat worked when players/npcs/mobs brought in big badass armor.
I like 3.5 actually, because a small battle doesn't have to take 30 minutes to finish ... But I must admit, I only have AD&D 2.ed. on my shelf right now..
Their out of the box equipment menu had chickens, goats, and birds and shit on it. Thus, AD&D shall always win. But combat in all D&D blows nuts. Middle-Earth Role Playing (MERP)/Rolemaster is way better and way more brutal. I had a hobbit archer who liked to shoot arrows in people's faces and through eyeballs.
I ran a 4.0 game because i like to try something, so I can have a well established position of hate. It fell apart because two guys where only there to flirt with the the girl who was playing.
Campaigns always fizzle and die. I don't believe people when they say that they have campaigns that last for years. I think they are filthy liars.
I have had a couple games that have lasted a long time, never really kept track of how long. Stuff I've run, I've always tried to have the campaign arcs last a month or two, so that we can take breaks and thereby avoid fizzling.
I've played in campaigns that have lasted a few months, but never a few years. Always had the campaign wrap up before ever getting past the 3/4 month marker.
