Edition Wars

 Over the past couple of years I observed a somewhat disturbing undercurrent of unpleasantness creep into the hobby. I am also struck by the fact that it is somewhat pointless and that we have been here before, only that the age of social media has brought it into sharp relief. I am of course talking about (the title gives it away a llittle) edition wars.

It is a bizarre thing to see people actively engaged in the same hobby, thump each other on social media these days over an edition of a game they play. The game of course is Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D or DnD. This game came out wargaming in the late 60s and through a long process (See Secrets of Blackmoor now available for renting on amazon) became a game known as Dungeons and Dragons. This game has a long and storied history, which I won't go into here, and is now on its 5th edition. Plans are afoot to make it a largely live service which is increasingly managed online but thats for another day.

No, what we are talking about is people getting extremely angry about what edition you play.

Now this sort of thing used to happen even when I started. There were those who preferred the 1st edition and looked down on those who played Basic/Expert DnD. People playing 2nd looked down on the other two, The first because they were behind the times, the others because they were playing a "kids version" of the game. All groups felt their version was "The one and only" and curiously felt they could curate the experience for all. This was mostly played out in letters pages of gaming magazines or the odd snide comment at a gaming table in a local club. But no one could curate the hobby. What an absurd notion. By this time there were hundreds of different gaming systems and they too would undergo different editions and this would spawn a whole series of arguments about which one of those was the right one.  I too had my preferences and do recall having strong feelings about it. But I grew up and age does bring wisdom of sorts. Call it perspective and hindsight.

Todays version is no different that what cooked off in my time. The difference is the internet and social media. If it had been around back in the late 70s/80s - the edition wars would have knocked the satanic panic into the long grass I am sure. The ability to post ones thoughts and have it commented on in seconds, can lead to intemperate opinions and replies. It can lead to using the medium as a bully pulpit and can also lead to mob mentalities forming. There is a core of players in the new system that have taken a serious dislike to older gamers and old games. In the highly charged socially aware times we live in, old gamers and their games have been casually and wrongfully targetted as being problematic. Highly charged terms like racism and sexism have been casually thrown about. It has of course led to an all to predicitable reaction from a section of older gamers and younger gamers who prefer older systems. Leading to one side attempting to curate the hobby. To "Gate Keep" the experience all the while accusing the other side of doing the same. It does have to be said that it has lead to behavious such as social shunning and acutally defaming and liable. All very distasteful and disturbing.

But do you know what? Its pointless. Utterly pointless.

The hobby (as we gamers like to refer to it as) is old. The 1st wave of game designers and gamers are all septuagenarians and many have passed on. But the games are a product and companies will always look to repackage and resell it, hence the various editions. But these older games are not going away. Nostalgia is old gamers kryptonite and many of wander back to these older games. Not I think, because they were better. No, I think its an attempt to go back and try to recapture that 1st time the game clicked. Nostalgia is a longing for a time or place were you were happy once. 

One day 5th edition will be eclipsed by 10th edition. Those young turks will no doubt find themselves faced with defending themselves from the same arguments they levelled at my generation. They too will find themselves fighting pointless edition wars.  I won't deny I do feel a certain schadenfruede at that, but in the end, like I said...its pointless.

Why?

You can't gatekeep the imagination. People will play the games they play, the way the want to play them. You can no more curate that experience than canute could control the tides. What little victories you think you achieved will in time be forgotten. 

I play many games. I have my preferences and am happy to play anything. I even play 5e. But I can just as happily play basic. I have friends who, now in the mid 60s and retired have only ever played a homebrew version of DnD. The DNA of 1st and 2nd editions are plain to see. It has been amended and updated over the last 40+ years. They have characters and campaigns that span decades. even the setting is theres and built up over the years. 

Find a system that you are happy with and have fun but feel free to experiment and try other games. Its quite liberating.