Reply #13: my experience was the opposite

[NewJeffCT]

I played constantly with the old 1E rules from the late 70s until I got out of college in 1989. I stuck with 1E with my old group, but as they graduated college and moved on, my face-to-face gaming experience basically died. So, I had little experience with the new 2E stuff... and didn't game at all in person through the mid 90s. I did some computer gaming - Pool of Radiance & Eye of the Beholder I remember, but that was it.

Finally, i got married and also found some online D&D forums... my marriage quickly went south and I ended up noticing some guys from not too far away from me that also posted frequently online. I contacted them, they welcomed me into the group and we had a great 2E campaign that went from mid 1998 until September or October of 1999. It was my first extended experience as a player, and my weekly escape into gaming really helped me keep my sanity as my marriage fell apart...

However, when 3E came out, I was kind of excited because everybody else in the group knew 2E better than me, so it was a chance to get back onto an even footing. However, our first campaign in 3E crashed and burned - we had a couple of new guys in the group that decided they hated 3E and wanted to go back to 1E rules... in addition to being so incredibly racist (out of game) that it made even the moderate Republican guys in the group feel uncomfortable. We booted them out of the group... but, by that time, it was when I got my new job that required crazy hours. Then, I got remarried, etc, etc.