Old School D&D vs New School D&D: The Combat Divide
From talking to players in my old school campaign and players at the local game shop, I’ve decided that, locally at least, the main divide between liking old school D&D and new school D&D seems to be the player’s opinion of combat. Players who like fast, narrative combat are interested in older version of D&D while players who like using miniatures and battleboards for tactically detailed combat are interested in newer versions of D&D.
This divide seems to be nearly universal among local D&D players I’ve talked to and seems to be a better “determining factor” for interest in older version of D&D than other factors (such as save or die, level drains, character skills vs player skills, or GM fiat) I see talked about on RPG forums and blogs. Players who enjoy the long, tactically rich combats of 3.x and 4e show the least interest in trying older versions of D&D while players who do not like long, tactically rich combats are much more open to trying older versions of D&D.
Is this universal? I have no idea, but I’ve discovered recruiting players locally is much easier now that “discovered” this.