https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG6XcyqF3A0
I like my comment... of course I would, it's my comment. Just kidding, I've been thinking this one over for months and this might just be a short enough version of my thoughts to get the point across to somebody:
I think there are good things in nearly every version of D&D. The OSR: I love the art look. I love the way there is no "one solution only" mindset... usually there are several ways to creatively get something accomplished. Common sense works just fine in most situations without having to roll, I like that a whole lot. Watching some Tenkar's Tavern, I have learned tons of OSR tricks that I never picked up in my youth (never got to play much back then). Newer games (say D&D 3.5e or 5e): the art look has been diminished quite a bit for me, but I do enjoy lots of powers to keep the variety going. Maybe you concentrate less on super creativity using basic things (a spike in your pack used to block a door and hold back the giant spider), but you can often be very creative with your powers, assuming the table has the right mindset. Maybe you cast sleep under the door crack because it's got over an inch of a crack under it, you got down on your belly while the fighter held the door, and bam you put the giant spider on the other side to sleep. Or maybe you try to cast fireball under the door with the huge crack... maybe you can only do it with a wand of fireballs and you slip the end under the door, or the DM let's you know it'll be a very hard aim (50/50 on the dice) ... and then it's up to you whether it is worth the risk. So yeah, it is easy to say newer games refer to the character sheet too much (they do), if you have the right mindset and some exposure to older styles, you mix them up, then you get so many options nobody ever gets bored. That is a recipe for fun in my book.
