After years of Coffee, why Kool-Aid?

I left the original D&D and AD&D behind years ago, before either was actually discontinued. The reasons were many. So -- why return?

To me the Old School Renaissance is not about playing a particular set
of rules in a particular way, the dungeon crawl. It is about going back
to the roots of our hobby and seeing what we could do differently. 
- Author, Bat in the Attic

This sums it up a lot of it. As games built on successful commercial models give us more and more, it's interesting to turn back the clock to a time when the hobby was a hobby. But instead of a purely nostalgic experience I have thirty years of gaming experience to bring to my re-examination.

One of the things I am enjoying about Adventurer, Conqueror, King is that it is not just a retro-clone, it's a game that starts as a clone but adds a simple proficiency system, and a complete domain  system, becoming much more than a reprint of BD&D+.

The Fly in My OSR Kool-Aid

I suppose that like most of us, I'm a product of my gaming upbringing. I started with OD&D and through the years moved from this system to that one. Along the way I'd come back to the current iteration of D&D, I may not have been a pro but I was certainly current. Decades later that hasn't really changed.

With my introduction to the OSR I've begun to embrace a lot of things I left behind. But there is one thing that I am not sure I miss. The multi-level dungeon.

I know there are fans of the multi-level/mega-dungeon out there. I admit it is strictly a matter of taste -- but for me a big part of RPGs is interacting with NPCs. And you may find a friendly Ogre or a peaceful tribe of rat people on your voyages, but if most of your sessions are spent probing floors, lighting torches, and so forth? I just find that I get weary of running them, and weary of playing them. For me it's the interaction that lies at the heart of a successful and entertaining game.

Now certainly there is no necessity to run massive-dungeons. But as I re-explore gold-for-exp, there certainly has to be concentrations of wealth out there, available for exploitation. It will remain an issue for me to tackle.