However, one thing I've noticed in the last year or so is that the level of philosophical analysis has decreased dramatically both on the blogs and message boards, in favor of an enormous wave of practical application. There are far fewer fundamental questions being discussed and older editions of D&D being evaluated, and many more reviews of new products, analysis of older non-D&D games, organization of face-to-face and virtual events, and the like. This, I think, is the transition between the first phase of the OSR to the second.
We see this with games such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess (2010) that take the D&D game into new directions, but also with “reconstructions” of games that never saw print, such as Dragons at Dawn (2010) which attempts to recreate the game as it was played at Dave Arneson’s table in the very earliest days of the hobby, or my own Adventures Dark and Deep (2013) which attempts to show what direction the game might have taken if Gygax had stayed with TSR in 1985. There are fantasy games that are not based on the D&D rules, but harken to the old-school “feel” such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, The Secret Fire, and Adventurer Conquerer King. We see science fiction games such as Sorcery and Super Science! and Stars Without Number. There are innovative and envelope-pushing settings and adventures such as Carcosa and Vornheim. And more material is being published every day.
As Gary Gygax said, “One more thing: don’t spend too much time merely reading. The best part of this work is the play, so play and enjoy!”
