AD&D, B/X, and the OSR: By the numbers

Is AD&D still alive and well, or an older part of the OSR that is fading in popularity? This week’s post is an apology: after I wrote “AD&D is too complicated for the OSR” in the Sly Flourish Discord, a pair of kind folks rightly pointed out (and I quickly agreed) that I was wrong-headed and ahistorical there, between OSRIC and a persistent community of fans. I lacked perspective: while I grew up memorizing BECMI and the AD&D 1e and 2e books, I then took a break for decades, started back on to 5e in 2014 and then, in covid times, found my way the B/X side of the OSR.Hearing about AD&D’s continued popularity surprised me, especially since many new OSR+ games are derived from B/X D&D (e.g., Shadowdark, the Borgs). But we all agreed that we didn’t know exactly how popular A&D was, relative to B/X-derived OSR games. In general, it seems like we all don’t know which RPGs are popular, if Bob World Builder’s recent poll is any indication. So, this week’s post examines data from con games to…