Why are people so in love with clones?

[ripx187]

I for one don't get it. I saw it while I was on AD&D networks too, and these books aren't hard to find at all. In regards to OD&D, you download a copy, you print it out and assemble the thing yourself, it is not a large project. Now that I've been using OD&D for a while I find that the only book that I really ever use is "Men & Magic", the others are just ignored and I didn't need to print those off. 

 

[El Borak]

I think it is the "modern" organization and the sanitized approach where the ambiguities and other features (that IMO make it special) have been removed.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

I use all three books, but only a few tables during a game. I think the modern organization and the editing are most of it.

[docsammy]

Mostly it's the more cleaned-up and organized layout and the fact that for the longest time, OD&D was legally unavailable and the few second-hand hard copies on eBay and Amazon were all ungodly expensive.

However, with the new official PDF's of OD&D using the original texts from the 1970's being legally available and for a low price, clones have become a lot less popular.

Now, I started with the retro-clones like Delving Deeper, Microlite74, and Full Metal Plate Mail before I eventually got the official PDF's and these clones are what helped get me into OD&D and the OSR.

It helps that a lot of the clones are legally available for free.

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Like docsammy, El Borak & TPD said the better organization & editing. It is why I love Delving Deeper, but I started trying to put my own document with art I like from online so I have a more visually appealing version of the game. Just looking at the PDFs make me appalled by the shoddy art. That all said I run it with only the combat charts and home-brew notes in case I need them.

[bestialwarlust]

Agreed with the others organization and editing plus some interesting house rules that I would incorporate anyway which is why my games of choice are Delving Deeper and ACKS.

[Mr Darke]

My love for them is two-fold. 

First, there is getting a copy of the game that is long out of print and may be cost prohibitive to get. Clones have made this much easier (Try buying an RC these days) and affordable. 

Second, getting supplements for a long dead game is always a thrill and more than a few are making material for all flavors of the game cheaply. 

However, I have some issues with the whole of it that are older issues mixed with newer ones. Some of these are from the beginning of the clones and others have developed over time. In no particular order: 

1) They can feel sanitized and lacking the flavor of the TSR originals. The language and artwork can be bland and even shoddy. The old magic just isn't there. 

2) Repetition. How many variations of Keep on the Borderlands, OD&D, B/X and so on do we really need? There has been a bit of stagnation. 

3) The bad kind of nostalgia. Rose colored glasses and all that seems to have kept the clones and OSR as a whole lacking a bit of needed innovation. Many seem to be locked into a this is the only way mentality. Yes new ideas are coming forward but many don't like the idea. A sub-part of this seems to be certain designs exist just to be different from modern games. (S&Ws wonky treasure and forced low-magic item system is an offender) 

4) Lack of P.O.D. options. This is a big problem in my book. There are now enough places to do P.O.D. that there should be more content available in the format. I dislike working from PDFs and sometimes printing something yourself out is more expensive than ordering it already printed. 

5) WOTCs print on demand options have eclipsed clones for me. With the advent of WOTC doing P.O.D.s of much of its library (and more coming) I see less of a need for clone systems than I do supplements. This is not necessarily a bad thing but should WOTC make the entire library open to print options the importance and need of clones will be lessened. 

All of this is my opinion.