Isn't playing swords & elves as they did it in the disco era just a trifle bit meta, like playing a all-holodeck scenario in a Star Trek game?"

But it's the ST reference that had me giggling. That is the ultimate definition of old style RPGing. We were just so into it then, man!! It was not just about the act of playing a role-playing game but the feel of playing a role-playing game, of the brother(sister)hood of gamers. It was the era when you boasted playing a game without ever rolling a single die, before diceless gaming made that redundant. It was when you could play an entire game three levels removed from the rules and purely, deeply in the roleplay. I don't think I will ever be able to recapture that 12 year old player feel again, even if i did play a flavour of OD&D instead of my flavour of 3E. February 11 08