A long time ago I read somewhere that most people, especially men, tend to be drawn to things they liked/appreciated around the time they reached puberty.  This could refer to movies, music, beauty or fashion trends and, in this case, RPG designs (as well as mechanics, I presume).  I find this certainly seems to be true for me.  For example, I started playing D&D with the Moldvay/Cook rules in 1981-82.  We moved to AD&D a few months later, but I always kept playing B/X.  More germane to this question, I find that I still prefer RPGs and game supplements utilizing fairly simple black-and-white art to flashy color products with glossy paper and fancu design aesthetics.  I can certainly appreciate great art, color or not, but for me a great piece of B&W art still screams RPG adventure to me.

So what are your preferences along these lines and when did you start playing and with what game/system?  Just curious as I found myself culling stuff from my collection today and most were newer things.

There's definitely some things I like more than others, as far as style.  But the only consistent thing I'm sure of now is that I like shots of adventurers doing something, and can't stand the ones where it looks like they are posing for a reunion photo. 

I never put much stock in explanations of "nostalgia" or "you never forget your first." For one thing, it wasn't true in my case. It may be because I started playing well before puberty. But I started with Basic D&D, moved onto a mish-mash of BECMI and AD&D, then 2E came out when I was 12, and that got added to the mish mash. And a couple years after that, all the guys I was gaming with were playing 2E--they didn't start as young as me--and so I went to a pure 2E game. It was after that I switched to a pure 1E game. And even then you might call it really a 1.5E game since I used UA and the survival guides, and all that. By the time I was about 21, I switched to just core 1E as the absolute best version of D&D. A couple years later, Gary Gygax's Lejendary Adventure RPG would unseat D&D as my favorite RPG.

In my case, by happenstance of tastes, it's easy to see nostalgia and puberty don't explain much. I have to think it's just as possible for happenstance of tastes for some might seem to validate nostalgia and puberty theories. But either way, I think we do a disservice when we try to pass it off as some sort of psychological phenomenon rather than actually trying to figure out what the awesome is that draws us to these things when there's no surface level reason for liking them. We're missing out on a learning opportunity.

Anyway, for game books, I do prefer black and white sketch art. Because color works don't always go well on a white page, and white page w/ black ink, no matter how "boring" that may look aesthetically is easiest to read and, in a world of digital products, easiest to print at home.

When it's not interior art to an RPG book, I do in fact like color art. Now maybe my years of the superior practicality of black-and-white sketches has had some influence on my tastes. Because when I do my own color art, I still like the black outlines to be there, and I go more subtle on the color. Kind of a hybrid between a sketch and a full color image.

But even though you could link this preference to the old black and white art of my puberty, the more pertinent factor here is that I like art that is stylized. So if you take an outdated art style, give it black outlines and soften the colors, that does create something that is satisfyingly stylized to me. It's the stylization more than the pining for my youth that does it for me.

My first RPG had an awesome box cover based on Moorckocks Elric.
But shortly after this I fell hard for the art of Angus McBride, and I suppose that was around the time I hit puberty. And to be honest he was technically brilliant in every way. I actually looked at several RPGs at the time, and McBride's covers was probably a big reason why I picked Rolemaster. One day, I'll run a campaign where characters and places are based on his MERP/RM covers.

That little theory is an oversimplification, but there is a decent amount of truth to it. Those are formative years where we tend to lay down foundations for our views and interests. Most people tend to have strong memories from that age when they are weak earlier than that. That's essentially how nostalgia works. Every generation has its "good old days."

I can observe that being true for me, with some exceptions. I tend to prefer games that were developed, at least in part, in the 80's into the early 90's. But I also think that's because many new games these days just kinda suck.

I much prefer 80s style black and white line art and two columns of text in a decent sized font really.  I realize that rpgs need to be art books but it's gone too far.

Quote from: David Johansen on October 21, 2023, 10:41:37 PM
I much prefer 80s style black and white line art and two columns of text in a decent sized font really.  I realize that rpgs need to be art books but it's gone too far.

That's because most games these days are not intended to be played. They are intended to be looked at briefly and then discussed online by people acting like they actually played them.

Much later, I also found that I liked the old sketchy Runequest art of Luise Perrin.

This thread needs art. Personally, I think Angus McBride was technically (and some might say aesthetically too) the best illustrator RPGs ever had.

But what about dragons and such, you ask? Angus McBride goes "hold my beer".

Angus McBride was, indeed, an incredible artist.  I often wonder how ICE got so lucky.

I've always wanted to see a game illustrated by Boris Vallejo.  Not the borderline nsfw stuff, but something like this,  https://www.borisjulie.com/product/sunrise-original/

[edit]
... After a quick look I was surprised to find that he actually has illustrated some RPG material

Another case study proving your thesis: The mid 1980s, when I turned 14.

I also have a love for the Mid-Century Modernist look, which is unusual, because this dates from before I was born.  Maybe it's all the nostalgic reruns we watched growing up: My Favorite Martian/Leave It To Beaver/Gilligan's Island, etc.  My wife, a mid-20th century model, also influenced this passion, as I help her maintain her web site, Doo Wop City.  (https://doo-wop.city)  Since I'm so immersed in this world (and I live in a retro-future town), it's part of my local aesthetic.

I just got an original Star Frontiers in the mail this week, if you need more proof of my love of the 1980s.  I also created and play an RPG ABOUT the 1980s, and the modules are filled with more nostalgia than a season of The Goldbergs. I try to make the art look like it was drawn by not a professional, but a fan who has skills, but lacks the discipline.  Here's a character stat card with a sample of the art I'm talking about

I started playing around 1989-90, when I was 13-14. Played B/X for around a year tops--never really liked it, but it was what my group played and I saw the potential in it. I liked the idea of the game more than the system itself. Palladium's Robotech was my second RPG. I liked that system slightly more, but it also had its issue that got on my nerves.

Around that time I got my own books and jumped straight to 2e, and never looked back. I also played RIFTS around that time, and while I liked the setting and some of the system's ideas, the system's glaring issues were too much, and I eventually just dropped it. 2e was my main system for most of my teenage years, but I also tried a bunch of other games (Cyberpunk 2020, Shadowrun, and others I don't recall off the bat), and I had a love-hate relationship 2e, since I still had issues with the system despite liking it more than B/X.

I like 3e and 5e more, except that they're a bit too bloated (specially 3e). 5e is the only D&D that I'd likely play now. The only thing I prefer about 2e was the art (some of it), but not out of nostalgia, but because it was simply better. TSR simply had some of the best artists in RPGs back then, and WotC era D&D is just plastic, derivative art. Though, 5e has the best layout of any edition of D&D, but not by much. 3e had the worse (as bloated as the system itself).

I tend to prefer more modern systems and layout designs, provided that they're not bloated and overdone. I like slick, clean layout design that's elegant and easy to read, and doesn't try to make a RPG textbook look like a video game. Overall I'm not driven by nostalgia at all, though I do feel a tinge of it when looking at 2e and Palladium stuff. But when I dig deep into what those games actually have to offer I always realize I've move on from those systems completely.

Quote from: Trond on October 21, 2023, 09:52:35 PM
My first RPG had an awesome box cover based on Moorckocks Elric.
But shortly after this I fell hard for the art of Angus McBride, and I suppose that was around the time I hit puberty. And to be honest he was technically brilliant in every way. I actually looked at several RPGs at the time, and McBride's covers was probably a big reason why I picked Rolemaster. One day, I'll run a campaign where characters and places are based on his MERP/RM covers.

Totally agree on the Angus McBride covers.  The interior art for ICE was more inconsistent and they tended to recycle it, but there are still some great black and white pieces scattered about.  I'm currently re-reading some MERP adventures for a possible campaign next year and it was these visuals that prompted my query.