Last night was my groups final 3e adventure for the foreseeable future. Admittedly it wasn't my greatest adventure, but I do think it was an epic one. A grand and fitting finale for an edition that has brought us more than a few good times over the past 7 or so years.
When we resume play after 4th of July we plan to be gaming in 4th edition in an all new campaign with all new characters. I'm kind of excited to kick the tires and take the new edition out for a run, but at the same time sad to see a familiar friend go.
I moved all of my 3e books, and campaign notes from the game room (dining room) bookshelf to the bookshelf upstairs with the rest of the games we no longer play. I know that the books are not gone, we can pick them up and play a 3e game anytime, and if 4e isn't our cup of tea they can easily be brought out of retirement. However, that has yet to happen with any game when we've decided it was time to move on to the current version.
Still all of those old editions of D&D and various other games will always have a place on that upstairs bookshelf. They are precious in their own way. They hold much more than rules and scribbled notes. Within their worn and sometimes torn pages are the memories of adventures past, and friends I haven't seen in years. Every once in a while I still get them out, read through the books and notes remembering past glory. The things those older editions have seen, the adventure, joy, horror, and disappointment are fond memories that I will cling to until I can no longer roll a die. Now I have added one more set of memories to the collection.
