I am still a 3.5e player and new to DS. I have a lot of 2e material but 3rd is the edition we stuck with.
3.5e DS seems to be very popular thanks in no small part to the work done here. Who has played in both and thinks it works nearly or as well in 3.5e? Why do you choose it over 2e?
I think there are still a few diehard 2e folks around here. I myself started in 2e and switched to 3.x/pathfinder. 2e was harder to get new people into and as I recall took longer and was more work to engage in combat. 3.x gave us the customization we were looking for and faster combat resolutions. Number crunching was a lot easier as well. The newer editions just didn’t feel right to us. Maybe we’re just to set in our ways at this point.
I prefer 3e over 2e in general because I prefer the greater amount of character customization in 3e.
I am likewise a fan of customization, hence my preferred version of D&D is “official content d20+3.x”.
While it is not as flexible as a point buy system such as Champions or GURPS or a scaling system like FASERIP, it has many more options and customizations than any other editions of D&D currently existing. Plus the rule set is reasonably straightforward among D&D editions, if not the simplest… one aspect that the betatest 5e excelled in. The OGL and SRD are also of historical note and value.
To give context: I have played at varying lengths of time Basic, Advanced, BECMI, 1st, 2nd, 3.0, 3.5, and was a beta tester for 5e. I also own an original boxed set (14th printing, nothing special), and so am familiar with the Psionics rules from there.
I loved it when Dark Sun 3.5 came out with the expanded-map and races!
It was an excellent addition to my AD&D2e campaigns!