Finally, a thread that's going places!
2nd edition AD&D is pretty much ramen: cheap, nasty, predictable but edible if that's all you got in the pantry.
2nd edition Greyhawk is kosher ramen: you buy it because it sounds vaguely exotic and maybe the Jews have a better taste in this stuff or at least somebody in a weird hat checks on the quality. Nope; it is ramen.
Original D&D is Classic Coca-Cola. So you say, "Yes, I know it well, I used to drink a lot of that stuff before I started weight-watching." No, you didn't. I was talking about the recipe that had cocaine in it, kid.
Arduin is some crazy beardo's homemade brie, and he
swears the grayish mold on the top is "noble rot".
Tunnels&Trolls is homemade hamburgers: somebody saw a decent steak, got enthusiastic and decided he would try to do something with the idea but didn't want to spend more than ten minutes with cooking, so he bought some frozen patties and buns, and invited the guys to have some beer on the porch before it's ready.
Dragonlance is something from a candy machine: perfect for a sweet tooth, but it's really really bad for you and they are actually made with something that causes cancer.
Planescape is Organic Fair Trade Nepal Green Tea from Yungun Province. (Actually, we kinda made up Yungun province and bought some store brand green tea from a Shanghai-based exporter instead, then mixed it up a bit with dried nettles, but hey, the guys in the berets are buyin'.)
Dark Sun is a superb steak served up in a slummy biker bar; halfway through the generous portion, you realise the bikers are kinda loosely dressed, and some have started to fondle themselves while looking at you.
4th edition is a hamburger sold in a box that says "Wagyu steak, prime cut". When you bring up the issue at the cashiers next time, the other customers tell you to fuck off for badmouthing their world-class steak. It is a perfectly good, decently priced hamburger, mind you. Maybe those other people really got prime cut Wagyu in their boxes? Was the burger patty made of Wagyu? It tasted a little bit like soy, but still, just maybe...
GURPS is Tesco Value Energy Drink: you have a weird programmer friend who swears by it, but that guy still lives with his mom, and besides, really, why would you listen to a
programmer tell you what to drink?
Fomalhaut is, of course, a glass of Elixir Végétal. If you didn't have to look it up on the Internet, you can bask in the smug satisfaction of knowing it. Besides, it's Otus-green, tastes weird, was made from semi-poisonous herbs gathered and mixed by monks who have sworn a wow of silence, but is arguably not unpleasant to drink.
