I had a recent DM conversation with someone who plays 5e but has grown disenchanted with WoTC. In the conversation she lamented that she wanted to try AD&D, as she liked what she has heard about older editions, but the rules were so complicated…

… and she wasn’t a home brew kind of person, that’s what drew her to 5e, there was lots of support for understanding the rules and lots of material. Well, I told her that she could run AD&D, for free if she liked, and there was a ton of material to support her as well.

First, you can download a free PDF copy of OSRIC , a retroclone of AD&D that captures the old school vibe in an understandable way ( https://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/index.html), and comes complete with monsters and spells, all in one volume. You can get a print copy for $20

So it is possible to get an easy to understand, complete version of AD&D to your table for nothing. Not to mention the hundreds of retroclones of AD&D and other earlier editions if you don’t like OSRIC’s take on the grandest of games. So if that is holding you back, don’t let it

Then I told her that there are MOUNTAINS of support materials for 1e, messageboards and forums to help with questions, and tons of modules, settings, spells and magic items, most of which are free, for those who aren’t big into home brewing their own material

You could not exhaust the material available for AD&D and earlier edition D&D, and a lot of it is as good or better than what WOTC puts out. People make a lot of hay when contrasting D&D with "indie games”, but “indie" creators have been making AD&D and early edition D&D...

… content for decades. AD&D is an indie game at this point, in that everyone making new materials for the game is an independent creator. So if you want to support independent creators, playing AD&D is a way to do that. It sounds strange as everyone thinks 5e=D&D

So to summarize, you can get any number of usable versions of the AD&D rule set and support materials for free, and cut loose from WoTC forever. These materials will support your gaming in perpetuity, as you are unlikely to exhaust 40+ years of independent creator’s labor

And let's be honest, WoTC has been to a significant degree mining AD&D materials for 5e, putting out updated versions of older adventures and materials. Why settle for a pale imitation of the originals? Maybe, if you liked the 5e versions, the originals might be worth looking at

Note that THIS IS NOT MEANT TO SUGGEST YOU SHOULDN”T PLAY OTHER GAMES, D&D isn’t the only game that matters, there are hundreds of other games you can play. But if you want to try AD&D, don’t let concerns about complexity, cost or support materials stop you

Whatever else you think of old school gaming, it has supported a community of gamers for decades, it is robust, adaptable and capable of supporting sustained play. Some new games will be able to do that, but AD&D and older editions have proven their mettle.