This Role-Playing Game was originally created by the venerable Gary Gygax, and then later changed around by some other guys, like David "Zeb" Cook, and so on. I grew up on this RPG, with a bit of 1st Edition thrown in, and it was a lot of excitement for me back in those days! Definitely a classic game, and its influence can be seen in all successive RPGs (and CRPGs) thereafter.
Unfortunately, the slimy goober that is called D&D® 3rd Edition ("D20") has basically ruined the entire D&D game, but I hope that this place can be a kind of haven for some of the lore of the (good) old days. (In my opinion, if you want to completely change a game's rules, that is fine, but give the game a new name, and let us keep the old game—this is my greatest peeve of all, that the new edition has basically destroyed the old one, removing any possibility of new material, CRPGs using similar rules, or any other further development.)
In my opinion, the 3rd Edition game is the product of a new generation of gamers that grew up on Japanese console RPGs, which typically include class-changing systems that require certain skills or powers to change to a higher-level class (like Final Fantasy Tactics), and commonly give spell-abilities to normally non-magic classes (like warriors). This kind of system may be fine for video games, but is not particularly helpful for role-playing... I also don't really like to new style of art, which has a lot of punk or cyberpunk influence, especially the new halflings (who look simply like quarter-sized people), although later books have improved a bit. I guess I miss the art of the old days—Larry Elmore and others, now that was good art!