Recently had this show up on my news feed:
https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-dragons-editions-ranked/
Per usual, don't bother reading it or clicking it, I'll reproduce it here:
Every Edition Of Dungeons & Dragons, Ranked
7: 4E
6: OD&D
5: AD&D 2E (wrong cover image, actually using cover image of 2nd print/orange spine AD&D)
4: 3.0
3: AD&D
2: 3.5
1: 5E
Reasoning doesn't matter, this list is dumb beyond the obvious ways. Firstly, it doesn't account for nearly half the editions of D&D. Secondly it is absolutely told from the mindset of a retard who hasn't seen pre-3.5 D&D in the wild, likely hasn't played anything but 5E. That's how the cover mistake could have happened - this is an article made for the purposes of generating content and getting paid pennies per word, that's it.
Every Edition Of Dungeons & Dragons, Ranked Correctly
12 - Holmes D&D
11 - AD&D 2.5 (Black Book editions, other than the Monstrous Manual as it didn't change)
10 - D&D 4.0
9 - D&D 4.5 (EE)
8 - OD&D
7 - B/X D&D
6 - D&D 3.5
5 - D&D 3.0
4 - D&D 5E
3 - AD&D2E (1st Print, or first printing style)
2 - BECMI D&D (including Rules Cyclopedia)
1 - AD&D (either cover)
I could have separated out RC and made a thirteenth entry (it would have taken 4th and bumped the rest down the list). Bear in mind there are only two real editions of D&D, and they took number 1 and 2. Everything after that is a pale shade or, in the cause of OD&D, a not quite fully realized thing yet. 5E is only so high because of it's proximity to AD&D along with being better than every other version of 3E which it clearly is. In honest truth there is no point in playing any games past 3. 3 mostly gets it's spot due to how well it was written and laid out, which is the best of all the editions.
Holmes being on the bottom of the stack is merely because of how unfaithful it is to OD&D which is what it was intending to be a "starter" version of before there was such a thing as a starter edition. AD&D2E Black Books are eye-rape, and the rest of the list are at least games that you could read and try to play, to limited enjoyment. Each step toward 1 is a step toward the correct D&D experience. B/X is very low because of how short and limited in scope it is.
Are any of these better than Hackmaster 5E or Worlds Without Number? No. Most OSRs are better than the actual editions they are derived from, not to mention ingenious second generation clones that actually open the design up into a whole new gear.
