AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Well, a lot of people want things they aren't going to get. I want all the art done in several styles, ranging from say, circa 1500 Italy to French impressionism, and never a touch of certain of the more iconic artists. I'm not going to get what I want.
I'm not saying that wanting all NPCs to be built like PCs is inherently ridiculous. I'm saying that demanding that out of a modular game attempting to emulate the feel of all editions of D&D--is not going to happen. They might, though I doubt it, manage to put in some things that convey the feel of NPCs being more like PCs, by means other than building them the same, but ultimately that is up to the portrayal of the NPCs by the DM. In any case, that claim is a proxy for "Make it like 3.*/PF, only better". The chances of that are about the same as my chances of getting the art I want.
But on the larger point, as I believe I've even seen you write a few times, no, people who really, really prefer 4E, 3E, 2E, or even certain aspects of BECMI or 1E--will probably not find 5E their favorite version. After all, someone that "all in" for their current preference is hard to please more with anything new. I've sailed through countless iterations of soft drinks, rival brands, etc. I'm still drinking classic Mt Dew by preference. Someone pushing another brand or selling Mt Dew in red are not after me.
I just don't believe that most gamers are as locked-in as all that. I think most of us like things that work, that do a pretty good job of doing what we want. If something goes after a "feel" from a new angle, we might like that too. I keep saying that D&D versions are like planets in the solar system, because I think there is a lot of untapped, empty space in the D&D universe. Someone who likes X from 3E and Y from 4E but would like the simplicity of BECMI--they might prefer a system that doesn't cater to a particular version.
See, here's the thing. Most people don't care, you're right about that. So why are we going through this exercise of panic edition switching then? That's the question. If most people are happy with whatever (and I 100% agree that for my group I could run ANY edition of D&D and they would play it). Obviously small vocal minorities have a big effect. The very FACT that most players will play anything means that the more idiosyncratic tastes of the few people who really care that much dominates. The rest will just play anything.
That, to me is the inevitable conclusion. Of course the issue here is that within this group of people who are more picky we have irreconcilable tastes. Again, I agree with you, the ACTUALITY of 5e will be just some mixture of elements etc. It will not please everyone, but the main people it won't please are some of US, and we'll decide what the groups we run play, etc.
