D&D 5E Who's given up on D&D Next?

Argyle King · Mar 31, 2012

nevermind...

While I'm not quite as dead set in my position as the OP, I can relate to it somewhat. I too feel as though I'm not going to be part of the target audience for D&D Next. I still follow it because I'm curious what the end result will be and because I'll probably end up playing at some point in time because I assume some of the people I know will buy the end result no matter what the rules look like.

My only advice to someone in the op's position would be to try a different brand. Instead of spending your time ranting against D&D, maybe you'd be better served by voting with your wallet and supporting some of the other games and companies which are out there.

The same goes for movies, video games, and a lot of other things. By all means, feel free to express your opinion. If you think something is good, say it's good; if you think something is trash, say it is trash. However, keep in mind that the industries which produce such things are going to produce what they think sells. If you're saying something isn't any good, but then you continue to buy it, you only have yourself to blame. Reward the people who are making things you want by -as I said- voting with your wallet.

By the way, this isn't meant as a rant against D&D or anything like that. It's simply my opinion that the audience needs to take a little more control if they aren't happy with the product.

Drowbane · Mar 31, 2012

I have not given up on 5e. I don't know how one could give up on something that has yet to interest them.

I am hopeful for 5e, but 4e left me skeptical of anything good coming from WotC again in an RPG format.

I have my 2e, 3e and a mind that can house rule for both. As D&D goes, I'm good.

5e would have to impress me.

Mark CMG · Mar 31, 2012

Piratecat said:
I moved it. It's about 5e, so it should go in the 5e forum. The fact that your thread is negative doesn't change that.

The place to ask "Who's given up on D&D Next?" isn't the 5E forum.

Dausuul · Mar 31, 2012

Mark CMG said:
The place to ask "Who's given up on D&D Next?" isn't the 5E forum.

Is there a place to ask this?

Mark CMG · Mar 31, 2012

Dausuul said:
Is there a place to ask this?

Hard to imagine anyone has enough real info to make such a call yet but those who have given up aren't going to frequent the 5E forum, that's for sure.

nedjer · Mar 31, 2012

pauljathome said:
You are making the rather suspect assumption that the failure of DndNext means the death of the hobby.

You're also making the rather suspect assumption that a few people posting negative opinions on DndNext at this point will have any significant effect on the success or failure of DndNext.

While I am currently less than optimistic that DndNext will be to my personal tastes that hardly means that I believe it is guaranteed to fail nor that I want it to fail.

D&D remains the most recognised RPG brand for the public at large - for a hobby that hasn't been recruiting young people, which also faces strong competition from videogames and augmented reality; and that is already deeply fragmented - a major fail for Next would mean a loss of RPG customer base, talent, funding, media profile, software development . . . , which would further marginalise RPGs. Longer rule sets, add-ons supporting more 'complete' styles of play and other expensive/ risky/ long-term options like character visualisation would be put back a long way.

The pre-emptive attacks on Next have not been few and far between. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of posts out there pushing the view that a straightforward, modular core is some form of betrayal of recent version/ s; when it seems fairly clear that the money a version with a very wide appeal may raise is the most likely way to fund production of materials supporting a range of styles of play.

I guess imo I mainly find it bizarre/ difficult to understand why the discussion gets framed as 4e v's 1e or such like, when - economically - only 1e + 4e = support for 4e.

imurphy943 · Mar 31, 2012

I'm not giving up on the hobby, or the D&D brand.
I don't want D&D Next to fail.
I don't want to rant about how awful 5e is going to be.
I don't want to criticize anyone's personal taste or opinion.
I don't think that D&D Next is going to fail.

I have decided to just play the games I've been playing, since everything I currently want is already there.
I am probably not the target audience for 5e, and I don't need to stick my opinion into everyone's face in an attempt to make myself the target audience.
I don't want to discuss the future of D&D, or what D&D Next will be like.
I just wanted to see whether anyone shared these opinions.
I originally posted this in General RPG discussion.

dm4hire · Mar 31, 2012

I think the only way that 5e could fail is if WotC fails to listen to as many people as they can. I don't think they did that with 4e or there wouldn't have been so much disparagement over it. I’m not saying they have to listen to every little thing and try to please everyone, not enough time and you never will. I’m saying they should get on with the open playtest and keep it open. Drop the NDAs, especially at public events. Doing that at their own functions is their business, but at major conventions? Enough already.

They should read the feedback, especially the ones that go against the things they like about what they’re doing. Get feedback from every place possible besides conventions, LFGS, and the common places hard core gamers hang out at. They don’t represent the main stream, only the more visible portion of it. There are a lot of people who play that never frequent these places, except maybe to buy something once in a blue moon.

Make the beta rules as complete as possible and give it away! In PDF format! It worked for Paizo and a few others so it will work for them. If they want to sell hard copy that’s fine I’m not going to fault them for making money if possible. I bought the beta of Pathfinder if that says anything. They also should update the PDF midstream so that we can comment on any changes that might require feedback. And they should keep the forums open until they’re ready to go to print. Then they should sell the final PDF before they go to print so that people can help edit it and eliminate as many print errors as possible.

Mircoles · Mar 31, 2012

Once I learned that they put Monte in charge, I became skeptical. Once I learned that vancian magic and save or suck were being put back in, I lost interest.

M.L. Martin · Mar 31, 2012

pauljathome said:
You are making the rather suspect assumption that the failure of DndNext means the death of the hobby.

Death of the hobby? No way.

Death of the industry? Ten years ago, I would have said 'probably'. Now, though, I'm not so sure. The explosion of PDF, PoD and Kickstarter means that there are all sorts of ways of attracting interest and getting product out there that don't require the existing distribution network, which probably does rely on D&D to keep it functional. It would be a decidedly different industry, but I'm no longer convinced that the downfall of D&D would reduce roleplaying to a self-supported hobby. More of a cottage industry than it already is, mind, but not completely devoid of professional or semi-professional product.