D&D 5E A Modest Proposal to Unify the Fanbase without D&D Next

Neuroglyph · Jul 17, 2012

Last night, I posted a blog with a proposal to WotC to consider an alternative course than to publish yet another edition of D&D. I've even linked in a petition on Change.org, and I’m hoping to get some grassroots support from those in the D&D community who are not favoring D&D Next to sign on.

Please check out the blog here A Proposal & Petition:
Say YES to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS / Say NO THANKS to D&D NEXT

And if you like the proposal, please link it to your fellow gamers who might be interested in considering something other than D&D Next for the future of the game.

And remember: Supporting ALL D&D EDITIONS means supporting ALL D&D FANS!

Mallus · Jul 17, 2012

I have an even modest-er proposal to unify the D&D fanbase:

Stop dividing yourselves.

Chill out, stop getting hung up on systems and your own idiosyncratic preferences, place your emphasis on finding some people whose company you enjoy and game with them.

To paraphrase the Stones: you can't always get (exactly) what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

thecasualoblivion · Jul 17, 2012

Mallus said:
I have an even modest-er proposal to unify the D&D fanbase:

Stop dividing yourselves.

Chill out, stop getting hung up on systems and your own idiosyncratic preferences, place your emphasis on finding some people whose company you enjoy and game with them.

To paraphrase the Stones: you can't always get (exactly) what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

It has nothing to do with getting what I want. The situation isn't that I must have what I want from 5E. The situation is that I already have what I want in the form of 4E, and if 5E doesn't offer me as much or more than 4E already does it may as well not exist.

Mallus · Jul 17, 2012

thecasualoblivion said:
The situation is that I already have what I want in the form of 4E, and if 5E doesn't offer me as much or more than 4E already does it may as well not exist.

Great! Then you're not in the market for a new edition.

But that doesn't mean other D&D players aren't.

Heck, I like 4e, too. I'm also gearing up to run Pathfinder while enjoying DM'ing a now year-old AD&D campaign.

I still plan on buying/trying D&D Next. I'm curious what the designers end up with.

TwinBahamut · Jul 17, 2012

I can't really get behind this kind of petition. I want to see a new edition. I want there to be a 5E. I just want a new 5E to bring more innovation and change to the game, and try to be something better than what came before. My problem with 5E is that it seems to be failing to do that, not the fact that it is coming.

Also, I don't really see supporting all editions as being a solution to anything...

Chris_Nightwing · Jul 17, 2012

thecasualoblivion said:
It has nothing to do with getting what I want. The situation isn't that I must have what I want from 5E. The situation is that I already have what I want in the form of 4E, and if 5E doesn't offer me as much or more than 4E already does it may as well not exist.

It may as well not exist? For you perhaps. If you like your game as is, play it and ignore 5E. Even if you never see any 4E material published ever again, you still have your books and your game. Nobody owes you the continuation of the current edition, so I wonder why you feel it necessary to contribute, if you are already satisfied?

billd91 · Jul 17, 2012

Mallus said:
Chill out, stop getting hung up on systems and your own idiosyncratic preferences, place your emphasis on finding some people whose company you enjoy and game with them.

But I've already got that. And our group has, collectively, its own idiosyncratic preferences too.

It's not that we're getting "hung up" on systems. That characterizes our preferences like they're some kind of psychological damage. It's perfectly fine that we all have systems we prefer. It's perfectly fine that we encourage companies to create products to support our preferences rather than someone else's.

What's not perfectly fine is taking different opinions or preferences and their expression personally and getting all snarky about it.

Chris_Nightwing · Jul 17, 2012

In reply to the OP: making all previous editions available in print is a great idea. I don't see why this shouldn't include a new edition, or indeed any future editions. Perhaps because we see the different editions as a version-continuation, like with software, we can't handle them existing simultaneously. This is a mistake - D&D or AD&D, 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 4 or 5, the numbers mean nothing other than the order in which they were published. D&D needn't move towards some platonic ideal and I think different versions can satisfy different groups - which is I think the point of your blog post. This shouldn't prevent there being any new editions though!

SKyOdin · Jul 17, 2012

I second TwinBahamut. I want a 5E, just one that advances the game design of D&D as a whole and makes something newer and better than any previous edition. I have little desire to languish around, yearning for the past and refusing to embrace anything new. I want to see D&D grow, change, and evolve.

While I disagree with much about D&D Next's current direction, I support its existence.

thecasualoblivion · Jul 17, 2012

Mallus said:
Great! Then you're not in the market for a new edition.

But that doesn't mean other D&D players aren't.

Heck, I like 4e, too. I'm also gearing up to run Pathfinder while enjoying DM'ing a now year-old AD&D campaign.

I still plan on buying/trying D&D Next. I'm curious what the designers end up with.

I'm not really in the market for a new RPG, to be honest, but WotC is in the market for ME. If WotC wants me as a customer, they need to do better than to staple together a bunch of sacred cows from various editions, many of which I could care less about or find offensive, with no overall guiding plan.