Favourite D&D edition that’s not 5E

Tony Vargas · May 21, 2019

Dannyalcatraz said:
I suspect the lack of a visible edition war vs 5Ed may have as much to do with ENWorld policy against edition warring as anything else. I say that because I know there are PLENTY of people in my area not adopting the new edition. They’re griping, but not as much online.

There's always griping, of course, merely not adopting is a live-and-let-live 'rejection' of a new ed, if that's as far as it goes..
But, CoC notwithstanding, there was lots of edition warring here - and it's not exactly entirely gone, either. Look at how quickly 4e leading in even a trivial little poll like this drew the attacks.

Stalker0 · May 21, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
But, CoC notwithstanding, there was lots of edition warring here - and it's not exactly entirely gone, either. Look at how quickly 4e leading in even a trivial little poll like this drew the attacks.

I'll agree with this. At the height of the edition war, Enworld was as much a battleground as anywhere. Significantly more civil than many forums but it still got ugly.

Satyrn · May 21, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
Will this be the /Last/ Last War?

Ha ha! No.

There's always a new generation of nerds ready to shimmy up to the keyboard and spew rage at their beloved hobby.

Sacrosanct · May 21, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
Yes, and your argument is proven wrong by the conspicuous lack of an edition war raging against 5e.

I understand that you want to establish an equivalency between the more extreme demands of the playtest, and the extremes of the edition war, but they were fundamentally different: all the demands, posturing and vitriol if the playtest was fans wanting to get what they wanted into the coming new edition. The edition war was not waged to get missing bits added back to 4e - or it would have ended 9mo in when the gnome and the missing core classes appeared in the PH2.

You said 4e fans are superior to everyone else, I disagreed and said they are like every other fan of every other edition and you reacted like that was a major insult to you and an attack on 4e itself, accusing me of gravedancing and other things I didn’t do. So maybe, just maybe, your incredible bias is showing and you either don’t remember, or refuse to see, how many 4e fans did the exact same thing as 3e fans did in 2008, and 2e fans did in 2000. I mean for Christ’s sake, how many threads has CapnZapp alone made in the past few years attacking 5e? Not to mention a bunch of others (as I previously named). Just look at any warlord thread that is still going on today.

You also fail to realize that no other edition had a lengthy play test. Even if the edition warring only lasted during the play test (it didn’t), it’s extremely disingenuous to argue there was no edition warring since it was only a playtest. You also are ignoring gamer reaction outside of this forum. I mentioned the other popular forum that had a major meltdown, and the official WotC forums were also full of edition warring. I know you know this because I’ve seen you take part in some of these discussions

You accused me of getting all upset and I should get over it. That’s irony, because clearly you’re the one triggered, as you took “4e fans are like every other fan” as some sort of personal insult. Dude, it’s been SEVEN years since 5e was announced. I think you’re the one who needs to get over the victim complex you got going on. Not every comment that isn’t praising 4e is an attack on its fans or the game. Good lord...

For the record, I don’t care about 3e or 4e (I ignored both), and have no dog in that fight between that particular edition war, but it sure seems like 4e fans aren’t any better than 3e fans were back in 2008. Your posts seem to prove that.

Tony Vargas · May 21, 2019

Sacrosanct said:
You said 4e fans are superior to everyone else

Superior? Different. Willing to adopt the new can be seen as positive or negative, depending on your PoV, but it's certainly different from defending the old.

Edit: But, hey, if thinking of yourself as superior matters so to you, you can always spin it hard in the negative direction, something like: former 4e fans must be a bunch of uncritical WotC apologists who automatically adopt the next edition no matter what it's actually like. That better? It's rooted in the same phenomenon - a surprising fraction of current 5e fans calling out 4e as their alternate-favorite edition.
Hope that helps you deal...

Thing is, time has marched on, and 5e is new. That many of those longtime players who are now 5e fans also adopted 4e in its day should hardly be surprising.

And, to be fair, "everyone else" isnt the main contrast being drawn - as the playtest era, presumably more-scientific polling concluded, most of the fanbase has no strong edition preference. Rather, it's between former 2e and 4e fans now playing 5e, and continuing old-school and 3.x fans not doing so. (though, hey, look, 3e has totally taken off in the poll, now that the thread's seen a little edition skirmishing)

I mean for Christ’s sake, how many threads has CapnZapp alone made in the past few years attacking 5e?

I couldn't say, I've argued with him a lot, certainly, and he's easily one of the most 5e-critical regulars here. But it's not like he's boosting 4e, he's very often looking for more 3.x-isms in 5e. Celtavian would be another example of a resident 5e critic, and his main complaint is that 5e isn't hard enough.

But they're lone guerillas compared to the legions that marched against 4e in the edition war.

Just look at any warlord thread that is still going on today.

Though they've proven futile, the point of them is to get a decent, official, Warlord in 5e - not warring against 5e.

JustinCase · May 21, 2019

*fist shaking intensifies*

Zardnaar · May 21, 2019

If 6E is an evolution of 5E or isn't to revolutionary you will have a mild edition war.

If they go full derp mode expect a nasty one.

Aldarc · May 21, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
Though they've proven futile, the point of them is to get a decent, official, Warlord in 5e - not warring against 5e.

This. But not so coincidentally, 5e Warlord threads are also what attract a lot of 4aters. Again pointing out how the Edition Wars have transitioned into the 5e era and the contrast between 4e fans and 4aters with 5e.

Zardnaar said:
If 6E is an evolution of 5E or isn't to revolutionary you will have a mind edition war.

If they go full derp mode expect a nasty one.

I would not mind if WotC polished and more cohesively integrated what they have in 5e first: class, subclass and feat balance, ability checks (and skills), inspiration/bonds, and other knickknacks (expertise). But I am unconvinced that WotC would do a 5.5 rework for 5e.

Zardnaar · May 21, 2019

More 1E to 2E than a .5 edition.

Myzzrym · May 21, 2019

3.5 all the way. I'm surprised about 4e being so popular though, from what I heard (after I tried and dropped it) a lot of people were hating on it saying it "MMO'ified" the game too much. I guess I just didn't find those who liked it.