D&D 4E Betting on 4e

[alsih2o]

When do you think we will see the books?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

...you mean you haven't seem them already? Jeez, alsih2o, you're starting along the path of diaglo!

 

[francisca]

When do you think we will see the books?

Hi Clay!

I'm putting 2 bits on GenCon 2006.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

2007. I'm going to give them 3 more years with 3.5.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'll go for 2010. I was going to say 2008, but I think they'll have more steam than the 2e revision so I'm pushing the anticipated release date back.

Cheers

 

[Altalazar]

I think it will be much, much later than the cynical pessimists think...

 

[Trainz]

The Skullport site mentions fall 2006, and there's even a quote from Jonathan Tweet:

"It comes as a bit of surprise to some of our fans, perhaps, but a fourth edition of D&D is the logical progression of the game's evolution. To help support our fans who have bought the 3.5 core books we're going to be offering a 15% trade-in deal for the new fourth edition core books. We're excited about the work being done for the fourth edition and now that 3.5 is out it's time to start planning for the future. We're going to be doing things in this new game that no one has ever dared do in an RPG."

If it turns out to be true, this for me means that I will not buy a single book before 4th Ed. Not out of spite, not at all, but knowing that in exactly 2 and a half years my books will become incompatible, well I'll just run on what I have and house rules.

This announcement would be devastating on WotC's sales, it doesn't make sense: either it's phony, or either it's a leak (possibly from Tweet); in that case, I'm afraid someone else will be joining the ranks of Monte Cook et al.

 

[diaglo]

4ed already exists. 4edHackmaster.... just read the GMG.



my guess is Gen Con 2010 it will be available for purchase.

it will be in Beta form before then. probably for about 18 months before...but everyone will have to sign a Non-disclosure...so i guess that won't count.

 

[Monte At Home]

either it's phony, or either it's a leak (possibly from Tweet); in that case, I'm afraid someone else will be joining the ranks of Monte Cook et al.

Jonathan doesn't talk like that. (And that's not the phoniest part of that humorous press release.)

That said, whatever my "ranks" are, it's not so bad. While it would be way worse to be let go rather than leave voluntarily, I'm certainly even those people who were laid off would probably agree that there is indeed life after WotC. (And a couple of them have been fairly quietly rehired.)

Is Fall of 2006 believable for 4th edition? Maybe. It's unrealistic but possible. 2007 is far more likely and given the current staff as well as the position of D&D in its parent company, I'd actively be surprised if it's not out by GenCon 2008.

But it's all just speculation. I'd be willing to bet that even the good folks at WotC right now don't know when 4th edition will come.

...but I bet they're talking about it.

 

[francisca]

I think it will be much, much later than the cynical pessimists think...

I hope you're right. I don't think 3.5 needs a revamp for a long time. But I think I'm far from cynical, at least about this issue. The D&D business model is based around the idea of selling PHBs. When sales of 3.5 PHBs dry up, we'll get a new version. I'm making the wild guess of CenCon 2006 because I think that the vast majority of people who are going to buy into 3.5 will have done so by then.

But I agree with Monty. I really doubt a specific date had been put on a calendar somewhere, but I'm like I said in other threads, I bet they at least have a laundry list of issues and questions which need to be answered before they set to work on a re-design. Or at least I hope so!