How many people do you know who haven't switched to 5e, and why haven't they?

[gamerprinter]

Honestly, because I publish 3PP content for Pathfinder, and because I am quite content with the amount of crunch and player options with PF, even a slightly lighter rule system feels like features are missing. Because of 5e's lack of supplements, and because its a turn away from PF/3x, as well as being another iteration of D&D after such a short time since 3x (at least to me) - I am not ready to look at 5e. Also note, I'm usually not a person that needs to be the first in line to any trend or product, whether its a game system, computer operating system, latest cell phone technology, etc. I often wait a couple years before moving on to the next thing (whatever that thing is...). I am in no way compelled to look at 5e, not for a long time, anyway.

 

[Morrus]

My Saturday group switched to 5E about 18 months ago. The other group didn't want to, so it's a Pathfinder group these days.

 

[diaglo]

From what I see online, as well as my own experience, 5e seems to appeal most to:
1) Those who liked AD&D/pre-3e D&D
2) Those who are fans of D&D in general

haven't really paid attention to 5e so can't say much about this.

The ones who seem most resistant to even giving 5e a chance seem to fall into a few categories:
1) Those who hate WotC and won't look at anything with their logo on it
2) Those who have found their edition already, and aren't really interested in anything new
3) Those who don't want to buy new books

What have your experiences been?

of the several hundred gamers I know or have gamed with personally. most fall into 2 and 3. not so many category 1. so category 2 is definitely the strongest by leaps and bounds.

 

[Celebrim]

I don't know a lot of the local groups the way I did in smaller towns when I was younger and most groups had some connection to the high schools, but I don't know of any group that has switched to 5e.

I walk into the local gaming stores and all I see is 3.X games going on.

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

From what I see online, as well as my own experience, 5e seems to appeal most to:
1) Those who liked AD&D/pre-3e D&D
2) Those who are fans of D&D in general

The ones who seem most resistant to even giving 5e a chance seem to fall into a few categories:
1) Those who hate WotC and won't look at anything with their logo on it
2) Those who have found their edition already, and aren't really interested in anything new
3) Those who don't want to buy new books

What have your experiences been?

We like 4e.
We have virtually all the 4e material.
We have limited time to invest in learning the new rules (allthough we did make a run at what I believe was the very first play test material) and determined we would keep status quo when the decision whether to move came up.

So clearly there is no WotC hate, although it is also not fair to say we are "resistant" simply because we are still playing 4e. It is just not the right game for the group right now.

FWIW, half the group has only played 4e, the other half has played AD&D and Basic, so origin of experience is not really a factor for us.

 

[Alzrius]

The ones who seem most resistant to even giving 5e a chance seem to fall into a few categories:
1) Those who hate WotC and won't look at anything with their logo on it
2) Those who have found their edition already, and aren't really interested in anything new
3) Those who don't want to buy new books

What have your experiences been?

I'm a category #2 guy. I bought a 5E PHB a year ago, but I still have yet to crack the cover of it. I did read through the "Basic 5E" PDF that came out a few months before the full game's debut, and it honestly struck me as Third Edition with some caps on the bonuses and a few tweaks to some other rules. That impression left me cold, not because I dislike Third Edition, but because - after finding a supplement that let me build characters for it via point-buy rather than class levels, while not having to otherwise change the underlying game rules - I honestly don't see any need to go back.

I like D&D as a game, but I've come to the determination that class-level progression carries an inherent element of restriction of choice, insofar as what sort of characters you can make. That's perfectly fine, since there are a lot of games (such as earlier editions of D&D) that can use that as a strength, rather than (its common perception as being) a weakness. But 3.X/Pathfinder isn't such a game; it wants to offer (near-)total freedom of character-design, hence the unending treadmill of new classes, feats, archetypes, PrC's, etc., but it's never going to get there that way. Having something that breaks that particular paradigm wide open gives me everything I want.

 

[Aenghus]

I'm still playing 4e and don't think I will pick up any of the 5e books at this point. I probably fit into the OP's category 2, in that 4e suits my needs very well, in that I like long campaigns, low PC turnover and high level play, which 4e the way I run it does well with less work than other D&D editions.

I played some of the 5e playtest and didn't like the old school swinginess of the system, simpler PCs, and higher DM workload, and didn't buy into the nostalgia.

 

[gamerprinter]

The ones who seem most resistant to even giving 5e a chance seem to fall into a few categories:
1) Those who hate WotC and won't look at anything with their logo on it
2) Those who have found their edition already, and aren't really interested in anything new
3) Those who don't want to buy new books

What have your experiences been?

I didn't respond to this in my previous post...

1) I don't hate WotC, they are just another publisher, a big one, but no more or less important (to me) than any other RPG game publisher. I am not specifically motivated in seeing their logo - its just another logo...
2) I am happy with my edition (PF), but as a 3PP designer/developer, it a practical matter, I play the edition, that I create for, preference or interest doesn't necessarily apply.
3) This one certainly, I don't even want to buy new Pathfinder books. I still do though, every now and again, however I spend a lot more on PF 3PP than I do for Paizo Publishing. I don't play 5e, and don't know anyone, locally, who does, so why spend money unnecessarily - I'm not particularly wealthy.

 

[Manbearcat]

I'm trying to figure out what the primary factors are preventing people from trying out or switching over to 5e. (When I say "switching", I don't mean that you never play another edition, just that it becomes either your edition of choice, or tied for it.)

From what I see online, as well as my own experience, 5e seems to appeal most to:
1) Those who liked AD&D/pre-3e D&D
2) Those who are fans of D&D in general

The ones who seem most resistant to even giving 5e a chance seem to fall into a few categories:
1) Those who hate WotC and won't look at anything with their logo on it
2) Those who have found their edition already, and aren't really interested in anything new
3) Those who don't want to buy new books

What have your experiences been?

I agree with your first surmise (and pointed it out as the playtest was nearing its twilight iterations...and got chastised for it by certain parties for edition warring...somehow).

Personally, whereas once I knew maybe 100ish gamers in real life, now I know only perhaps 15. Of those 15, only 1 is playing (GMing) 5e. He was running AD&D prior and now his group (I don't know any of them so they aren't among the 15) is playing 5e. He is enjoying himself and presumably his group is doing the same. Outside of that fellow, the other folks of that 15 are pretty close to my own bent:

1) They carry no feelings of enmity, love, or other for WotC.

2) They own lots and lots of RPGs so the buying of books isn't a relevant factor (your 3 above).

3) They prefer a system over 5e to sate their heroic/romantic fantasy inclinations. Further, if they want to run a dungeon crawl, Basic, house-ruled AD&D, something OSR, or Torchbearer hits the spot.

 

[TheFindus]

I do not know anybody who plays 5e. I play 4E in one group and 13th Age in another.

The people with whom I play 4E like highly tactical fights and the streamlined nature of this system. It is also very fluffable. Some of them took a look at 5e but got the feeling of "been there, done that". They have been playing since the 80s and 5e seems to remind them of the old D&D systems. So there is nothing to be really exited about, you know. I also think they felt that the focus on "ask your DM first" was a turnoff, I guess.

Most of the people with whom I play 13th Age like the easy-going nature of the ruleset that is very honest about putting a lot of power in the hands of the players. From a very recent discussion they also really like all of the basic mechanics of the game (backgrounds, icons, OUT, the setup of most classes etc.). They, coming from a 3.5 background, like the fact that the system is much less tactical. One of the people I play 13th Age with does not like the system very much (and would rather play 3.5 again I guess) but enjoys playing with the others.

There is no hate for WotC. Why would there be anyways? It seems to me that we are just not the target group for the new edition. The subject never comes up in real life, really. Only in the forums.