Losing interest....

[Ebon Shar]

Okay, I'm starting to lose interest in 5E. I realize we are in the early testing phase, but I'm losing steam. When 5E was originally announced, I LIVED on ENWorld to get the latest news and rumors. I eagerly downloaded the first playtest packet and played a few test rounds with a group down at the local game store. I eagerly looked for ways to incorporate 5E rules into my existing game.

Now? I rarely visit the 5E forums. When I do, I find myself quickly bored by all the wheel-spinning and pointless speculation.

WOTC is making a big mistake, I feel, in waiting until the end of summer to release the next packet. People are starting to wander back to their lives. The rubberneckers are all gone and life, however mundane, is returning to normal. We are animals and we must be fed!

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

 

[Morrus]

I'm not sure that matters, though. WotC's priority isn't to entertain us during the development; their eyes are on the release date goal and - specifically - the books they wish to sell at the time.

During the next year or so, interest will wax and wane. In the last months and weeks before release, it will go into overdrive. But there's n pont them just throwing material at us constantly with the sole goal of keeping us excited; that way leads to half-baked, rushed materials which don't help the playtest process.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I certainly have criticisms of Next but taking the summer to work on development is very reasonable. That actually isn't a whole lot of time if you think about it. Better to take their time and get it right.

 

[kevtar]

I've pretty much dropped out of the play test and talk about D&DNext (this is my first post in a long time), and part of that has come from a "saturation point" with the play test and all that goes with it. However, there are other factors that are influencing my involvement as well. I don't have a solid gaming group where I'm at, the communication I had with players in forums like these wasn't very... engaging/rewarding/?? (that's not a reflection of the people in the forums, just my reaction to what's happening online), and my life is in a "busy phase" right now.

So, while I'm not disenfranchised from current D&D developments, I'm not particularly interested/invested in what's happening, but that's not WoTC's fault. That said, I'm glad that there are people who have maintained their interest and that WoTC is proceeding carefully with their development (I hope they're being careful. I have to admit there are times when my skeptical side kicks-in when I think they have ideas, pitch them to us as options when they have already convinced themselves, and call it development... sorry for that little "tin-foil hat" outbreak.)

 

[Doug McCrae]

I agree, nothing much is happening now and it's getting a bit boring. At least people aren't arguing about hit points any more.

 

[mhensley]

They wouldn't have to constantly give us new rules or material to keep us interested. How about giving the playtesters some goals instead? There must some things that they still need more info on. Once a week or two they should propose a new test. Examples -

Everybody fight room XX and time your combat, we want to see exactly how long they are taking in real time and number of rounds.

Everybody run an all thief party. Report experiences.

Gladiator fights! Everbody fight pc vs. pc. Who won?

etc.

 

[Raith5]

Dont tempt fate Doug. A thread about hp is only a papercut away!

I have mixed feelings about what we have seen. On one hand I think they are on the right track to creating a mechanical base which can be built upon. On the other DDN looks a retro clone of which there are so many!

Most importantly I want to see some at least quasi innovations. Aside from the the adv/dis rule, the way themes and backgrounds work, there is not much new. And really, I want to see further information as to how modularity is going to work in practice.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'm not sure that matters, though. WotC's priority isn't to entertain us during the development; their eyes are on the release date goal and - specifically - the books they wish to sell at the time.

During the next year or so, interest will wax and wane. In the last months and weeks before release, it will go into overdrive. But there's n pont them just throwing material at us constantly with the sole goal of keeping us excited; that way leads to half-baked, rushed materials which don't help the playtest process.

I agree that this is how WOTC is using the playtest, but I think they could also use it as stronger marketing tool than they are currently. Part of that would involve more regular updates.

 

[Morrus]

I agree that this is how WOTC is using the playtest, but I think they could also use it as stronger marketing tool than they are currently. Part of that would involve more regular updates.

But updates with what? They need to take the feedback from each iteration, update the system, and release the new version. They can't just spam us with random crap just to keep us interested!

The game's a year away yet. I'll betcha a million of my finest English pounds that the marketing will kick into overdrive next year.

 

[B.T.]

That WotC has so little to show us bodes poorly for the future of 5e. You're telling me that they playtested 5e for months prior to the open playtest and they still screwed up armor, are just now working on a tactical module, and have nothing beyond the first three levels to show us? Pretty ridiculous.