Monte Cook back at wizards

[delericho]

I think though, that many people in the gaming community see the writing on the wall, and it indicates that things will be moving in a more backward direction come Next Edition, whenever that is.

Not necessarily. The skill system Mearls outlined a few weeks ago was from Monte, and it was very different from the 3e system.

My guess would be that 5e won't be a step backwards towards 3e (except perhaps in style), nor an evolution of the ideas of 4e. My guess would be that it is again something really quite different.

I poked around the net a little to see if I could find anything on Monte's thoughts on 4e(pre-return to WotC, natch), but while I found a lot of talking about Monte not liking 4e, the only thing I could find that he has actually said was a bit on his blog where he mentioned not liking the license, as a publisher.

I'm not aware of anything about 4e. He is on record as being very critical of 3.5e, though.

 

[Kzach]

Mike Mearls + Monte Cook = Pure Unadulterated Awesome.

Their love-child will be 5e and it will be so good that it will create a utopian gaming nirvana where all fans of all editions will come together in peace, harmony, and the Gygaxian Way.

 

[delericho]

I think more than anything, by the time 5e comes around in a few years, if the next edition is more like older editions and has a decent license for third parties, that Paizo would likely support it.

I don't think either Wizards nor Paizo see the splintering of the D&D audience as something to hold on to, and that they would both be stronger with the largest audience possible.

I can't see it happening. Paizo were burned by losing the license for the magazines, and then again by the GSL fiasco. (Note that I am not saying WotC did anything wrong here - just that what they did didn't suit Paizo.) Between those two events, they will have learned a very valuable lesson about tying the existing of your company to a license granted by some other company.

Couple that with the massive success of Pathfinder, and I really can't see Paizo coming back onboard, unless a huge chunk of their following switch back to 5e. And I can't see that happening either - many of the Pathfinder fans are so fanatical that 5e could be wrapped in pure gold and they still wouldn't buy!

Just about the only way WotC could get Paizo to support 5e would be to buy out the company and then put all those guys in charge of R&D going forward.

 

[Zaran]

Eh. I'd like to believe that 5e is still not in the works. They have said that the Legends and Lore were nothing but articles on how they think and are not previewing a new edition. Also, they have not said Cooke is actually working for WotC. I think it's more like we have made them feel that they suck as developers and have got someone outside the system for us to beat down.

If they are doing 5e... it would be inane for them to make it so different from 4e. That will only create new issues.

 

[Alnag]

I must say I am bit sceptical about all this. Despite the fact I respect Monte Cook, I was not fascinated by any of his works so far all that much. Also his new proposition for a skill system which I don't like even slightly makes me even more sceptical.

If I am not mistaken, Monte Cook was used as a "mascot" for Pathfinder at one time, and it seems like WotC simply makes the same "mascot" thing again for 5e (or DnD NEXT or whatever you want to call it).

So what exactly is his advantage over any other designer? Experience? And isn't that actually disadvantage as well? If you are youg you tend to be more creative and flexible, able to approach thing from new angle. If you have a burden of experience, you tend to use good old ways and approach the thing the same way as you approached it before. If I would like to play DnD by Monte Cook and I can play 3e (or Pathfinder for that matter). The reason why I choose 4e is because I like the new angle and if I (as a customer) am supposed to choose 5e it should rather approach the thing from a new angle again.

 

[Scribble]

I've always been a huge fan of the flavor elements Monet Cook puts into his stuff... Unfortunately the crunch always seemed to over worked. Like 5 different steps where one could have sufficed, or rules for things seemingly just so it could be put on paper...

But maybe that's just how 3e was, and he will do different things with a different system?

Dunno though... He cut his teeth on Rolemaster, and I feel like the elements of 3e that tended to bug me were the Rolemastery bits...

 

[MerricB]

Monte Cook's a great designer, but I believe he needs a good developer to keep his ideas grounded. He's likely to get that at Wizards.

Ditto with Mike, actually.

Having a good development & playtest team makes a world of difference.

Cheers!

 

[Alnag]

Unfortunately the crunch always seemed to over worked. Like 5 different steps where one could have sufficed, or rules for things seemingly just so it could be put on paper...

That is my feeling exactly. (And at this time 4e seems to be overworked as it it, no need to add to that... )

 

[Riastlin]

For me personally, I reckon I'll like almost anything that is put out. This isn't a WotC thing either, but rather just a reflection of the fact that I've thoroughly enjoyed pretty much every RPG I've played, be it AD&D, 3.x, 4ed, Shadowrun, Pathfinder, Hollow Earth, Savage Worlds, etc.

While Monte has certainly had his bumps in the road, he has also been very succesful in other respects. More importantly though, as mentioned in the above link, Monte also has shown the ability to understand when he's screwed up. Personally, I think its a good sign when somebody is willing to put his or her ego aside and own up to their mistakes.

As for 5ed in general, I truly believe that they are indeed working on it. Or at least on the evolution of the current edition. In other words, I highly doubt they'll be content to just stand pat and only release a few updates now and then. Its just not in their long term economical interests. I don't think this is any sort of conspiracy on their part either. It just makes too much sense for them to keep working on ways to improve both the game and their profits. Frankly, I think its something that pretty much every company should be doing (including in all likelihood Paizo). That being said, I also don't think that 5ed is necessarily right around the corner (realizing of course that this is a term that has many different meanings). Traditionally, WotC likes to announce new editions at GenCon, which would mean at the earliest, we'll get an announcement next August, which means a 2013 release at the earliest (in my opinion).

 

[Scribble]

I'm still of the belief that we won't see a true 5e.