D&D 5E Should Next have been something completely new and made from scratch?

[ForeverSlayer]

Would it have been better if D&D Next was a completely new game that the designers created from scratch?

The reason I believe this is because the problem with trying to please everyone with a game that takes elements from earlier editions is that it's usually the elements from those previous editions that caused certain players to not play that edition. I can't stand 4th edition but I do like Shadowrun and I know people who may like 4th edition but they also like Shadowrun so liking Shadowrun is what we have in common. A whole new system is something that could have brought all of us together instead of a hodge podge edition that already contains elements of a previous one that I don't like. If you take 2nd edition, 3rd edition and 4th edition elements and make a game from it then there is a portion of the game I don't like, and it could be enough to turn me off of the game entirely.

In my opinion, it would have been better if everyone could have approached the game from a fresh slate.

 

[Libramarian]

I don't think that makes much sense.

 

[fjw70]

I wouldn't have minded a completely new game but in large that isn't what D&D fans want from D&D.

The key behind 5e is the modularity so that the things you don't like can be removed.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

I wouldn't have minded a completely new game but in large that isn't what D&D fans want from D&D.

The key behind 5e is the modularity so that the things you don't like can be removed.

Well in fairness, a survey was never done with regards to this question. WoTc already said what they were going to do, there was never an option of starting fresh.

Right now, modularity is an illusion. I don't want to invest in a game that I am going to have to houserule the hell out of.

 

[Jester David]

If people wanted a fresh slate they'd buy one of the HUNDREDS of other fantasy RPGs on the market.
Two things define D&D: the mechanics and the lore. Change too much and you lose the benefit of being a game with history.

 

[fjw70]

Well in fairness, a survey was never done with regards to this question. WoTc already said what they were going to do, there was never an option of starting fresh.

Right now, modularity is an illusion. I don't want to invest in a game that I am going to have to houserule the hell out of.

4e taught them that a lot of people don't want something different.

We will see on the modularity. I think they will pull it off but only time will tell.

 

[Ratskinner]

Would it have been better if D&D Next was a completely new game that the designers created from scratch?

<snippage>

In my opinion, it would have been better if everyone could have approached the game from a fresh slate.

I think, if it was a new system that somehow recreated the "feel" of D&D, as Dungeon World purports to do, it might have flown if not flourished. However, there are a lot of folks who see D&D as its peculiar set of mechanics and/or architecture. For those folks, such a scheme wouldn't work, and such 5e would have caused yet another schism (much like DW has done to a small degree for the OSR.) The other big problem is pinning down exactly what that "feel" is. (and perhaps it not nearly the same thing for different groups of players!) Dungeon World shoots for a very "old-school" vibe, but I find it hard to imagine that such mechanics could be developed to cover all of D&D's varieties. (Of course, a few years ago, I couldn't have imagined something like DW's mechanics soo...what do I know?)

 

[Kobold Stew]

If this had happened, it would be much worse.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Here is how I look at it.

My friend and I both like cereal but we both like different kinds. I like Froot Loops and my friend likes Apple Jacks. Well the problem is there is only one bowl and we both want what we like now. Well a third person comes up with the idea of mixing the two cereals together so we can both have what we like. Well the problem with that is I don't like Apple Jacks and he doesn't like Froot Loops and the cereal is already mixed. Neither one of us want to have to pick out which cereal we like out of the bowl.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

4e taught them that a lot of people don't want something different.

We will see on the modularity. I think they will pull it off but only time will tell.

So why would a person who isn't a fan of 4th edition want to play a game that contains elements of 4th edition in it?