When Will and When Should WotC Release 4th Edition?

[William Ronald]

I think any future edition will keep at least some of the "sacred cows" such as hit points, and a non-manna spell system.

Of course, there are possible changes that could be introduced, including a "classless option." I think this would be hard to do, but this could be something people might like to try. Guidelines on creating classes and PrCs might be useful as well.

I suspect the OGL will keep the game alive, although it might change.

Brown Jenkin, if 3.5 does not sell, Hasbro might be more likely to sell the D&D license than rapidly release a 4th Edition. Spacecrime.com has some insights into the new head of Hasbro on the The ineptitude of the WotC/Hasbro marketing machine thread.

Regardless, the game and the hobby will survive. Why? The OGL and us, the gaming public.

 

[William Ronald]

Does anyone yet have any idea how well 3.5 is selling? A few posters have mentioned that the success or failure of the revised edition could impact how soon a 4th edition is released.

I am a little surprised that no one has yet suggested who should work on a 4th Edition game. For myself, I think the team that worked on the 3.0 books and the 3.5 books would do well. Any other suggested writers?

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Worst case scenario...WotC (or whoever) could do D&D 4th Edition and NOT release any of it into the SRD/OGL, etc. This effectively "closes" D&D (4e) to all outside companies (much like it was in previous editions).

D20 publishers could keep making d20 products for 3e/3.5 but that would really be about it (because no matter what happens to D&D or WotC, they cannot take back either the 3e or 3.5 SRD at all).

Companies that kept producing for the "old" D&D would have to keep their fan base. A lot of peeps would switch to 4e without a doubt (people are just funny that way ). If 4e was a completely different system, a lot of d20 publishers might throw in the towel as it wouldn't be economically feasible to stay alive. (Hard to pay the bills and produce stuff when nobody plays it anymore. )

Hmm...maybe WotC will get d20 publishers to pay them tribute in order to prolong the release of 4th edition so that they can stay in buisness.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I'm starting to think that 4th Edition may just be another reworking, but still staying with d20. Most major and probable changes are to the classes and spells, but I just don't see how the d20 system can be gotten rid of so early...especially the way its spread so well.

 

[Mach2.5]

Hmm...maybe WotC will get d20 publishers to pay them tribute in order to prolong the release of 4th edition so that they can stay in buisness

That's a riot! Thanks for the laugh

who should work on a 4th Edition game

The whole d20 thing has opened up a lot of people to many industry greats that were otherwise unknown to the majority of gamers before 3e, many of which I would love to see give a hand at either a new revision (re-revised D&D?) or a 4th edition. Of course, if your also talking wish list, there are some older industry giants that I'd love to see come out of hiding or come back to the more creative aspects of D&D like Wolfgang Baur (sp?), Roger Moore, Troy Denning, James (or was it Jim) Ward, amongst others.

 

[MerricB]

Inaccurate analysis:

WotC will release 4E in...
2 years: 20 (8.5%)
3 years: 86 (36.4%)
4 years: 50 (21.2%)
5+ years: 80 (33.9%)

Should there be a release at the time you selected?
Yes: 159 (68%)
No: 74 (32%)

Cheers!

 

[A'koss]

My guess is 4 years, I don't see them taking any longer than that. Although, I wouldn't put it past them to try it in 3. Expect to see books like Unearthed Arcana/Miniatures Handbook as a way to feel out some rules that could make it into 4e.

Should they do it?

Yes.

There are a number of things they could address in 4th ed. - reducing high level disparities, more flexible classes, dropping d4 HD (a la AU), better multiclassing rules for spellcasters, more flexible spellcasting rules, toning down (at least a little) magic item dependency, etc.


Cheers,

A'koss.

 

[Dinkeldog]

"Magic starts working, and we finally KNOW how those spells ought to work."

Ah. The Shadowrun option.

I'm saying 4 years. That gives 7 years total between 3.0 and 4.0. I think in that amount of time, we might have gotten to where we could remove a few of the sacred cows and also learn a few things that should really be codified solidly for general play.

 

[Rashak Mani]

I think 3.0 and 3.5 D&D are far more solid than 2nd Ed was and a bit better than 1.0 were. In theory there is no reason for a 4th Edition for a very long while.

Thou I think 3.5 helped shape the rules into something a bit more cohesive its far from being a major overhaul. Some nice corrections and 3.5 could go on for a decade I feel.

Naturally its bad for business... so I guess in 5 years they will go for 4.0 or 3.75

 

[William Ronald]

Dinkeldog wrote:

I'm saying 4 years. That gives 7 years total between 3.0 and 4.0. I think in that amount of time, we might have gotten to where we could remove a few of the sacred cows and also learn a few things that should really be codified solidly for general play.

To me, D&D is an evolving game. Over time, the designers learn from the gaming community what works and what does not work so well. Personally, I tend to think 4 years is a reasonable guess considering the product cycle and the need for Hasbro and WotC to make a profit. Hopefully, we will not have the problem 2nd Edition had just before it ended: so many books that no single person could lift them all

So, as this is a speculative thread, any sacred cows to butcher and any suggested rules changes?