So what happens after 4E?

[Herremann the Wise]

M:tG is based off of exception based design, like 4E, and they just keep on putting out expansions year after year. How many has it been?

I'm not sure this will work in D&D. The aim with each new expansion is to create or change an environment or metagame as it is called. Because the two most popular formats are restricted (standard to the last year and a half's releases and limited to the expansion alone), a "new" environment can be created where different elements of the system are emphasized while others are reduced. Vintage where anything from Magic's history can be played does not change anywhere near as much.

Parallel this to 4e, you could have a different environment of play (Dark Sun and it's restrictions being a really interesting example) each year but this is not the way most people play D&D. If they had an online gaming system where they could guide/enforce a certain world or style of play then sure but in the current reality that is computer assisted pen and paper gaming, I'd say more thank likely not (although of course it is interesting to think about).

Personally I'm hoping for a system reset that reduces the "wahoo" gamist tendencies and is more inclusive of the traditions of play from previous editions. Effectively, I want the D&D pendulum to swing back to neutral again.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[drothgery]

Really, before Essentials, I would have said that I expected 5e to look a lot like what they actually published in Essentials (sans the backward compatibility hacks). Basically re-tuning the 4e engine to try and appeal to players that didn't switch from 3.5 or earlier, and with more classic D&D fluff, quite possibly with Greyhawk as the first campaign setting (rebooted from the beginning and tweaked a bit to 5e sensibilities, kind of like they did with Dark Sun 4e).

 

[DragonLancer]

I hope that when the time comes 5th ed will resemble a combination of 2nd and 3rd. Lets get back to the tabletop and away from the PC.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Gamist means challenge the players. 1e AD&D puts a strong emphasis on challenging the players (it was, after all, the edition that gave us the extremely challenging module, Tomb of Horrors), so is strongly gamist. 2e is, I feel the least gamist edition of D&D. More emphasis is put on, for the GM, world-building and telling a story and, for the players, acting in character and experiencing the world.

First off - I agree with what you are saying and that is probably the most succinct definition of 'gamist' as it relates to various editions of D&D I have seen. What I find interesting is I am thinking of one player in my 4E group who came from 1E exclusively and hadn't played D&D for nearly 20 years before he joined up with the 4E group. He had a very negative reaction when the group met something in game that was meant to challenge the players as opposed to the PCs. Considering he hadn't played since before 2E came out it was quite a surprise to me that he would find the situation so annoying. People got different things from every edition of the game but you certainly describe my personal relationship with each edition quite well.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I hope that when the time comes 5th ed will resemble a combination of 2nd and 3rd. Lets get back to the tabletop and away from the PC.

There is no virtual tabletop software as yet. No PCs needed for 4E.

 

[AngryMojo]

There is no virtual tabletop software as yet. No PCs needed for 4E.

And my PC significantly reduces my prep time. I've done it both ways, and I looooooove me my compendium.

 

[Mournblade94]

For one thing, the old tournament games were all testing the players not the characters.

It is kind of why I am not a big fan of the Pathfinder Society or RPGA. The modules are great, but I always feel like those sessions are more of a pick up group of players than characters setting out on an adventure. I play them on a social level, but I am just never THAT into my PF society character. Its like the character I USE, rather than the character I am really playing.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

It will all be done electronically through our smart phones, which will soon be surgically implanted into our bodies on our way to becoming The Borg.

Resistance is Futile.

Nah, that will be 6e, 5e will make more use of smart phones/slates and social networking tools. D&D the Facebook app.

 

[delericho]

As for Warcraft, I look at how Warcraft is constantly patched and updated, like 4E is with the errata. Both Warcraft and 4E have taken the attitude that no mechanics are set in stone, and anything is subject to change based on feedback from actual play. Bugs and wrinkles in the game get complained about, and then fixed. A big pile of things bothering people isn't allowed to pile up, and as time passes the game looks less and less like the one originally released.

The ongoing revisions may well expand the lifespan of the edition. Indeed, we may see no true "new edition", but instead a rolling "half edition" like Essentials every two years or so.

However, I consider the constant and ongoing revisions (as opposed to errata) to be absolutely the worst thing to come out of 4e. They are absolutely poisonous to my enjoyment of the game. Furthermore, I would accept almost any 5e that was released today, if only WotC would promise that the cycle of ongoing revisions were gone.

 

[Pssthpok]

5E will be something that moves away from the modular design of 4E. Expect 5E to be the product of a company that moves in to take the torch from WotC when it decides to sell the label when they can't make it work for them.

Paizo, for instance, might step up to the plate and buy off the "D&D" name, then produce a sort of Pathfinder 2nd Edition/D&D 5E.

Expect it to hearken back to an age before WotC turned it into a card game with levels (4E) and then tried to give it a coat of nostalgia (Essentials) and then whatever they'll do next before Hasbro drops it like a bad habit.