D&D 5E (2014) What happens if 5E fails to unite the base?

[Hussar]

/edit nevermind.

 

[darkwing]

I am just curious what people think will happen if 5E fails to unite the customer base (which is its design goal). Let's say it does about as well or a little better/worse than 4E (and the split basically stays where it is); what direction do you think WOTC will or should go from there?

If WotC had any sense, they'd try to broaden the base. Don't concentrate on people that already play, get new players. Target middle schoolers and teens (while still making it fun for adults). Make it fun for those who avoid math like the plague but love Lord of the Rings. Slaughter sacred cows if you have to. Make a Star Wars version. Make a Superhero version. Get as many new players as you can. WotC has some great game designers but I feel they're being held back by traditionalists.

 

[Aeolius]

/edit nevermind.

I so want to stat out an umbral hivemind, now... the Nevermind

 

[Argyle King]

I doubt it will fail. And here's why: I don't think the base is as "divided" as some people think.

The theory is that the fan base is split into three groups: a large group of 4E players, a large group of 3.X/Pathfinder players, and a somewhat smaller group of earlier-edition players. But we are all tabletop RPG players, and there is a lot of overlap in our materials. A lot of people who play one edition also buy and adapt material from other editions to use in their game.

So as long as WotC focuses on QUALITY OF PRODUCT, they cannot fail. As long as the books are well-written, with imaginative adventures, clear rules, and quality artwork...we will buy them. We might buy them them because we are curious, we might buy them because we are switching to the new 5E, we might buy them to adapt them to our older system of choice...but if the quality is there, we will buy it.

You're forgetting a group:

4) Players who went to other systems which are neither D&D nor Pathfinder.

4b) Players who still play an edition of D&D, but now also play a different system. Thus their rpg budget is split between two (or more) products.

 

[Spinachcat]

Their hope in uniting the clans isn't the rules. It's the VTT that lets you play whatever edition you want while you pay a monthly fee and/or get nickel and dimed via micro-transactions.

Also, if the base game is good enough, it may draw in casual gamers and teens who aren't veterans of a 1000 edition wars.

 

[SensoryThought]

D&D next will never unite the base cause the base is old and often happy with their game. How many 4e, Pathfinder and even 2e posts do you see saying if D&D next lacks component X of their system they won't play or even that they are completely happy with their current game?

WOTC made and continues to make what I consider to be bizarre choices. Reselling the rights to 3.5e rather than keeping and selling all the old edition stuff is odd. Refusing to sell decent PDFs cause of piracy when anyone can download pirated scanned copies is crazy. Why not sell eversions of their whole back catalogue?

Ultimately I agree with Darkwing. The majority of your old base will be unhappy no matter what you do. Make a great game and sure, try and use the best of 1e through 4e to do that and get as many current onside as possible. But more important is to actually think about how to make tabletop gaming 'cool' enough to get the next generation of gamers to the table.

Love it or not D&D was the gateway for many of us into the hobby and the failure of D&D would be a sad loss for the roleplaying community.

 

[Aeolius]

...veterans of a 1000 edition wars.

Would this be a good time to mention that I have Blue Oysters in my undersea game?

D&D next will never unite the base cause the base is old and often happy with their game.

That sums it up nicely. Since 1995, I have been running online games; both play-by-post and chat-based. My first online game used the 1e ruleset, in a day when 2e ruled the roost. My next PbP switched from 1e to 3e midstream, a task made easy by similarities in the rules and the Conversion Manual.

For the past 4 years, I have been running a 3.5e chat-based game. I hope to run it for another 4 years, regardless of what 5e may bring. That being said, if I had to reboot my game tomorrow, I would use Pathfinder, as the rules are more accessible. I would also use a VTT like MapTool (free and cross-platform being the determining factors), though many of my current players find the technology daunting.

5e would tickle me as pink as drow sunglasses if I could continue to run my current game online by converting the setting from 3.5e to 5e without a hitch, use a VTT that was both simple and complex enough to handle movement in three dimensions, and devise all manner of new beasties, magics, settings, and treasure to inspire my game to move forward.

 

[Hussar]

Aeolius - A VTT that can run in 3d. Wow, very cool, but, very, very difficult to do.

Total threadjack -

If I was to do something like this (and on the occasion where 3d has actually mattered in my games I've done it), why not use the boardgame version of 3d that is often used? Where you have each token and then give that token an altitude (or I guess depth in this case) value. 4e would make this a bit easier with the 1-1-1 counting method or you could get more technical and actually calculate if you wanted to.

Then again, I would think that underwater combat would make ranged combat a bit more rare, but, I could be wrong.

How exactly would you envision a VTT that could handle 3d environments?

 

[Mark CMG]

What happens if 5E fails to unite the base?

I suspect if WotC doesn't see a decent uptick in numbers from the most recent edition they will shelve the property for some time, as far as RPGs are concerned, focus on licensing (video games and maybe settings), maybe keep the DDI going if it continues to bring in revenue for little continued investment, and perhaps do a few print runs of some previous products as a way to keep some core RPG books in stock at stores. They would likely have to wait five or ten years before revamping with a new edition. They seem to be going pretty deeply to the well to generate the hype they are for this new marketing push and are not likely to get a similar amount of general press combined with their own efforts for some time if 5E isn't as successful as we all hope.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

What happens if 5E fails to unite the base?

I'm guessing the entire WotC staff will do the honorable thing and commit seppuku.

Note: I didn't read the entire thread, and apologize if someone already suggested this.