malkav666
First Post
My gaming group is not monogamous with the game systems we choose to support. If 5e comes out and it is removed enough from 4e and its good, then I see no reason why my group would not choose to support it with some of our gaming dollars. I don't really see us abandoning Paizo for the new shiny thing. I mean if the new shiny thing is awesome then yes it will get some of our attention. But we are perfectly willing to support multiple quality gaming systems simultaneously.
But I don't personally have a horse in the race. If 5e sucks or isn't really aimed at my group then we won't play it and we will be fine. I won't buy a repackaged or updated 4e, because I don't really care for most of the "innovations" it brought to the table. If they keep all the 4e stuff out of the core and make it so I can buy the game without having to deal with mechanics I don't like and put them in a splat for people that do like them, I can deal with that. But otherwise I will just keep doing what I am currently doing.
This whole edition launch is going to be kind of strange. D&D has never had to launch with such strong competition before. D&D seems to want to get back players that have lapsed to other systems. And they seem to want to directly compete for marketshare against those systems. I think in order to do that they are going to have to release a game that specifically targets the aims and goals of those other systems and does it as good or better in a way that keeps the feel of those systems in tact to have any real shot at regaining any of the lost revenue stream from those departed players, and that is kind of at odds with the current design paradigms of 4e dungeons and dragons. Essentially, they have a market that is fractured and all wants different things. At the time of the 5e release there will also be companies providing gamers who want different things than what 4e had to offer with current products. We saw it at the release of 4e that many people stayed with or switched to retroclones instead of jumping on the new edition cashboat. This time with 5e the retroclone market is in an even stronger position. So if WOTC really wants to get some of those oldschool players they kind of have to aim directly at them.
This makes me kind of sad for fans of 4e. There isn't really any 3pp market for 4e (when compared to 3e), there is no ogc, a lot of the best tools are proprietary and digital (and fully controlled by WOTC), and the nature of the edition makes it harder to clone legally. So if 5e doesn't really aim at them as well they really have no recourse at this time. And a game that aims at retro concepts and mechanics is kind of the opposite of what 4e brings to the table. You can see it in every topic about any aspect of the game that is in an older/RC edition but not in 4e or vice versa. The retroclone players want it like it is in the game they like and the 4e players want it like it is in 4e. And try as I may I have a hard time envisioning a game that gives everybody what they want.
So ill just keep watching and giving feedback that applies to me and mine. I don't really think anyone will end up being the good guy, but there is a very real chance we may end up some fans viewing someone as the bad guy. But we will just have to wait and see.
love,
malkav
But I don't personally have a horse in the race. If 5e sucks or isn't really aimed at my group then we won't play it and we will be fine. I won't buy a repackaged or updated 4e, because I don't really care for most of the "innovations" it brought to the table. If they keep all the 4e stuff out of the core and make it so I can buy the game without having to deal with mechanics I don't like and put them in a splat for people that do like them, I can deal with that. But otherwise I will just keep doing what I am currently doing.
This whole edition launch is going to be kind of strange. D&D has never had to launch with such strong competition before. D&D seems to want to get back players that have lapsed to other systems. And they seem to want to directly compete for marketshare against those systems. I think in order to do that they are going to have to release a game that specifically targets the aims and goals of those other systems and does it as good or better in a way that keeps the feel of those systems in tact to have any real shot at regaining any of the lost revenue stream from those departed players, and that is kind of at odds with the current design paradigms of 4e dungeons and dragons. Essentially, they have a market that is fractured and all wants different things. At the time of the 5e release there will also be companies providing gamers who want different things than what 4e had to offer with current products. We saw it at the release of 4e that many people stayed with or switched to retroclones instead of jumping on the new edition cashboat. This time with 5e the retroclone market is in an even stronger position. So if WOTC really wants to get some of those oldschool players they kind of have to aim directly at them.
This makes me kind of sad for fans of 4e. There isn't really any 3pp market for 4e (when compared to 3e), there is no ogc, a lot of the best tools are proprietary and digital (and fully controlled by WOTC), and the nature of the edition makes it harder to clone legally. So if 5e doesn't really aim at them as well they really have no recourse at this time. And a game that aims at retro concepts and mechanics is kind of the opposite of what 4e brings to the table. You can see it in every topic about any aspect of the game that is in an older/RC edition but not in 4e or vice versa. The retroclone players want it like it is in the game they like and the 4e players want it like it is in 4e. And try as I may I have a hard time envisioning a game that gives everybody what they want.
So ill just keep watching and giving feedback that applies to me and mine. I don't really think anyone will end up being the good guy, but there is a very real chance we may end up some fans viewing someone as the bad guy. But we will just have to wait and see.
love,
malkav
