Wizards of the Coast to reprint D&D 3.5

[Windjammer]

A German retailer announced earlier yesterday that WotC' upcoming product catalogue features a reprint of the three D&D 3.5 core rule books.

Nothing is confirmed beyond a reprint of these three. The books, however, will integrate the latest errata.

Please treat this as an unconfirmed rumor unless we hear further. That said, the poster in question is an extremely reliable forum regular who has not been known to spread misinformation about such things in the past.


Source here.

Quotes:

Bis jetzt sind, genau wie für AD&D1, nur Nachdrucke der 3 Regelbücher angekündigt.

Gibt's dazu auch irgendwo einen Link auf dem WotC-Server oder war das erstmal nur fuer die Haendler als Info?

Bisher gabs nur den Katalogeintrag mit Titel, Bestellnummer und ISBN.

In translation:
"For now only reprints of the core 3 have been announced, as with AD&D 1st."
" 'Is there a link for that info on the WotC server, or was this for the time being only an info handed out to retailers?' - So far we only had an entry in the catalogue with title, order number and ISBN."

 

[wedgeski]

If this is true, which honestly I doubt, WotC are losing their fricking minds.

 

[delericho]

A German retailer announced earlier yesterday that WotC' upcoming product catalogue features a reprint of the three D&D 3.5 core rule books.

Awesome!

Nothing is confirmed beyond a reprint of these three. The books, however, will integrate the latest errata.

Oh. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

I would certainly be interested in picking up as many as half a dozen PHBs - 3.5e remains my edition of choice, and I've been sorely regretting not picking up some spares while I had the chance. But if the reprint incorporates the more invasive elements of late-edition errata (notably the polymorph revision), then I'm not interested - that's just not the ruleset I use, and if I'm going to update it will be to Pathfinder.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I really doubt that they would reprint the 3.5E core rolebooks. However, if it did turn out to be true it would be a very interesting move on their part. Colour me very skeptical, but an interested bystander at this point.

I still play 3.5E, but my rulebooks are still in good enough condition to not need replacing any time soon.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Yora]

Looking through the thread, I fail to see on what this claim is based on. There's just some guy saying "3rd ed. reprints are planned for september" without giving any source.

 

[Echohawk]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see reprints of the 3.5 books in the WotC catalog.

Consider:

• Mike Mearls has alluded to WotC's intention to support all editions of the game several times in interviews and articles.
• After 1st Edition AD&D, 3.5 is likely the next most popular edition of D&D still being played. The response to the 1st Edition reprints seems to have been very positive, so it makes sense for them to consider reprinting other editions.
• There is still at least a year and change before the D&D Next release, and they need to sell something during that time.

I would not be surprised to learn that reprints of the Rules Cyclopedia and perhaps the original D&D boxed set are also in the pipeline for the year ahead.

 

[DragonLancer]

I hope they reprint 2nd edition as I could do with replacing my copies of the core books.

 

[(un)reason]

Plus, if this is from the German retailers catalog, it means this won't be an american stores only release like the 1e reprints. That's a pretty positive sign to me.

 

[wingsandsword]

If this is true, which honestly I doubt, WotC are losing their fricking minds.

Why?

As Echohawk said, WotC seems to have a policy now of moving to support older editions, and acknowledging that they have a fanbase that is split widely among multiple editions (and releasing a new edition won't automatically make everybody switch from what they are playing).

They are already releasing 1e reprints. After 1e, 3.5e is probably the most popular "old" edition. It's still my preferred one. Will this mean bookstores will have 1e, 3.5e, and 5e on the shelves at the same time? Probably not, since the older-edition reprints seem to be more limited in nature, but it's a gesture that WotC is going to fans they chased away and trying to be conciliatory, instead of trying to pretend that earlier editions of the game didn't exist or are not played at all anymore.

While I don't have high hopes for a long-term change of heart at WotC, not for lack of belief in Mike Mearls's sincerity, but because the corporate nature of WotC means a new head guy could come in from Hasbro at any time and change things, I do want WotC to stick to this policy because I think in the long term it could help the gaming community.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I'm curious about people's statements that "after 1e, 3.5 is probably the most popular old edition." My completely unscientific impression is that 3.5 is the most popular old edition, period. I'm aware of many more 3.5 home games than 1e games, and I see lots more 3.5 at cons than 1e. It's complicated because of course many people are now playing either OSR versions of 1e or Pathfinder, but even there, it seems like more people are playing Pathfinder than e.g. OSRIC.

I have no idea if these reports are true, but they seem plausible--it can't be very expensive to just run an additional print run, and I'm sure there are people who will buy them, so...