It's unavoidable that 5E will be at the center of a new edition war. There simply is nothing that can put an entire RPG fan community up in arms like a new edition of the game. So what will the 5E edition war look like? Open the floodgates!
The main purpose of this thread is to have a nice list of edition war complaints and counter arguments. This can turn an ugly nerd fight into something as beautiful as chess.
e4-e5
Nf3-Nc6
... and so on. I'm just too excited to wait until we have something substantial to argue about.
Now, we have to start with the classic:
a1) Now I have to buy all my books again! Those money-grabbing basterds!
To which there really is no answer. After all, there are verified accounts of D&D books bursting into flames when new editions are announced. They make them this way.
Under no circumstances should you point out that gaming is one of the cheapest hobbies around, especially for the well-educated 30-somethings that hang out at RPG boards. Your conversation partner will reveal himself to be a disabled war veteran with 3 children and ask you why you don't support "our" troops. Do NOT counter this with the hint that the two of you don't share citizenship. It can only go downhill from here.
b) They dumbed down the game! Because playing RPGs is a sign of intelligence ... but only with descending AC. Or so I have heard. 3E fans will complain that Wizards are too easy, and 4E fans will complain about lack of tactical depth. OSR fans will complain that there is a roll for everything and no need for player skill.
c) But it's a videogame! Since 3E was Diablo, and 4E was WOW, the jury is still out whether 5E will end up as Diablo again (III) or whether League of Legends is the new enemy. Probably fails because LoL is played by a different age group than D&D grognards. Cultural Osmosis Failure.
d) <game company> hates <race> / <class>. because it's very hard to understand the concept of limited paper space if you are online 24/7. The selection of race / class for PHB I is done solely with the intention of spiting as many players as possible. Take that, gnome druids.
... (ok, breathing break)
Isn't it strange that even though near-nothing is known about the game yet, but it's almost certain what the complaints will be?
The main purpose of this thread is to have a nice list of edition war complaints and counter arguments. This can turn an ugly nerd fight into something as beautiful as chess.
e4-e5
Nf3-Nc6
... and so on. I'm just too excited to wait until we have something substantial to argue about.
Now, we have to start with the classic:
a1) Now I have to buy all my books again! Those money-grabbing basterds!
To which there really is no answer. After all, there are verified accounts of D&D books bursting into flames when new editions are announced. They make them this way.
Under no circumstances should you point out that gaming is one of the cheapest hobbies around, especially for the well-educated 30-somethings that hang out at RPG boards. Your conversation partner will reveal himself to be a disabled war veteran with 3 children and ask you why you don't support "our" troops. Do NOT counter this with the hint that the two of you don't share citizenship. It can only go downhill from here.
b) They dumbed down the game! Because playing RPGs is a sign of intelligence ... but only with descending AC. Or so I have heard. 3E fans will complain that Wizards are too easy, and 4E fans will complain about lack of tactical depth. OSR fans will complain that there is a roll for everything and no need for player skill.
c) But it's a videogame! Since 3E was Diablo, and 4E was WOW, the jury is still out whether 5E will end up as Diablo again (III) or whether League of Legends is the new enemy. Probably fails because LoL is played by a different age group than D&D grognards. Cultural Osmosis Failure.
d) <game company> hates <race> / <class>. because it's very hard to understand the concept of limited paper space if you are online 24/7. The selection of race / class for PHB I is done solely with the intention of spiting as many players as possible. Take that, gnome druids.
... (ok, breathing break)
Isn't it strange that even though near-nothing is known about the game yet, but it's almost certain what the complaints will be?
Last edited: