D&D 4E redacted: WotC to print 4e Gold Limited edition rules, from 2d6 feet in a random direction.

[Mercurius]

Whether WotC does , or is able, to have a legacy edition department, of course I've no idea, but the strength of Pathfinder and the OSR shows a vibrant market for systems they have, until recently, largely abandoned. And regardless of WotC's business sense, I feel sure that THIS is the Golden Age of th RPG, not the 80's or 90's.

I love your optimism, MJS. I also think that we could be entering a new golden age of D&D, although I see it as a cyclical thing with numerous golden ages.

I do doubt, however, that WotC will produce new material for old editions, or at least material that is solely for old editions. What seems more likely is that they produce (almost) all new material for 5e and offer guidelines for conversion, perhaps as online conversion guides. I just have a hard time imagining entirely new products for older editions beyond more reprints and repackaging.

Hmm, I am pretty sure you know that they did do deluxe reprints of OD&D, 1E, 2E and 3.5. And that legal pdfs for all these are available again. They even did a new 1E adventure as part of a wider compilation.

I expect them to do some of this for 4E, at some point. An errated PHB would be great for its fans.

Yes, I'm aware of that - although by "support" I took MJS to mean new material.

The errata-ed PHB would have been great...three years. Actually, before 5e was announced I remember pining for a revised PHB with expanded classes and races, errata, etc. I could see a deluxe 4e PHB with the best of the first two PHBs - like the druid, bard, avenger, etc.

 

[darjr]

Wait? OD&D is available in PDF? I thought it was just the premium?

The more I think about it the more I would appreciate an erratted gold edition of 4e. Just three books.

 

[MJS]

Wait? OD&D is available in PDF? I thought it was just the premium?

The more I think about it the more I would appreciate an erratted gold edition of 4e. Just three books.

I don't believe it is, although apparently it was at some point. A forum member complained of low quality scans, whenever it was.
I don't see a Holmes pdf either.

It just seems nuts to own the rights to all these games, and never print anything new for any of them. Especially with 3.x and 4E still so heavily played. RPGs are not disposable commodities. People find a system they like, and stick with it for decades.

Then again, we have some great 3rd party publishers picking up the slack, and that may be preferable anyway. Hell, there's even the new TSR, with a Gygax-penned module in the current magazine.

perhaps its best to let sleeping dragons lay...if I were the head WotC, though, I'd at least consider a few new releases each year in legacy editions. I bet they would do as well, or better, than the new edition.

 

[The Human Target]

Splitting up their resources and competing with themselves in some ways is probably not good for them.

 

[Shemeska]

I love your optimism, MJS. I also think that we could be entering a new golden age of D&D, although I see it as a cyclical thing with numerous golden ages.

I do doubt, however, that WotC will produce new material for old editions, or at least material that is solely for old editions. What seems more likely is that they produce (almost) all new material for 5e and offer guidelines for conversion, perhaps as online conversion guides. I just have a hard time imagining entirely new products for older editions beyond more reprints and repackaging.

It's not a WotC thing here. I don't think any company on the market with more than one employee can really afford to divide their resources to support more than one system well. Sure it would be awesome to have WotC produce Pathfinder-compatible Planescape material, or new 3e Eberron material, etc but they don't have enough staff to devote to learning systems outside of 5e. And while Paizo has (I'm guessing here) an arguably larger development staff, it's too much of a division of resources to make stuff for anything other than PF (and they've said as much before).

Just speaking for myself now, while it would be awesome to write for multiple systems at a time, I don't have the kind of time necessary to learn more than one system well enough to keep up a professional standard with them all. If anyone else can do it, I applaud them!

 

[MerricB]

Very few board games and wargames are so slash-and-burn as the RPG industry.

I'm sorry? Most board games and wargames get ONE printing, ever.

 

[Halivar]

I'm sorry? Most board games and wargames get ONE printing, ever.

*Still waits hopefully for Britannia or Advanced Third Reich to be reprinted in a far-off fairy land.*

 

[MerricB]

*Still waits hopefully for Britannia or Advanced Third Reich to be reprinted in a far-off fairy land.*

Britannia does indeed occasionally get reprinted (with balancing changes), most recently by FFG, but there is a new edition on the horizon. Its designer, Lewis Pulsipher, who has the rights, posts regularly on BGG and on his blog - he recently thought that it's likely it will be kickstarted - http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/i-supported-kickstarter-project.html

A3R is a game that, like D&D, goes through various editions. The most recent version is GMT Games' "A World At War", which got reprinted very recently (I picked up a copy!). There was also "John Prados' Third Reich" a few years ago, which is based on the original Third Reich gam. And, of course, A3R is itself a reimagining of Third Reich!

Bruce Harper, who designed A3R, is the guy behind A World At War, btw, and it looks very similar in a number of areas.

Cheers!

 

[Halivar]

/snip

Yeah, unfortunately I was under a rock when those came out, and missed them. Started looking a month ago and found the FFG Britannia and AWAW going for exorbitant prices! Happy to hear about the Kickstarter! Goes to show games never really die, I suppose.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Honestly, in an age of PDFs and print-on-demand, there's no practical reason not to make all the editions 'ever green'. Well, there's one practical reason, I suppose, which is that you need a certain amount of man-power to edit things into shape. And maybe WotC doesn't have that right now. But long term I would expect them to continue to sell books from every edition. This isn't competing with themselves, as these products have somewhat of a niche appeal. A reprint of 2nd Edition is hardly going to be a threat to 5e. Nonetheless, there is clearly a market for reprints and they would make money.