D&D 5E From what you've seen so far, do you think D&D Next will be a success or a failure?

[GnomeWorks]

Here's what I said about 4e before it's release: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?226363-will-4-0-succeed&p=4226525&viewfull=1#post4226525

I foresee history repeating itself here. Well, except for the Mayan Apocalypse.

Hmm... and to make it even weirder, I guess 4e products stopped coming out around May of 2012.

So in a way, you were onto something there.

 

[GX.Sigma]

"Success" and "failure" aren't very useful words for this conversation. By any definition, 5e will start out as a success, and end as a failure.

 

[Mistwell]

You're trying to dig too deep. You can get a rough idea when you look at the game whether it's going to be a long lasting edition or a short one.

Uh, OK, even assuming that premise is correct, you have not looked at the game.

 

[DaveMage]

While the game itself seems solid enough to me, it all depends on how WotC handles it. They really didn't manage 4e very well, and they still don't seem to be doing that good a job with 5e. They really need to get themselves some proper PR.

Yeah, I think it's too early to tell.

I have a feeling it will be a solid game due to the talent that's writing it, but WotC's corporate machine is the issue.

Will the books be packed with info (and a great value), or will they be full of large type and whitespace?
Will the support products be well received?
Will the support products be reasonably priced?
Will the support products be sufficiently varied to allow for a range of playstyles? (Without an open license, this will be more difficult, but not impossible.)
Will the electronic tools be ready at launch, or soon enough after to appease fans?

Out of the gate, I expect good results due to the power of the brand. After that, we'll see.....

 

[machineelf]

If they can get the books out for me to buy them, and produce enough adventures (because I like running prepared adventures if they're done well) to run from level 1 to 20 a few times over, then it will be a success to me. The rest of everybody can complain about it if they like and go do whatever they want with their time. It bothers me not.

From an objective financial standpoint, I think it does have the potential to be successful and sell well, based on what I've seen from the playtest material and how my friends have reacted to it. But I guess we'll see.

 

[fjw70]

Not a failure, but not nearly th
e success they (WOTC) want (or need to have)

From what I have heard every WotC edition of D&D fits this criteria. To paraphrase a former WotC employee it's pretty much impossible for D&D to compete with Magic since Magic is like printing money.

That said I think 5e will do well. It appears it will have a true basic version for the first time in decades and the modularity should make it a flexible game. The adventures and supplements should be easy enough to convert to earlier editions for those to sell well even for those that don't play 5e.

 

[ren1999]

I said that 5E would be a success, but I'm a little concerned with the last minute rushed and unedited additions such as Spell DC being 8 with a +2 if you have your holy symbol or arcane object. That is a warning sign to me. 5E has several good things going for it that I saw in earlier editions of the play-test. The reactions. Advantage-Disadvantage rolling. Low number bonuses. Lower armor classes. We've got YouTube live role-playing sessions to interest people in the game now. I think 5E could revive this game.

 

[Mistwell]

I said that 5E would be a success, but I'm a little concerned with the last minute rushed and unedited additions such as Spell DC being 8 with a +2 if you have your holy symbol or arcane object.

Uh that's what it was in the last playtest docs. Which is 6 months from the print date (give or take), complete with both external open playtesting and internal playtesting. How is that rushed, given it's the same or more playtesting feedback time frame than every other rule in this game, and in other games as well.

 

[Umbran]

You can get a rough idea when you look at the game whether it's going to be a long lasting edition or a short one.

One can form an opinion about it, but it is a personal opinion, and not much more than that. It is very clear that people *aren't* very good at predicting the popularity or success of things in an moderately open marketplace. If we were good at it, we'd more often then not pick the right stocks to invest in, always know what will be the next Cabbage Patch doll or Beanie Baby. But, we don't.

Thus, your posit here is just incorrect.

And that's setting aside how "success" and "long lasting" are not well defined.

 

[ren1999]

I was also a play-tester and a nay-sayer of the previous edition. But I will gamble and say this edition will be much better, just because the designers are listening to me this time.