D&D 5E So, I have been out of town for a few weeks, did I miss something?

[Hannerdyn]

Well let's see...

Gap between 1st and 2nd edition: 12 years (1977-89)
Gap between 2nd and 3rd edition: 11 years (1989-00)
Gap between 3rd and 4th edition: 6 years (2008-14)

I'm not a mathematician, but if the pattern holds then 6E would be out sometime between 2017-19, and 7E 2-3 years later.

At some point, perhaps editions will reach some kind of Kurzweilian critical mass and the Singularity Edition will haveth arrived.

Right, the edition that will have been written both before and after all infinite editions.

 

[fanboy2000]

Well let's see...

Gap between 1st and 2nd edition: 12 years (1977-89)
Gap between 2nd and 3rd edition: 11 years (1989-00)
Gap between 3rd and 4th edition: 6 years (2008-14)

I'm not a mathematician, but if the pattern holds then 6E would be out sometime between 2017-19, and 7E 2-3 years later.

At some point, perhaps editions will reach some kind of Kurzweilian critical mass and the Singularity Edition will haveth arrived.

Gap between OD&D and 1st Edition AD&D: 3 years (1974-1977)

We probably don't want to talk about the different editions of Basic.

 

[Morrus]

Well let's see...

Gap between 1st and 2nd edition: 12 years (1977-89)
Gap between 2nd and 3rd edition: 11 years (1989-00)
Gap between 3rd and 4th edition: 6 years (2008-14)

I'm not a mathematician, but if the pattern holds then 6E would be out sometime between 2017-19, and 7E 2-3 years later.

At some point, perhaps editions will reach some kind of Kurzweilian critical mass and the Singularity Edition will haveth arrived.

4th Edition wasn't in 2014!

3.5 should be in there. Various BECMI/OD&Ds.

 

[Remathilis]

Well let's see...

Gap between 1st and 2nd edition: 12 years (1977-89)
Gap between 2nd and 3rd edition: 11 years (1989-00)
Gap between 3rd and 4th edition: 6 years (2008-14)

I'm not a mathematician, but if the pattern holds then 6E would be out sometime between 2017-19, and 7E 2-3 years later.

At some point, perhaps editions will reach some kind of Kurzweilian critical mass and the Singularity Edition will haveth arrived.

OD&D: 1974-77 [3 years]
Basic (Holmes): 1977-81 [4 years]
AD&D 1e: 1977-89 [12]
Basic (Moldvay/Cook): 1981-83 [2]
Basic (Metzer/BECMI):1983-96 [13]
AD&D 2e: 1989-2000 [11]
D&D 3e: 2000-03 [3]
D&D 3.5 2003-08 [5]
D&D 4e: 2008-14 [6]
D&D 5e: 2014-? [?]

I went by "core book" releases and ignored Essentials (4e was short enough).

 

[sgtscott658]

I would say 1E and 2E AD&D were pretty much the same, TSR just wanted to get Gygax's name off the front covers. So essentially your looking at an edition that lasted over 20 years with very little change. 3E I would say is still going strong especially with Pathfinder picking up the gauntlet on that edition with some tweeks here and there. 4E did not last long but no need to go into such details as to why it was published or did not last long.

OD&D: 1974-77 [3 years]
Basic (Holmes): 1977-81 [4 years]
AD&D 1e: 1977-89 [12]
Basic (Moldvay/Cook): 1981-83 [2]
Basic (Metzer/BECMI):1983-96 [13]
AD&D 2e: 1989-2000 [11]
D&D 3e: 2000-03 [3]
D&D 3.5 2003-08 [5]
D&D 4e: 2008-14 [6]
D&D 5e: 2014-? [?]

I went by "core book" releases and ignored Essentials (4e was short enough).

 

[Morrus]

Here it is in visual form. I'm sure someone, somewhere will find some way to be angry at this graph because - hey, internet! - but here it is!

 

[Paraxis]

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of 5th edition, in fact I am a fan of D&D in general, but 6th edition can't come fast enough for me.

I get this joy when I log into ENworld everyday looking for updates and rumors, the black page days of the months before the release of 3e were amazing, same with 4th, and the most recent times and still going on with 5th and the books that are yet released.

So maybe not "fast enough", I mean i want to enjoy 5e for awhile, but I am fine with a 5-6 year lifespan of this new edition, and will look forward to all the excitement that a 6th edition will bring.

 

[Mr Fixit]

OD&D: 1974-77 [3 years]
Basic (Holmes): 1977-81 [4 years]
AD&D 1e: 1977-89 [12]
Basic (Moldvay/Cook): 1981-83 [2]
Basic (Metzer/BECMI):1983-96 [13]
AD&D 2e: 1989-2000 [11]
D&D 3e: 2000-03 [3]
D&D 3.5 2003-08 [5]
D&D 4e: 2008-14 [6]
D&D 5e: 2014-? [?]

I went by "core book" releases and ignored Essentials (4e was short enough).

As someone who has almost no knowledge of Basic (started gaming during 2ed days), how different were Holmes, Moldvay/Cook, and Mentzer editions? As in, very little difference with primarily clarification and better organisation, or more significant yet still not too wild changes, a la 3.0-3.5? Or even bigger than that? Is there any appreciable change in tabletop experience with groups using one or the other or the other other?

 

[Remathilis]

I would say 1E and 2E AD&D were pretty much the same, TSR just wanted to get Gygax's name off the front covers. So essentially your looking at an edition that lasted over 20 years with very little change. 3E I would say is still going strong especially with Pathfinder picking up the gauntlet on that edition with some tweeks here and there. 4E did not last long but no need to go into such details as to why it was published or did not last long.

Eh. There is some solid differences in 1e and 2e. The ranger and bard, nwps, dragon and giant math, initiative, thief skills, and specialist wizards and priests to name a few.

I think it's easier to justify 3e and 3.5 or all the basic editions as one the lump 1e and 2e together (ymmv and all that)

 

[Remathilis]

As someone who has almost no knowledge of Basic (started gaming during 2ed days), how different were Holmes, Moldvay/Cook, and Mentzer editions? As in, very little difference with primarily clarification and better organisation, or more significant yet still not too wild changes, a la 3.0-3.5? Or even bigger than that? Is there any appreciable change in tabletop experience with groups using one or the other or the other other?

A bit of both.

Holmes only went to level three (there was never an official "expansion" beyond it) and is basically an odd hybrid of what would become later Basic sets, OD&D, and some AD&D ideas (It had five alignments for example: LG, LE, CG, CE, and N). Holmes refers much more to AD&D as well, despite not being very compatible with it.

Moldvay's basic codified much of what we think of as "Basic".The big thing happens after the "red box"; Cook's Expert set goes effectively clocks out at 14th level and most classes are built with the idea that 14 is high level. So saves, thief skills, and spell slots advance much quicker than they do in Mentzer's later boxes. At low levels they are very similar, but the differences become obvious around 10th level.

Mentzer's rules, as described, extend all the way to 36th level and have a much wider scope due to that expansion. These are the rules that saw the Known World/Mystara setting codified and expanded, additional classes and races added, etc. The rules themselves are fairly similar to Moldvay, but slowed down to about 1/2 speed to account for the level spread.

You can read more on it here: http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questi...erences-between-holmes-moldvay-and-mentzer-dd