D&D 5E A Board Game style Release Schedule

[Mistwell]

Wow, that is just rude.

I apologize for the tone and language. I felt it was rude of you to misquote me three times in a row without bothering to check to see you were misquoting me after I pointed it out to you. You do it again below. I am struggling to understand why.

From merriam-webster: based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something. Seems right on target.

Here.

Talking about conversions? I quoted you mentioning it.

No, you did not - not about the playtest adventures. I just quoted what I said, yet again, word for word. You are, once again, misquoting me..all while you just deleted the part of the thing you were JUST responding to so that you take it out of context once again. Please stop.

And just so everyone else following our little spat can see that's what you're doing, here it is again:

[sblock]here is the direct quote from the link to my post, "Four good playtest adventures which are incredibly easy to adapt to current rules (Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, Legacy of the Crystal Shard, Murder in Baldur's Gate, Scourge of the Sword Coast). "

Do you see the word conversion? No, you do not. The reason you thought you saw the word conversion is because, at the END of that paragraph, concerning an entirely different topic, you read this, "And that's not counting the existing conversion notes WOTC published for numerous older adventures with the playtest that would be easily converted."

You think the later was what I was talking about, but it's not. It's the former. The PLAYTEST ADVENTURES don't need conversion and I never said they did. It's the 1e and 2e adventures, like the A1-A4 Slavers series from 1e AD&D, for which they provided conversion notes, which need conversion. Two DIFFERENT things. Now do you get it?[/sblock]

 

[Mistwell]

Actually, we've known since January that that was coming in mid-March.

We didn't know WHAT was coming though. In fact, it just dropped, and some people are saying "I thought it was supposed to be 300 pages" and others saying "it was supposed to be really short". Nor did anyone really know the date, just a vague estimate. It's not like a release schedule. They're being really tight with that sort of information. I mean, are you really disagreeing with me when I say they are being really tight with the release schedule information? Is that really under dispute?

 

[Trickster Spirit]

Reading the last several pages of this thread has been extremely tiresome and so I shall endeavor to ignore them.

Instead, thought experiment time!

Let's assume two parallel universes:

Universe A, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast never again releases another 5E product.

and

Universe B, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast releases big adventure paths and smaller adventures, character options books, and campaign setting sourcebooks.

I'll be charitable to Universe B and assume it's release schedule is much more reserved than 3.x or 4E's, with system bloat accumulating at a much less frenetic pace. Both universes have access to the back catalog of material on D&D Classics.

In which universe will sixth edition be released first?

 

[Kramodlog]

I felt it was rude of you to misquote me three times in a row without bothering to check to see you were misquoting me after I pointed it out to you. You do it again below. I am struggling to understand why.

It is not a misquotation. It is the actual words you wrote.

Here.

Yeah, I saw that. Seems we arbritrarely chose definitions that suit our narrative. Like when we decide 5e actually launched. But you know, saying that 5e started when its first official product was released is a bit more sensical. "First" implies begining.

No, you did not - not about the playtest adventures.

Sorry. I ment I put a link to one of your posts. In this day and age it does seem like quoting. Oh, internet. You rascal, you.

all while you just deleted the part of the thing you were JUST responding to so that you take it out of context once again. Please stop.

Why? You shorten people's posts all the time when you respond to them. It is clearly a double standard.

And just so everyone else following our little spat can see that's what you're doing

Argumentum ad populum.

Do you see the word conversion? No, you do not.

So you're ignoring the link I provided to one of your posts where you use conversion and then say I ignore your posts? More irony.

Look, clearly this is not about adventures not being part of 5e because they need conversion and clearly not about when 5e first started anymore. Was it ever? Anyway, this has clearly made you emotional, the name calling points to that, and now your telling me what I can and cannot do while you do it. Enjoy debating that 2+2=5 alone.

 

[Kramodlog]

Reading the last several pages of this thread has been extremely tiresome and so I shall endeavor to ignore them.

Instead, thought experiment time!

Let's assume two parallel universes:

Universe A, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast never again releases another 5E product.

and

Universe B, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast releases big adventure paths and smaller adventures, character options books, and campaign setting sourcebooks.

I'll be charitable to Universe B and assume it's release schedule is much more reserved than 3.x or 4E's, with system bloat accumulating at a much less frenetic pace. Both universes have access to the back catalog of material on D&D Classics.

In which universe will sixth edition be released first?

Universe A, of course. Core books loss there hotness at some point and then you need to have another source of revenues. Another edition with new shinny core books that fans will of course buy.

 

[Zardnaar]

Mistwell why do you think 5E has bveen out 3 months? Using that logic 1E came out in 1979 not 1977. The 40 anniversary was for OD&D not book 7 of OD&D. 5E has been out 8 months. The problem with AP type adventures is not everyone likes APs and the idea of quality over quantity has not panned out yet as HotDQ is actually a bad adventure. APs are also a bit 2002 they have been around 13 years and WoTC still has not produced or published a good one.

Online support while cute but there is not that much of it and we had that back in 3.0 as well circa 2001/2002 and we had more of it than 5E.

But its the brand we just need one good movie". Even if they get the rights sorted out a movie would still be at least a year away maybe 2 and they have been trying to get a breakthrough movie since the 80's. Hell D&D editions have been cycling faster than some movie development times. In any even not that interested in a D&D t-shirt, have not seen any D&D toys over here not that I want them either.

We had 20 years of Dungeon, we have had 7 years of monthly AP support from Paizo, WoTC still can't make good adventures and with no Dungeon there is no new blood in terms of adventure designers coming through and WoTC has fired all of the good adventure designers. Paizo RPG superstar has more or less replaced Dungeon I suppose in terms of new talent.

Hell quite a few of the good adventures being made these days for 5E are made by veterans of AD&D. Skip Williams, Ed Greenwood for example wrote some of the Quests of Doom Adventures. Christina Styles, Mike Mearls, Wolfgang Bauer all used to submit for Dungeon. Even Monte Cook can write a good adventure. The names are more or less the same when 3.0 launched they just do not work for WoTC any more.

Its that interruption of continuity I think that has got D&D to where it is now. Take away the marketing spin and with 6-8 staffers left (3.0 had 50) and it is no wonder they can't produce anything faster. I do not see it as a good thing just the last hurrah.

 

[BryonD]

I don't know, and I am not sure I care much. But OK let's assume Paizo had scheduled a whole lot more, publicly, than WOTC has publicly scheduled. Is that what this argument comes down to - you don't care about the quantity of official product support, just the quantity of announced product support?

No. But the sense of "lack of support" can't be measured just by looking at what is *on shelves*. The sense of a lack of continuity is a big part of it.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

Universe A, of course. Core books loss there hotness at some point and then you need to have another source of revenues. Another edition with new shinny core books that fans will of course buy.

Which of course raises the question of what WotC's goals are for D&D. That's what this whole debate is really about, since of course if they were trying to maximize revenue from RPG book sales they would in fact be following the Universe B model, while in the real world they are not.

Looking at what WotC's actions have been to date, I believe they have no intention of releasing a sixth edition. Ever. 5E is intended to be an evergreen game with a board game like release schedule, where in 2035 you'll still be able to walk into a store and pick up a 5E Player's Handbook. The game now solely exists to keep the brand from being explained as "this thing with dice people used to play" when discussing cross-platform stuff like movies or games with friends. If more casual players get picked up and turned into devoted fans of the brand, awesome - but they're valued as evangelists for the moneymaking parts of the brand, not a source of hardbook purchasers.

I like 5E a lot. I like the core books, and I also like the material they've put out in the recent Elemental Evil Player's Companion. If we get something like that every six months and see the monthly Unearthed Arcana articles get some playtesting revisions, that's all I'll need to keep playing the game indefinitely.

If you need more material than that to keep you invested with the ruleset, that's unfortunate, but none of us are WotC's target demographic anymore, myself included. You've purchased the product WotC has put out for sale (the core books) and if you're not interested in big adventure paths (which I for one am not), they're under no obligation to put out any further support whatsoever. The game is now complete - no one needs anything else to run it past this point, so anything we receive moving forward whatsoever is gravy.

 

[delericho]

We didn't know WHAT was coming though. In fact, it just dropped, and some people are saying "I thought it was supposed to be 300 pages" and others saying "it was supposed to be really short". Nor did anyone really know the date, just a vague estimate. It's not like a release schedule.

I was disputing the assertion that this came with no notice. That's all.

They're being really tight with that sort of information. I mean, are you really disagreeing with me when I say they are being really tight with the release schedule information? Is that really under dispute?

No. On that we agree.

 

[delericho]

Let's assume two parallel universes:

Universe A, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast never again releases another 5E product.

and

Universe B, where after the core three books are released, Wizards of the Coast releases big adventure paths and smaller adventures, character options books, and campaign setting sourcebooks.

In which universe will sixth edition be released first?

Quite possibly neither.