Why 5E may be the last edition of D&D

[FrogReaver]

The real problem is the best possible D&D movie has already been made.

It's Time Bandits.

Now, think of the protagonists. Instead of little people, imagine them as 1st level adventurers, Evil as a 20th level Wizard, and all the shenanigans and creatures they faced (Giants, Minotaurs, Robbers, Gladiators, Wretched Demons, Space ships, Cowboys) were the same stuff you saw in a typical kitchen sink D&D game in the 80's.

It wasn't about generic LOTR fantasy. It was hilarious stuff like falling through dimensions and time while being chased by angry floating heads, giants casually walking up from the bottom of the sea and carrying your boat away on it's head, and evil wizards casually blowing their toadying minions to bits in between witty repartee. Don't mention the final battle with spaceships and gunslingers all shooting at a Wizard who'w basically casting a shitload of spells and owning them all.

All due respect to Joe, but I think to be anywhere remotely in the spirit of the game, the D&D movie has to be a gory black comedy, involving an Oceans 11 style heist inside a dungeon, with a bunch of bumbling murder hobos who only do good against their instincts. Unfortunately, I think the time for movies like that, especially in the fantasy genre, has passed.

Why on earth would anyone want to watch a movie that depicts characters the way people tend to play them in actual games? I mean maybe there's comedy value there to the people that already play D&D but that's about the only appeal I see there...

 

[Charlaquin]

Why on earth would anyone want to watch a movie that depicts characters the way people tend to play them in actual games? I mean maybe there's comedy value there to the people that already play D&D but that's about the only appeal I see there...

I don’t know, isn’t that the appeal of D&D streams and podcasts? Every tv show with a D&D episode builds it around this premise. And it isn’t for nothing that every D&D player knows “I attack the darkness.” And in the age of detached irony, a self-aware D&D movie seems like an easier sell than playing the D&D tropes straight.

 

[FrogReaver]

I don’t know, isn’t that the appeal of D&D streams and podcasts? Every tv show with a D&D episode builds it around this premise. And it isn’t for nothing that every D&D player knows “I attack the darkness.” And in the age of detached irony, a self-aware D&D movie seems like an easier sell than playing the D&D tropes straight.

D&D streams don't have much appeal to me so I can't say much there. I'm ignorant when it comes to what they are doing.

However, I still think there's going to be a big difference in what people want to see in a live action movie as opposed to what they are looking for when watching a streamed D&D session.

 

[Jester David]

Big difference.

1. Lego is a world wide phenomenon.
2. They have had ten years+of good to great game development.
3. Childhood memories going back generations.
4. Successful outside the USA (D&D is niche in USA, outside its a lot smaller).
5. Better managed IPs (no detested editions, no bad games, no major blunders).

Funny thing... Lego has made a LOT of blunders and had some terrible years.
https://www.businessinsider.com/legos-worst-failures-2014-2
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lego-made-a-huge-turnaround-2014-2

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The RPGs have got two parts, the rules for game mechanic and the lore about background.

- With the SRD the d20 system is the most famous and used. Maybe you could change in the future, for example a d20 Modern 2.0. with more abilities (astuteness, courage, technique( visual-hand coordination for slow or pre-learnt actions, for example art, crafting, dance or playing music) and grace(luck/karma/fate) or with a special x20 reward if the fight is only with long-ranged weapons.

- And D&D is the Julio Verne of this current age, its franchises, worlds and characters will be remember in the next century when the copyright becomes public domain.

---

The books will be for collectors, and the future of the business is the download of PDFs in double-page-size flexible tabletops.

D&D to be famous needs the right blockbuster movie, the right videogame and/or the right teleserie. Maybe we will see "storytelling videogames", like RPG streamers but using machinimas instead miniatures. Warner notices in the right hands D&D can be a good saga like the movies of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.

I am not kidding, but a Starfinder movie could be produced in the future to be a new rival franchise for Star Wars and Star Treck.

 

[Jester David]

Will 5e be the "last" edition of D&D?

Maybe.
It could very well be, as far as we define editions. If they do a 6th Edition or revision, it might be more akin to the 1e/2e split where the content is largely backwards compatible. 6th Edition could be a smaller tweak of an edition, with less substantial changes than we saw in 3.5e. Almost more of a repackaging of the rules with more attention paid to presenting the rules in an easy, accessible format.
I don't see nearly as much pressure on the rules to change or be updated like I saw in 3e or 4e. Fewer people thinking of cracking apart the base system and remaking sweeping sections of the rules. More adjusting smaller subsections, like certain classes.

But there's probably no way 6e will ever be as popular or high selling as 5e is.
Which is fine. D&D does have a big pope/ small pope thing. 1e/ 3e/ 5e are big while 2e/4e were less well received. It makes sense that 6e will be more of a filler era that maintains the company while people keep playing 5e but no longer need books until 7e comes and can capture the market again.

And D&D is doing better than ever. It had its best sales year ever in 2017, and 2018 is reportedly even better than that. Can it do that for a third year? Maybe. Probably not. There's a finite number of players who can join the game. I imagine PHB sales will start to slip in 2019 and sales of accessories will be lower. Sales will still be great: still probably better than sales during in 3e and 4e. But just lower.
I love 5e, but unless the spring and fall book are amazing, I almost have all the content I need. Eventually sales might drop enough that a reboot or relaunch is needed...

 

[Mercurius]

...

A couple things. I can't remember clearly, but I don't recall 2E as being not well received. I think it is just that in hindsight, 1E is the defacto "classic AD&D" edition - the Gygaxian tone and anachronisms, the presentation, the original hardcovers, classic modules, etc. Furthermore, a lot of the changes instituted in 2E actually came about late in 1E (e.g. THACO); in a way, 2E was more of a reorganization and tidying up than a new edition - at least in the way that 3E, 4E, and 5E were actually new versions of the game. And in that "tidying up," a lot of the now beloved Gygaxian flavor was washed out, so for us older players (Gen X and older), we think back to 1E more fondly.

As for the idea of having all the content one needs, I think part of the genius of the 5E approach is that the focus is on stories - and there are no end to how many stories the base will need. We might max out on classes and other player options; we might be totally happy with the RAW or our tweaked version; we may even be happy with homebrewing our campaign; but by and large, people will always need more stories. My guess is that most DMs don't homebrew their own campaigns, but use the WotC ones. And even those that do might look to the published books for ideas or things to use in their game.

I had all the content I "needed" with the core three. But I continue to enjoy new books for new ideas - especially because most of those books aren't just endless player options.

 

[Parmandur]

A couple things. I can't remember clearly, but I don't remember 2E as being not well received. I think it is just that in hindsight, 1E is the defacto "classic AD&D" edition. Furthermore, a lot of the changes instituted in 2E actually came about late in 1E (e.g. THACO); in a way, 2E was more of a reorganization and tidying up than a new edition - at least in the way that 3E, 4E, and 5E were actually new versions of the game.

As for the idea of having all the content one needs, I think part of the genius of the 5E approach is that the focus is on stories - and there are no end to how many stories the base will need. We might max out on classes and other player options; we might be totally happy with the RAW or our tweaked version; we may even be happy with homebrewing our campaign; but by and large, people will always need more stories. My guess is that most DMs don't homebrew their own campaigns, but use the WotC ones. And even those that do might look to the published books for ideas or things to use in their game.

I had all the content I "needed" with the core three. But I continue to enjoy new books for new ideas - especially because most of those books aren't just endless player options.

1E sold waaaaaaaay more than 2E did, IIRC, and B/X and BECMI sold more than either.

I think their future business model doesn't have much to do with people over 25 or so unless they have kids. They are less interested in selling books to the hardcore, and more interested in getting the ENdless Quest books out there to create a new generation of players.

If they succeed in creating a youth ramp-up, which they seem to have been doing well, they literally never need to hit the reset button because people turn 12 every day.

 

[Mercule]

There's been a lot of D&D books. Would any book be worth making a movie out of?

Given the books I've read, it'd be hard to find one worth even publishing a book from.

 

[Zardnaar]

Funny thing... Lego has made a LOT of blunders and had some terrible years.
https://www.businessinsider.com/legos-worst-failures-2014-2
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lego-made-a-huge-turnaround-2014-2

I know I watched the Lego thing on Netflix (Toys That Made Us?)