The 5 Stages of New Edition Grief

[John Dallman]

2. The price we spent on those books vs the hours of entertainment we got out of them is still exponentially better than any other form of entertainment, so it always strikes me as a bit odd when someone complains about wasting money on books that we've been using for almost 10 years.

Bought 4e 3-volume set. Stopped reading in horror after about 20 pages. Eventually gave it away, never having played it, nor wanted to. Bought 5e PHB, found it uncompelling reading, played a couple of sessions which were somewhat fun, but the DM is now busy having children. None of my regular groups have any interest in new D&D editions. Would you buy a new edition in my position?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Gotta say, I’ve never felt all that compelled to switch editions, regardless of game. If I don‘t like a system, I don’t buy the books.

Some games/editions DO fall into a middle ground where I know I’ll be playing it enough to buy some product for my own convenience, like GURPS or D&D 4Ed. I only bought what I considered essential for playing, not running, the game.

 

[TerraDave]

You left out that other denial: New edition, there is no new edition, just new books with substantially revised content after the circulation of several rounds of playtest material. You can’t call that a new edition!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The 5 stages of New Edition Grief

• Denial - New Edition is the greatest! Roxbury 4EVA! They grew up together, and will never break apart.
• Anger - Who does that Bobby Brown think he is? He isn't bigger than the group!
• Bargaining - Look, maybe if I support Bobby Brown AND Bell Biv DeVoe, they will get back together?
• Depression - It's over. It's really over.
• Acceptance - Hey, at least they all need the money. So that means I'll get the occasional reunion tour!

 

[Sacrosanct]

Bought 4e 3-volume set. Stopped reading in horror after about 20 pages. Eventually gave it away, never having played it, nor wanted to. Bought 5e PHB, found it uncompelling reading, played a couple of sessions which were somewhat fun, but the DM is now busy having children. None of my regular groups have any interest in new D&D editions. Would you buy a new edition in my position?

Honestly, I don't think I'd be in your position, because I don't buy anything (books or otherwise) until I have thoroughly checked it out first. As for the second part, if I liked the game but didn't have local players, I probably would. Not just because I enjoy the material (treating it like any other book I'd read), but I'd find a VTT group if I couldn't find a local one.

 

[Mezuka]

I gladly switch to each edition of D&D from B/X to 5e. No grief for me. I view each edition as a game on my shelf I may or may not play again. Just like any other game be it a board game or a war game. In the end, I have memories of the sessions we played. It's all that matters to me.

For One D&D I'm on the fence for the first time in 41 years. I haven't GMed a game of D&D in 2 years. We played other fantasy games instead. It has been refreshing to learn how other game systems do fantasy. There will be no grief for me if I don't buy ONE D&D.

Having a group explode, implode and disband has been far more damaging to me. There has been anger, grief and depression because of that.

 

[Nikosandros]

No kidding. It must be hell being chained to WotC products.

Indeed. I still remember clearly the summer of 1989. 2e had just come out and I foolishly decided to continue my 1e campaign. After a visit and a "talk" with a Black-Ops team from Lake Geneva, I quickly saw the error of my ways...

 

[Joshua Randall]

Indeed. I still remember clearly the summer of 1989. 2e had just come out and I foolishly decided to continue my 1e campaign. After a visit and a "talk" with a Black-Ops team from Lake Geneva, I quickly saw the error of my ways...

One of my friends had a similar visit. Last time we ever saw him.

 

[Umbran]

The "stages of grief" are themselves nonsense in terms of modern psychology. They are possible states of grief, but they are not exhaustive, there is no particular order to them, or set path to navigate them. Grief is an individual process.

While I suspect the intent is more about humor, I think framing our collective reactions as grief tends to hide and excuse some pretty terrible behaviors that have other proximate causes.

 

[ReshiIRE]

Denial - I don't have to switch. My old books still work just fine. I bet a lot people won't change editions anyways. I'll have no trouble finding a game of my preferred edition

This seems to be true for online based games that you CAN find a game. Obviously harder for old editions, but if we're talking about D&D in particular - which I would assume that this post is made in response to, considering recent events - it seems Roll 20 and other VTTs have a lot of random games.

Getting your own personal group to play a game specifically might be quite difficult however.