D&D (2024) What does Backward compatibility mean to you?

[Micah Sweet]

5e will have been around for 10 years. That is a long time for a D&D edition. How can there not be some evolution in the game by then?

Usually, they openly make a new edition and that's where the evolution lives. Here, as in 3.5e, they're insisting the game hasn't really changed in an attempt to avoid annoying their customer base.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

It seems like WotC doesn't take any complaint seriously unless its about a social issue.

You should probably look up "selection bias". And then ask wotc to have a look into their surveys.

And then ask yourself what they are doing all day asking themselves:

A "How can we screw up 98% of our players, because we secretly hate them?"

OR

B "How can we make 98% of oir playerbase happy, so we can sell more books and still have the job we love 10 years from now?"

 

[Yaarel]

Usually, they openly make a new edition and that's where the evolution lives. Here, as in 3.5e, they're insisting the game hasn't really changed in an attempt to avoid annoying their customer base.

My impression is: They feel the ".5" of 3.5 was a mistake, when it forced players to buy new books. For 5e, they want players to still be able to use their old books. At the same time, that doesnt preclude OneD&D from introducing brand new options.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Usually, they openly make a new edition and that's where the evolution lives. Here, as in 3.5e, they're insisting the game hasn't really changed in an attempt to avoid annoying their customer base.

Most of the people from 3.5 don't work at wotc anymore.
Your mileage might vary, but what I see is still backwards compatible enough and is an evolution in most regards. I am also missing too many parts to make a whole picture of it, so my assessment might change.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You should probably look up "selection bias". And then ask wotc to have a look into their surveys.

And then ask yourself what they are doing all day asking themselves:

A "How can we screw up 98% of our players, because we secretly hate them?"

OR

B "How can we make 98% of oir playerbase happy, so we can sell more books and still have the job we love 10 years from now?"

Again, by that metric, they shouldn't change anything, because everybody they care about seems pretty happy with the 5e we have. They certainly aren't putting out new core books in response to millions of dissatisfied customers.

 

[Micah Sweet]

My impression is: They feel the ".5" of 3.5 was a mistake, when it forced players to buy new books. For 5e, they want players to still be able to use their old books. At the same time, that doesnt preclude OneD&D from introducing brand new options.

Their explanation of backwards compatibility explicitly included "adventures and supplements", not 2014 core books. What they want is to get people to spend another $150, but feel good about it because their other books will still more or less work.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Again, by that metric, they shouldn't change anything, because everybody they care about seems pretty happy with the 5e we have. They certainly aren't putting out new core books in response to millions of dissatisfied customers.

No. But at some point you need to evolve or everyone else around you evolves and you stay behind.
Also they already tested the waters with background feats and the response probably was overwhelmingly positive...

and they killed the standard human and made feats core. I guess this is what their data says how the game is mainly played.
Also the inspiration change seems to be a reaction to how the game is actually played... I can confirm that for my games. Inspiration as in core 5e does not work.

 

[Maxperson]

5E characters already have Level 1 Feats in 4 published products (Theros, Ravenloft, Strixhaven, and Spelljammer), plus apparently every other 5E publication in the pipeline. Doesn't mean Theros isn't backwards compatible with the 5E Core from 2014.

No they don't. They have them for those specific settings. A 5e character set in the Forgotten Realms isn't going to have access to the Theros, Ravenloft, Strixhaven or Spelljammer backgrounds. Someone playing Strixhaven won't have access to the Theros backgrounds. At least by default. The DM can of course allow anything, but those backgrounds are intended for those settings. And were created that way with 5.5 in mind.

 

[Yaarel]

Their explanation of backwards compatibility explicitly included "adventures and supplements", not 2014 core books. What they want is to get people to spend another $150, but feel good about it because their other books will still more or less work.

Remind me where they obsolete the 2014 core books? I dont recall that.

 

[Parmandur]

It seems like WotC doesn't take any complaint seriously unless its about a social issue.

From what I can tell, WotC is a very simple organization. They take complaints seriously when it can impact their bottom line. Simple as that. If complaints about the game system Rose to the level of threatening their bottom line, they would respond (see also, the end of 4E).