D&D General The Double-Edged Sword: Is The New D&D Edition a Cash Grab in Disguise?

[payn]

OD&D (1974) is the one True edition of D&D. Everything else is a poor reflection of the original.

Those poor veterans cant find a game with all these newbs!

 

[velkymx]

Those poor veterans cant find a game with all these newbs!

Just wait until you have to "rent" the books from WotC and never own it.

 

[Shardstone]

Just wait until you have to "rent" the books from WotC and never own it.

Hell, just wait until WotC activates the remote bombs they placed in already-sold-books, eliminating all naysayers, destroying all books, and forcing you to rent from them.

The worst part? The new books will have LESS art and NO formatting. They will be sheets scrawled on the tanned hides of grognards, inked in the bloody remnants of their dying tears, and fighters will be turned into casters too.

And we'll rent like the good little customers we are!!! CURSE US!!! CURSE US WOTC AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

 

[DEFCON 1]

But they do because newcomers naturally gravitate towards the latest edition, leaving veterans forced to adopt the rules if they want to play with them.

That's not WotC's problem. That's the problem of the "veterans". Veterans can either switch to the new rules in order to play with any newcomers that show up... OR they can put in a little bit of elbow grease and convince the newcomers to play with the Veteran's older rules if it matters that much to them.

But yes... it does mean Veteran players can't just be lazy sods and wait around sitting on their hands waiting for new players to come searching for them and their "weird old game". I know people hate hearing that... we've got plenty of 4E players here on the boards here constantly complaining they can't find anyone to play 4E anymore (despite the fact we have the capabilities of connecting with the entire world and every single person on it right in front of us). But at some point a person has to decide what is more important to them-- being lazy and finding a table and players and a game at the snap of their fingers just by playing the new shiny of an edition... or actually putting in as much work as necessary to make their "old game" seem like something worth the time to learn and play... by talking the game up and all its benefits, going to all manner of different places across the 'net to find people willing to play it, and even... dare I say it... maybe even compromise a little.

If (general) you have an older game you wish to play but can't easily find someone to play it... that's no one's problem except your own. Step up to the plate and make people SEE why it's worth playing your game. If (general) you can't do that... that's your issue, no one else's.

 

[Oofta]

According to whom? WotC marketing? Take a look at the play test... IDK how "compatible" its really is going to be.

Plenty of people have played with a mix of the two and find it compatible. But even if it wasn't, a decade between releases is not a cash grab.

 

[Shardstone]

Plenty of people have played with a mix of the two and find it compatible. But even if it wasn't, a decade between releases is not a cash grab.

I play with about 3-4 different variations of each different class at my tables now, intermixed, and they work fine.

 

[Joshua Randall]

music industry’s shift from cassettes to CDs, a move widely seen as a cash grab disguised as technological advancement.

This is untrue and ignorant. CDs offered a very significant advance in audio fidelity over cassettes.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Eventually everyone is strong-armed into buying a new core rulebook, monster manual, and setting guide just to continue to play with new player and adopters as the community as a whole shifts.

No they are not. No one is forced to play with newcomers. If you do, it's because you have CHOSEN to. YOU made the choice to play with newcomers to the hobby and thus you have put pressure upon yourself to update to the newer game they seem to want to play. That's not WotC's problem. That's a problem of your own making.

 

[Remathilis]

That's not WotC's problem. That's the problem of the "veterans". Veterans can either switch to the new rules in order to play with any newcomers that show up... OR they can put in a little bit of elbow grease and convince the newcomers to play with the Veteran's older rules if it matters that much to them.

But yes... it does mean Veteran players can't just be lazy sods and wait around sitting on their hands waiting for new players to come searching for them and their "weird old game". I know people hate hearing that... we've got plenty of 4E players here on the boards here constantly complaining they can't find anyone to play 4E anymore (despite the fact we have the capabilities of connecting with the entire world and every single person on it right in front of us). But at some point a person has to decide what is more important to them-- being lazy and finding a table and players and a game at the snap of their fingers just by playing the new shiny of an edition... or actually putting in as much work as necessary to make their "old game" seem like something worth the time to learn and play... by talking the game up and all its benefits, going to all manner of different places across the 'net to find people willing to play it, and even... dare I say it... maybe even compromise a little.

If (general) you have an older game you wish to play but can't easily find someone to play it... that's no one's problem except your own. Step up to the plate and make people SEE why it's worth playing your game. If (general) you can't do that... that's your issue, no one else's.

That is a lot of words to say you can't find players for your OSR game.

 

[Joshua Randall]

OD&D (1974) is the one True edition of D&D. Everything else is a poor reflection of the original.

diaglo, is that you?