D&D General Richard Whitters poll on twitter, "Will you be buying the newest edition of D&D?"

[Parmandur]

I have no hard evidence either way, but from reading this forum I consider those following it a small minority. It feels like near uniform consensus that the number of encounters is way too high to be feasible

It can just as easily be a vocal minority of posters.

You don't have any hard data, I don't have any hard data.

WotC does have hard data on this sort of thing.

WotC has made absolutely no move to change tye Adventure Day, indeed leaning into it hard by adding new abilities to reward all Classes for following it.

The logical conclusion is that WotC data does not show dissatisfaction with the Adventure Day, so I feel comfortable with assuming that as a basis for analyzing the game.

 

[Aldarc]

Currently, I'm needing to recharge and going to less complex systems (leaning to Dragonbane for a short campaign).

Side Note: I believe that the English beta pdf for the Path of Glory campaign for Dragonbane has dropped.

 

[grimmgoose]

To an exte t, WotC doesn't really care if you personally updgrade: that's why backwards compatibility is so important to them. A table can stay entirely with 2014, go full 2024, or just partially adopt 2024 (just the MM or DMG, say).

I also don't really believe this. WOTC absolutely cares if you upgrade. As the years press on, I imagine they will make 2014 rules harder and harder to use. Will the new VTT work with 2014 rules? How long until they phase 2014 out of DnDBeyond for good? How long until, for example, they stop supporting 2014 character sheets on DnDBeyond?

Right now, they are saying "sure!" because they want the goodwill. But the reality of capitalism is, "line must go up", and the line doesn't go up if you stick with 2014. They want your money.

In the same way I don't believe "5E is the last D&D Edition", I also don't believe that "WOTC doesn't care if you buy the new books!" Sure, that's what they say now, but I don't think reality agrees with that.

 

[Quickleaf]

For those of us not on X (or not on X any longer), Richard Whitters' poll is at almost 5,000 votes and closes in two days.

What's the answer breakdown looking like?

P.S. Richard Whitters has been working on a really interesting RPG project called... Ruttigers iirc

Richard Whitters on Instagram: "Another teaser for our Ruttigers RPG, this is our world map for you to explore!"

481 likes, 22 comments - richardwhitters on March 25, 2023: "Another teaser for our Ruttigers RPG, this is our world map for you to explore!".

www.instagram.com

 

[Quickleaf]

It can just as easily be a vocal minority of posters.

You don't have any hard data, I don't have any hard data.

WotC does have hard data on this sort of thing.

WotC has made absolutely no move to change tye Adventure Day, indeed leaning into it hard by adding new abilities to reward all Classes for following it.

The logical conclusion is that WotC data does not show dissatisfaction with the Adventure Day, so I feel comfortable with assuming that as a basis for analyzing the game.

Again, super anecdotal, but I can report from regular participation in a few Discord servers - DM Academy, Zipperon Disney, No Fun Allowed, Nerd Immersion, my local FLGS Pair A Dice Games, the Rime of the Frostmaiden server, and others – that the overwhelming majority of GMs posting on those servers do not use the Adventuring Day (or at least not as written).

I don't have the numbers - it's inconvenient to find on Discord - but each of those servers represents roughly 100's of people.

 

[Parmandur]

I also don't really believe this. WOTC absolutely cares if you upgrade. As the years press on, I imagine they will make 2014 rules harder and harder to use. Will the new VTT work with 2014 rules? How long until they phase 2014 out of DnDBeyond for good? How long until, for example, they stop supporting 2014 character sheets on DnDBeyond?

Right now, they are saying "sure!" because they want the goodwill. But the reality of capitalism is, "line must go up", and the line doesn't go up if you stick with 2014. They want your money.

In the same way I don't believe "5E is the last D&D Edition", I also don't believe that "WOTC doesn't care if you buy the new books!" Sure, that's what they say now, but I don't think reality agrees with that.

The new VTT is actually rules agnostic: it provides minis and terrain, but rules adjudication is manual. It can support AD&D or Pasthfinder, so 2014 isn't a problem.

They won't keep selling 2014 core books, but Adventurea and supplements are still in print, in addition to being compatible with the new rules on Beyond.

WotC has not motive to split their customer base when they can focus on upselling a continuous platform. The platform (Beyond and VTT) being the product is why the rules aren't going to be the focus of product in the future. The rules are a base.

 

[Parmandur]

Again, super anecdotal, but I can report from regular participation in a few Discord servers - DM Academy, Zipperon Disney, No Fun Allowed, Nerd Immersion, my local FLGS Pair A Dice Games, the Rime of the Frostmaiden server, and others – that the overwhelming majority of GMs posting on those servers do not use the Adventuring Day (or at least not as written).

I don't have the numbers - it's inconvenient to find on Discord - but each of those servers represents roughly 100's of people.

Hundreds of DMs is purely anecdotal. The UA articles had hundreds of thousands of participants, and WotC data collection is looking at millions.

I in no way trust those hundreds of DMs to represent anything other than those individual DMs who are not a representative sample.

 

[R_J_K75]

To an exte t, WotC doesn't really care if you personally updgrade

Wasn't this why 4E had such a short life span, 4 years? I'm asking because I can't remember exactly. I'm sure the division of the fan base and losing some to PF had a lot to do with it too but iirc it was lack of profits

 

[Quickleaf]

Hundreds of DMs is purely anecdotal. The UA articles had hundreds of thousands of participants, and WotC data collection is looking at millions.

I in no way trust those hundreds of DMs to represent anything other than those individual DMs who are not a representative sample.

Then we should look to you as our arbiter, Parmandur. Tell us, what is truth?

 

[Parmandur]

Then we should look to you as our arbiter, Parmandur. Tell us, what is truth?

I already laid it out: I lack data, you lack data.

WotC has the data.

WotC has only leaned further into the Adventure Day.

Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that their data aligns with the Adventure Day not being a problem to be solved at all.

I will believe my own experience and observations, backed up by that logical conclusion, over some random anecdotes.