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D&D Older Editions
3e/4e as Operating Systems: An Argument for Grognardism
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3738057" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>From the look of it, 4E represents a more radical change over what has come before than any previous edition. They sound like they set up an abattoir for sacred cows. This will be the least backwards compatible edition ever.</p><p></p><p>My analogy is this. </p><p></p><p>3.0 = 1st edition AD&D. </p><p>3.5 = 1st edition AD&D post the Unearthed Arcana.</p><p>4th = 2nd edition</p><p></p><p>I know that's harsh, but I suspect the lowest rate of adoption since the transition from 1st to 2nd. The reason is that for the most part, the 3.Xers are happy with the system and only a portion of them are going to think that the direction 4th takes (or supposedly takes) the game is the direction that they wanted to go in. If they wanted a totally new system, they would have already moved on to a totally new system (as many D&D players already had when 3rd came out.) For this reason, I think 3rd is going to produce the same sort of grognards that 1st and OD&D did, who just aren't going to change while the rest of the game goes on its separate way. In fact, there is a risk that the adoption rate of 4th is going to be so low (say 50%), that 3.X will continue to be economicly viable to support for some time. That didn't matter so much for 2nd Ed., but that does matter with the OGL.</p><p></p><p>Where I think the fanbase for 4th is going to be, and where I think WotC plans to find its fanbase, is online. I think 4th edition is being designed with adoption to a computer format in mind. So your analogy of 4th edition being an OS maybe apt in more ways than one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 3738057, member: 4937"] From the look of it, 4E represents a more radical change over what has come before than any previous edition. They sound like they set up an abattoir for sacred cows. This will be the least backwards compatible edition ever. My analogy is this. 3.0 = 1st edition AD&D. 3.5 = 1st edition AD&D post the Unearthed Arcana. 4th = 2nd edition I know that's harsh, but I suspect the lowest rate of adoption since the transition from 1st to 2nd. The reason is that for the most part, the 3.Xers are happy with the system and only a portion of them are going to think that the direction 4th takes (or supposedly takes) the game is the direction that they wanted to go in. If they wanted a totally new system, they would have already moved on to a totally new system (as many D&D players already had when 3rd came out.) For this reason, I think 3rd is going to produce the same sort of grognards that 1st and OD&D did, who just aren't going to change while the rest of the game goes on its separate way. In fact, there is a risk that the adoption rate of 4th is going to be so low (say 50%), that 3.X will continue to be economicly viable to support for some time. That didn't matter so much for 2nd Ed., but that does matter with the OGL. Where I think the fanbase for 4th is going to be, and where I think WotC plans to find its fanbase, is online. I think 4th edition is being designed with adoption to a computer format in mind. So your analogy of 4th edition being an OS maybe apt in more ways than one. [/QUOTE]
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