D&D 4E 4E in 2008? Fact or Fiction?

[drothgery]

I personally believe that the fan community might be giving companies mixed signals. While I can only speak for myself, I never asked for 3.5e back in 2002. I never demanded any kind of revision for D&D Third Edition. Yet WotC must have heard demands for it from their fanbase.

I imagine what WotC actually heard was that were some real mechanical problems with 3.0, the splatbooks, and the PsiHB, but everyone seemed generally happy with 3.0 and the d20 and OGL licenses. Hasbro didn't think WotC was making enough money. And there were already standing plans to do 3.5 in 2004-2005. So someone got the idea to move the release of 3.5 up a year or two, and kill two birds with one stone.

Now, we're getting discussion threads about 4e. Mixed signals? Or is there a growing voice in our community that want yet another edition? They must be financially rich, farting $$$ out of their arse to want to spend $90 again. Is there dissatisfaction over the recent version to warrant such a demand?

Or they see parts of 3.5 that they dislike enough to warrant a revision, and if it means buying new books, it means buying new books. Now, I don't think that way myself; I think there's nowhere near enough wrong with 3.5 to do a 4.0 before 2008 or so, and that WotC should have released 3.5 on their original schedule, and the changes I'd like to make would involve mass slaughter of sacred cows, so most of them won't ever happen (and I keep buying OGL games hoping that one will hit my notion of the perfect d20 fantasy game). But if a new edition comes out, and it's definitely better IMO, then I'll end up buying it eventually.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Heck, my group and I still play 3.0. If 4.0 comes out and its as much of an improvement as 3.5 was I might be able to consider purchasing it as there will actually BE enough new material for me to justify buying the books over again. Then again, probably not. :\

I'd rather not have to get any more books either... I bought 3 3.0 books and then had to get the 3.5 books when my group "upgraded". We still use some 3.0 stuff that didn't get revised. Like Called Armor. The best thing to happen to heavy armor in ages!

 

[Ranger REG]

You don't HAVE to buy minis to play, but you can if you want. I usually play with minis, but I can just as easily not.

At least you have more affordable options than your batch of Little Green Army Men.

 

[Ranger REG]

But if a new edition comes out, and it's definitely better IMO, then I'll end up buying it eventually.

Not me. I think the sooner 4e comes out, the sooner I can retire my hobby. THAT's how jaded I am. :\

 

[Mouseferatu]

Not me. I think the sooner 4e comes out, the sooner I can retire my hobby. THAT's how jaded I am. :\

See, I don't get that.

If you said "The sooner 4e comes out, the sooner I can stop buying new books," that I could understand. I might well disagree, based on the quality and nature of the new game, but I could understand.

But the notion of retiring the hobby because you don't like the latest edition, that I just don't get. Nothing they put out in the future changes what you've already got in your books. Giving up something that you're enjoying* because of a new edition isn't jaded. It's just, well, silly.

*This entire discussion does, indeed, presume that you're enjoying the game as it stands now. If you're not, there are far more immediate issues to consider than a hypothetical future edition.

 

[MonsterMash]

More money for the beast. Now we have to buy minis to play it too.

You can always buy other manufacturers minis if you want to use them or use counters or not even use a battlemat and just rely on other ways of doing things.

 

[diaglo]

Rich Baker has a huge thread on the Wizards boards where he answers FR questions.

Mike, Rob and Shoe tend to post mainly on the mini boards at Wizards, but I've seen Shoe popping up on Future Releases to mention stuff about things like Heroes of Battle.

Ian Richards (head of the RPGA) also posts on a fairly regular basis on the RPGA boards and occasionally in Minis.

Cheers!

what MerricB said.

you can chat with some of the WotC staff on their boards. not as many as you could in the past. but still they do visit.

(T)Ed Stark used to post all the time.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

If I was a WotC marketing guy I would think all this talk of a 4th edition would inndicate everyone wants a new edition.

Are we going to have speculation threads from now until it is announced? Does whoever guesses the closest get a free copy of the new edition.

I want it to be announced tomorrow so we can get started on the 5th edition threads. :\

 

[Kanegrundar]

At least you have more affordable options than your batch of Little Green Army Men.

Hehehe. That's true, but at least I don't have to use either if I don't want.

Kane

 

[Kanegrundar]

I want it to be announced tomorrow so we can get started on the 5th edition threads. :\

Meh. Down with 5E, I say! Let's start talking about 10E!!! By my calculations, it should be out in the summer of 2016!!!

Kane