D&D 4E 4E is coming!

[MerricB]

Not to be rude or anything, but who cares? I've found my dream system in 3.0. When 3.5 came out three weeks after 3.0 was released, I rolled my eyes at the blatant (and cynical) WotC cash grab.

At present, my dream system is 3.5E. The number of improvements it made over 3E (IMO) was extraordinary. I'm not really in favour of seeing 4E for quite a few years yet...

However, I don't see D&D as a static game. It never has been - people have always been tinkering with it.

Sure, some of the rules proposed lead to dead ends. Does anyone (apart from diaglo) remember the initiative system in Eldritch Wizardry? Others take on a life of their own - Prestige Classes spring to mind.

The majority of my games for the past four years have been based on just three books: the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual.

I don't collect books by the d20 System publishers. I have about a dozen of those, mostly adventures.

I do collect the generic D&D releases and Eberron. Bits and pieces of them get used - a feat here, a prestige class there. Not to a great extent, though. I still look forward to new releases, though.

Throughout the last four years, I've seen the designers get more familiar with 3E: observing the parts that work and the parts that don't work. The most striking example of this would be the revisions to psionics in the XPH, though you can also see it in the revisions to Prestige Classes in the Complete series, and the other revisions of the core rules.

It is fine to plant a flag on one edition and say "this is where I'm staying". However, why do you assume that everyone feels that way? So, your Dream System is 3E? 3E would never have come about if people weren't willing to change the game!

In my opinion, 3E brought a lot of fantastic things to the game, though some people will vehemently disagree - see dragonsfoot.

Even if 3E is a great system - of course it is! - is it without flaw? I've seen quite a few threads over the years concerned with high-level and epic play. This matters are (probably) better than under the 1e and 2e rules, but are they flawless? I don't think so.

Can they be made flawless? Well, we don't know until we try.

We don't have to try today. However, at some point, there will be an attempt to improve on the core of D&D further.

Will this satisfy all people? It's unlikely. I don't believe there's a Universal System that all people will enjoy. It will be successful if more people end up playing D&D than before.

A new edition should not be taken lightly, but neither should the need for one be ignored. If Wizards had persisted in printing 2E, would D&D be as healthy as it is today?

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

I should also mention that I am viewing these sets as a D&D user of the minis, not a skirmish player (as I have no interest in the latter).

Although I play the skirmish game, I'm far more interested in the miniatures for their RPG potential - I've happily traded away my extra Orc Champions (possibly the most dominant skirmish figure) for figures that have no value in skirmish but are great for the RPG.

Aberrations is disappointing primarily because it doesn't have lots of great monsters. It has a few (Destrachan, Wyvern, Flesh Golem - though the latter's sculpt and paint job leaves a lot to be desired), but is too character-heavy for my purposes.

Cheers!

 

[Mystery Man]

Are we starting a pool?


My date is April 15th 2008.

 

[MerricB]

What makes you say that? My first thought was that it would be an entire book of magic weapons. An excessive amount of them. I would be very happy if it were based around the history of said weapons instead, but I'm not holding my breath.

From the ad copy:
"Weapons of Legacy provides a wealth of information on magical weapons with rich histories. The book includes many pre-defined weapons, outlining their names, history, powers, stats, necessary rituals for unlocking their powers, and adventure hooks."

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Are we starting a pool?

My date is April 15th 2008.

Heh.

How about 1/4/2005? or for you USers, 4/1/2005?



Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

If they can't excite buyers with their strategies now, then it won't be long before they need a radical shakeup, and a New edition just to push the survival of the brand.

In theory, D&D can be sold as a "classic" game, with only the core rulebooks on sale and no updates, ever. No supplemental support is needed.

Although it never has been sold in that manner, I can see it becoming that way in the future.

I've seen many statements from those in control of D&D about how small the proportion of gamers is that actually buy supplemental books and adventures is. That's mainly because the core books provide all most people need for years of fun.

When someone says, "I don't want Frostburn - it doesn't offer anything to me that I need", this is actually pretty normal. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. People like myself, who really enjoy new D&D material (almost no matter its nature!) aren't so common.

(We do exist, though, which is why I get annoyed by the people who say "Frostburn sucks! They shouldn't have made it!")

There is the main audience for D&D who buy the core books (and that's it), and then there are the people who want more optional books. A certain respectable profit can be made out of just selling the core books; various game designers can make a living out of the optional books.

When the audience for the optional books drops below the point at which they are profitable, then D&D moves closer to becoming a "classic" game - by which I mean it is not further developed, only the core rulebooks are printed - and possibly a couple of evergreen supplements.

Now, a new edition might revitalise the market for a while, but such things are tricky. D&D supplements work at present - it's not assured they'll work in the future.

Incidentally, D&D Miniatures seek to tap into another group of D&D players (as they are accessories, not supplements), though their purpose is confused by also being advertisements for the Latest, Greatest supplements. (When you see an Eberron miniature, it is a pointer to have a look at the Eberron campaign setting - in addition to being a miniature you might be able to use).

Because of the wide variety of tastes amongst D&D players, the overall picture is somewhat confused - Wizards are currently trying to provide different products for different groups of people, whilst hoping that the groups are big enough (or overlap enough) to keep the supplements profitable.

This is somewhat different than the 2e approach, however, which had the effect of artificially splitting the market through many competing campaign settings - the end result could be the same, of course.

Cheers!

 

[Rasyr]

Scheduled for GenCon 2006 would be my guess...

 

[Pramas]

From the ad copy:
"Weapons of Legacy provides a wealth of information on magical weapons with rich histories. The book includes many pre-defined weapons, outlining their names, history, powers, stats, necessary rituals for unlocking their powers, and adventure hooks."

Why wait when you can buy Artifacts of the Ages: Swords and Staves from us right now?

 

[MerricB]

Why wait when you can buy Artifacts of the Ages: Swords and Staves from us right now?

You couldn't pick a month when I had slightly more money, could you?

Cheers!

 

[FireLance]

Heh.

How about 1/4/2005? or for you USers, 4/1/2005?



Cheers!

Oh yes, I am quite sure there will be an announcement about the release of 4e on that date.