4th edition, what did you know and when

[Mark Hope]

Whenever it was that the Rules Compendium was announced - that was when I decided that it was imminent. Before that I had just seen it all as rumour and speculation and tried to refrain from forming an opinion either way. But the appearance of the Rules Compendium on the schedule just gave me a feelin' in ma bones. (Actually, that could just have been the curry I was eating at the time, but I prefer to think that it was a keen eye for the gaming landscape.)

 

[SteveC]

I was always one of those people who decried the rumors until a couple of things happened: first I saw the Rules Compendium, and second, someone (don't remember who) made the comment that Scott had actually said 2007 rather than 2008 for how long there was product in the pipeline.

At that point, I was very confident that the Edition was coming, but I thought they would announce it at D&D Experience, since they've said that's where the big announcements would be made. As an aside: it seems like someone missed the memo on that...what did they actually announce at D&D Experience, and what is there left to talk about at the next one.

Anyway, once the product catalog came out with no rules crunch for 2008, that pretty much eliminated all doubt. I thought "either WotC is taking a quarter off, or the new edition is coming soon."

That last part turned out to be right.

--Steve

 

[Scott_Rouse]

I was always one of those people who decried the rumors until a couple of things happened: first I saw the Rules Compendium, and second, someone (don't remember who) made the comment that Scott had actually said 2007 rather than 2008 for how long there was product in the pipeline.

At that point, I was very confident that the Edition was coming, but I thought they would announce it at D&D Experience, since they've said that's where the big announcements would be made. As an aside: it seems like someone missed the memo on that...what did they actually announce at D&D Experience, and what is there left to talk about at the next one.

Anyway, once the product catalog came out with no rules crunch for 2008, that pretty much eliminated all doubt. I thought "either WotC is taking a quarter off, or the new edition is coming soon."

That last part turned out to be right.

--Steve

D&D Experience 2007 was too early for us to announce 4e so it turned out GenCon was the best place to do it. But we do want to continue to announce cool things at Experience and reward players who attend so D&D Experience 2008 will be the first place the public can play the finished design of 4e.

 

[Zaruthustran]

D&D Experience 2007 was too early for us to announce 4e so it turned out GenCon was the best place to do it. But we do want to continue to announce cool things at Experience and reward players who attend so D&D Experience 2008 will be the first place the public can play the finished design of 4e.

Also, Randy Buehler will have an hourlong presentation on Gleemax and D&D Insider at PAX. Looks like there's still much to reveal, and clarify.

-z

 

[Mike_Lescault]

We've been very careful all along to make sure everything we said about 4E was accurate, since we knew the announcement was coming and people were going to be searching forums and message boards for old quotes. Internet communities have a great way of keeping companies honest and I think it's a wonderful thing.

I had Chris Perkins on mt GRZ podcast about 5 weeks ago, and I hit him directly with the question about 4E and his answer was both honest and accurate.

I first learned about 4E when interviewing with Randy Buehler at Wizards. He said that they really needed to get a community manager in to help on a couple of big upcoming things, one of which being 4th Edition. I was pretty impressed that Wizards was concerned enough about the community to be thinking that far ahead. That coupled with just the chance to play a miniscule role in the release of something as significant as 4E, pretty much wooed me into taking the job.

So I knew in April 2007.

 

[DaveMage]

D&D Experience 2007 was too early for us to announce 4e so it turned out GenCon was the best place to do it. But we do want to continue to announce cool things at Experience and reward players who attend so D&D Experience 2008 will be the first place the public can play the finished design of 4e.

So based on the prior editions, how long a lifespan do you see 4E having? You've said elsewhere that there will be no 4.5e (a good thing), but what about 5E?

I ask because 3.x has some incredible sourcebooks with tons of options. Due to the short length of 3.5 (only 4 years currently), tons of options were released that many will never even get to try if they switch to 4e as expected. (Especially since 4.0 seems not to be compatible with 3.5.)

 

[Scott_Rouse]

So based on the prior editions, how long a lifespan do you see 4E having? You've said elsewhere that there will be no 4.5e (a good thing), but what about 5E?

I ask because 3.x has some incredible sourcebooks with tons of options. Due to the short length of 3.5 (only 4 years currently), tons of options were released that many will never even get to try if they switch to 4e as expected. (Especially since 4.0 seems not to be compatible with 3.5.)

You almost got me to answer thus starting a rash of 5th edition in 20XX threads. Nice try Dave.

Seriously though, we already have a rough schedule of products out about 5 years and in general we think an edition should come out about every 8-10 years. In a best case situation 3.5 never should have been needed and if that had been the case 3rd would have been a 8 year long edition.

 

[DaveMage]

You almost got me to answer thus starting a rash of 5th edition in 20XX threads. Nice try Dave.

Seriously though, we already have a rough schedule of products out about 5 years and in general we think an edition should come out about every 8-10 years. In a best case situation 3.5 never should have been needed and if that had been the case 3rd would have been a 8 year long edition.

Sounds good - thanks!

 

[TerraDave]

Scott and Mike: thanks for your answers all your particpation here at ENWorld and Mike, all the video from Gencon was great.

In a sense you (Wizards) can't win either way. You did a really good job of keeping things secret: as noted in the first post, only 17% (of those that replied) expected the 4ed anouncement. So congragulations.

But you are bound to annoy people by keeping it secret. One reason that it was only 17% was Winter/eXPerience: both the statement that major things would be announced there, and statement made there that was read by some implying that 4ed was years away.

Instead it was 15 months away. Still pretty long. But I guess not as long as some wished. Hopefully when it comes out, they will change there minds.

 

[Odhanan]

In a best case situation 3.5 never should have been needed and if that had been the case 3rd would have been a 8 year long edition.

From what I understand of the story of third edition though, Scott, 3.5 was actually already planned when 3.0 came out. It was planned for a later release than actually ended up happening (my source on this is one of Monte Cook's lines of sight, on montecook.com).

I see you coming forward and telling us "there won't be a 4.5!" as a very good thing. This means that there is a chance of the same scenario not happening, since if there was to be a 4.5 revised edition, the idea would already be on the table at Wizards. Am I right in my assumptions?