5e? No Fragin Way!

[Scribble]

You know, I have said before (and still believe) that pulling 4e now would be a mistake.

But, the rumbling in the vineyard does suggest that a new edition is on the way.

I wonder, though......given that the fan base is already split.....might we have two concurrent editions? This would be similar to the AD&D/BECMI split of early TSR, with each version designed to cater to specific fans. If, like AD&D/BECMI, the design could allow cross-pollination of materials......?

That might be a good move for WotC.....?


RC

I still think they will continue to slide new "styles" into the mix in the same way they did Essentials and Gamma World.

We'll see big changes in the play styles and options available, but what we won't see is a 5 in the title.

 

[wlmartin]

You know, I have said before (and still believe) that pulling 4e now would be a mistake.

But, the rumbling in the vineyard does suggest that a new edition is on the way.

RC

What rumbling?
What vineyard? (isn't it more supposed to be grape vine than vineyard?!?)

If it is just rumor then I wouldn't put any stock in that - and nor should you. Rumors are good for entertainment but if you base any education opinion on 3rd party hearsay and conjecture you will, most of the time, appear foolish!

If you have a verified source, then please let me know as I would be very interested to hear some confirmed information on the WotC plans for D&D in the near future

 

[Raven Crowking]

I still think they will continue to slide new "styles" into the mix in the same way they did Essentials and Gamma World.

We'll see big changes in the play styles and options available, but what we won't see is a 5 in the title.

You know, this sounds right to me.

I can easily imagine something like a Basic D&D that is a change in playstyle and options, but which can slide into the character builder for others to use as well. Sort of the pre-selected options Mearls is talking about in his blog, sold as a set.

But, if they do this, I hope that they also consider a "combat-lite" option.

There is no DDI VTT (or has this changed?) and the minis are no longer in production (or so I have been told), so gridless, faster combat has no cost to WotC associated with it AFAICT.

What rumbling?
What vineyard? (isn't it more supposed to be grape vine than vineyard?!?)

Picard Vineyard & Winery, of course.

Needless to say, the source was Q, and you shouldn't always believe what he says.

Levity aside, the "rumbling in the vineyard" is pretty well described by delericho upthread. It isn't a specific rumour, so you've nothing to worry about there.

Human beings like to examine the world around them, and attempt to make patterns out of what they see. Sometimes, those patterns are useful. Sometimes, they are not. Both "No way 5e!" and "Hmmm....5e?" are really the same thing....attempting to fit observation into patterns. The truth is, we don't know.

As far as appearing foolish most of the time, well, my status should show you how much that concerns me! "Raven Crowking is both the fool and the fool who follows him". Whichever is more foolish, that's me. No problems there.

AFAICT, there is no confirmed information on WotC's plans for D&D in the future, near or otherwise. Usually, though, confimed information is easier to get. The only times it hasn't been, IME, is before a major shift.

Silence is sometimes louder than words.

Now, some feel (and I have certainly felt) that this silence, combined with other factors, smells like a new edition in the wind. That's a provisional prediction, obviously....no one making it (AFAICT) claims actual prophetic powers!

And, despite it smelling like an edition in the wind, I also agree that 5e now would be potentially disasterous for WotC. But, a semi-edition, like a real "Basic D&D" might actually be a smart move.

(Shrug)

Time will tell. It always does.


RC

 

[Scribble]

You know, this sounds right to me.

I can easily imagine something like a Basic D&D that is a change in playstyle and options, but which can slide into the character builder for others to use as well. Sort of the pre-selected options Mearls is talking about in his blog, sold as a set.

But, if they do this, I hope that they also consider a "combat-lite" option.

I get the sense that Mr Mearls is really trying to re-knit the community, so I can imagine "something" along these lines if they did start doing this. Though what that something would be I have no idea.

They already seem to be trying to open up the adventures to something other then combat.. so....

There is no DDI VTT (or has this changed?) and the minis are no longer in production (or so I have been told), so gridless, faster combat has no cost to WotC associated with it AFAICT.

I haven't really been following what happened to it since the play test a few months back... Did they scrap it again or something?

 

[wlmartin]

There is some merit in the argument, no matter how I feel about it, that something is going to change.

WotC have oodles of guys on Staff and whilst some of them will be split across other projects like MTG, A&A , D&D boardgames and other WotC franchises... in reality unless we believe WotC are made of money and paying these guys to sit on their hands then they must be doing something.

Unless they are coming up with clever new ideas and show us that the many members of the Staff are doing something... our thoughts go to what is behind the curtain. Since WotC have no real need to deny public information relating to future add-ons to 4e in the longterm (the shortterm, yes, as it builds interest and suspense) then if they are not coming forward with new information about upcomming projects then the work going on must be related to something bigger. (and possibly more in line with game-changing results)

So as much as I would like to argue that 5e is not going to happen for a good while yet and if it does it will be a travesty to the game...

What are the WotC staff doing???

Hopefuly GenCon 2011 will highlight what is on their Agenda for the upcomming months / year and a lot of the supposition regarding 5e or other rumblings will be put to rest.

 

[delericho]

Actually, I think the D&D-RPG staff is about three.

 

[wlmartin]

Actually, I think the D&D-RPG staff is about three.

3? There are clearly a lot more than that
All of the staff involved in Dragon & Dungeon
All of the staff involved in the D&D website
All of the staff involved in the D&D Corebooks & Supplements

 

[Raven Crowking]

What are the WotC staff doing???[/COLOR][/FONT]

I have it on good authority, that they are doing the Bat-tusi.

(As a side note, you might want to steer away from Mod Colours.)


RC

 

[delericho]

3? There are clearly a lot more than that
All of the staff involved in Dragon & Dungeon

Mostly freelancers, or the same name over and over again.

All of the staff involved in the D&D website

Web design and game design are wildly different disciplines.

All of the staff involved in the D&D Corebooks & Supplements

The ones that haven't been released this year? Most of the former D&D-RPG staff are now on the board games, or have been moved to other departments.

People who are left:

Mearls
Bruce Cordell
Chris Perkins... if he hasn't rushed off to Hollywood yet
James Wyatt?
?

Seriously, when you start naming names, I think you'll be surprised at how quickly the list ends.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

To the OP: Can you prove that 5th edition isn't around the corner?

I hate to break it to you but 4th edition in total hasn't lived up to what the designers thought it would. They set out to bring in hoards of new players along with the old and I'm afraid it backfired on them. No amount of tweaking and changing the current rules is going to bring back the masses.