Mercurius
Legend
Disclaimer: I know, I know--it is way too early to be talking about 5th, but let's have a bit of fun.
So we've got, according to Wikipedia:
OD&D - 1974
1ed AD&D - 1977-79 (whatever that means)
2ed AD&D - 1989
3ed D&D - 2000
3.5 ed D&D - 2003
4ed D&D - 2008
If we separate it out into the four main editions, we've got:
1ed - 1977
2ed - 1989
3ed - 2000
4ed - 2008
This gives us gaps of 12, 11, and 8 years.
Based upon this, it would follow that 5ed would come out no later than seven years from now, in 2015--in fact, based upon that number pattern, seven years would be the most likely gap.
Now I've read many folks voice the opinion that there will be no 5ed, especially due to the advance in computer technology--by 2015 we might have full-immersion virtual reality. But even if we did, wouldn't people still play table-top Dungeons & Dragons? I think so, in the same way that people still play the violin or the drums, or still write by hand or paint with oils and acrylics. Of course the number of table-top gamers will probably go down--even drastically--but my guess is that there will always be a core of diehard players, at least as long as Gens-X and Y are alive and relatively healthy (my guess is that there are significantly fewer table-top gamers born after 1990, at least compared to the Gen-X late 60s and 70s and Gen-Y 80s).
So what do you think? Will there be a 5ed? And does 2015 sound about right? Or is 4ed the last true table-top edition of D&D?
So we've got, according to Wikipedia:
OD&D - 1974
1ed AD&D - 1977-79 (whatever that means)
2ed AD&D - 1989
3ed D&D - 2000
3.5 ed D&D - 2003
4ed D&D - 2008
If we separate it out into the four main editions, we've got:
1ed - 1977
2ed - 1989
3ed - 2000
4ed - 2008
This gives us gaps of 12, 11, and 8 years.
Based upon this, it would follow that 5ed would come out no later than seven years from now, in 2015--in fact, based upon that number pattern, seven years would be the most likely gap.
Now I've read many folks voice the opinion that there will be no 5ed, especially due to the advance in computer technology--by 2015 we might have full-immersion virtual reality. But even if we did, wouldn't people still play table-top Dungeons & Dragons? I think so, in the same way that people still play the violin or the drums, or still write by hand or paint with oils and acrylics. Of course the number of table-top gamers will probably go down--even drastically--but my guess is that there will always be a core of diehard players, at least as long as Gens-X and Y are alive and relatively healthy (my guess is that there are significantly fewer table-top gamers born after 1990, at least compared to the Gen-X late 60s and 70s and Gen-Y 80s).
So what do you think? Will there be a 5ed? And does 2015 sound about right? Or is 4ed the last true table-top edition of D&D?