D&D 5E A Modest Proposal - A Moratorium on D&D Next Mechanics Discussions

[innerdude]

So my good ENWorlders, I have a modest, highly tongue-in-cheek proposal to make.

As we all know, our good D&D Next system is just around the corner. Okay, maybe not literally, I mean, the drunk guy sitting next to his cardboard box is LITERALLY around the corner, but you get my point . . . I think.

Anyway, this discussion is not about the local wine-o (unless you want it to be), but about discussions of the D&D Next rules.

So, okay, the final playtest packet is now six months old. Can anyone really remember what was happening six months ago in their life? I can't. It may have involved the CIA and the Mafia, but I don't really recall. Someone told me I wasn't supposed to remember, and I listened.

Okay, really, the point is, six months is a long time. Long enough, that if Mearls and Co. wanted to COMPLETELY REWRITE THE D&D NEXT SYSTEM FROM SCRATCH, they probably could have. Good grief, Numenara's ENTIRE END-TO-END DEVELOPMENT CYCLE, FROM CONCEPT TO PRINTING was under a year.

Frankly I don't think there's any real point in debating the RULES CONTENT of D&D 5e at this point. There's simply no value in it. Want to debate the release schedule, adventures, format of the release, digital offerings to go with it, PDFs, core marketing and biz strategy, great. Plenty of opportunity to speculate.

But the rules? We don't know. At this point, the actual D&D Next rules may or may not have any particular or singular resemblance to the November 2013 playtest packet.

So for me, from now on, my standard response to any discussion of D&D Next's actual rules will be simply, "Let's talk when The Game is released." Or even shorter, simply, "The Game."

For example, if someone asks the question, "How will D&D Next handle healing?"

My response will be nothing more, and nothing less than:

>>> The Game <<<

A shorthand response for, "Yes, I could speculate on this issue, but any and all speculation is meaningless in the face of the complete lack of information at our disposal, so, yeah, let's talk when The Game is released."

So until the final product hits our FLGS shelves / digital distribution network of choice / faces / backsides, I modestly propose that all conversations about D&D Next rules content start and end with,

>>> The Game <<<

Yes, I know, it will make some conversations rather boring and truncated. But really, it's a cross I'm willing to bear until August . . . or GenCon . . . or whenever else our WotC Overlords deem us worthy to receive their writ large.

Thanks everyone! Glad we could have this overly-long, needlessly wordy, and ultimately flatulence-inducing conversation!

 

[pemerton]

Rules are interesting.

I would rather a moratorium on release date threads!

 

[delericho]

Rules are interesting.

I would rather a moratorium on release date threads!

I concur. With the caveat that the "release date" thread that finally includes the release date is one I'd very much like to see.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The question here is whether innerdude knows that "a modest proposal" means "I am suggesting something ridiculous for effect", or whether he think it actually means "a modest proposal", of course.

I can't actually tell from his post. It used to be solely used for satire, but it seems like the internet has degraded people's understanding of the allusion.

In case anyone thinks the phrase "a modest proposal" is actually used about modest proposals, I would point this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal

 

[pemerton]

The question here is whether innerdude knows that "a modest proposal" means "I am suggesting something ridiculous for effect", or whether he think it actually means "a modest proposal", of course.

I can't actually tell from his post. It used to be solely used for satire, but it seems like the internet has degraded people's understanding of the allusion.

I'm familiar with the allusion, but nothing in the OP suggested that the allusion was intended. It seemed that the intention was literal.

Perhaps I misread. In any event, my proposal - whether or not it is modest - is intended literally.

 

[MarkB]

Well, we do still have that "Temporary Damage on a miss" sub-forum. Maybe it could be expanded to accommodate these topics.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm familiar with the allusion, but nothing in the OP suggested that the allusion was intended. It seemed that the intention was literal.

Perhaps I misread. In any event, my proposal - whether or not it is modest - is intended literally.

Actually, I was apparently skipping too much. He says "tongue-in-cheek". He is definitely taking the piss/using the allusion correctly, rather than actually asking us to stop talking about mechanics.

I do agree, though, that "ARE WE THERE YET!!?" isn't a great topic, and that's essentially what release date threads are.

 

[innerdude]

Dang, really? A guy with a master's degree in English, and people are wondering if he knows who Jonathan Swift is?

Man, humanities majors really DON'T get any respect these days . . . . . . . .


As far as other stuff ---

I love talking about rules, too. Love it. When, you know, we actually have those rules in hand to discuss.

It just seems insane to me how many threads there are complaining about "How D&D Next is going to look!" when ultimately, we have nothing more than "Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid" (a fantastic album, by the way. Look it up).

As soon as we all see the final rules, I will happily, gleefully, perhaps even perversely analyze their every crossed "t" and dotted "i". Until then ---


>>> The Game <<<

 

[M.L. Martin]

This would only work if WotC would stop talking about the mechanics--although while they're continually doing so, they're also being vague and indefinite.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

This would only work if WotC would stop talking about the mechanics--although while they're continually doing so, they're also being vague and indefinite.

Perhaps they could get us to stop worrying about it by handing out some freebie with wide appeal and little direct relationship to Next. Like a free download of the PHB of every edition of the game from 1e to 4e.

Then we'd just argue about the relative merits of those for another few months and could let them finish up 5e in peace.