A new Edition/Iteration of D&D is really necessary?

[wolfattack]

After i read about the upcoming new D&D, i was wondering with myself if it was really necessary to have another version of D&D so soon. i mean,has the 4E lost all their gas already? i still think that the 3.x edition had much ''life'' yet when they launched the 4E books. was the 4E so bad or that % of players who didn't liked 4E was so strong to make Wizards of The Coast design a new game? so do you feel a new edition/iteration was necessary? please,let me know what you think about it.

 

[hanez]

Just look at the success of Pathfinder. I play pathfinder, but Im really hungry for a REAL update. Not just a couple powers tacked on. And 4e wasnt an update but rather an entirely different game with different priorities and core values. So that leaves a lot of players sorta stranded. Add on the unlikely hood of there being a pathfinder 2, and WOTC has a real opportunity to unite players.

 

[kitsune9]

WotC feels that a new edition is necessary. If WotC succeeds in making a more universal D&D that is compatible for 4e to OD&D players alike, then we're getting a more modernized version of our favorite iteration and the iteration you like will live on.

We'll see if that actually happens, but that's the goal at least.

 

[Oni]

If D&D is not doing well it's bad for the whole hobby. Table top gaming is already a hobby in decline and if the glue that binds a huge segment of the community were to diminish and fade away I believe it would only exacerbate that decline. If D&D was doing well as it currently is, well all of this would not be happening. So is it necessary? Well WotC certainly feels it is and to me that indicates that there are problems with D&D as an ongoing product. And if performance were to become poor enough it is conceivable that we could see D&D as a brand vanish from shelves, and that would be very sad and detrimental indeed, as I don't think it a far fetched assertion that it is the most common gateway into the hobby. So while a new edition is not strictly necessary in the sense that there are already plenty of flavors available to choose form, it is necessary if there is to continue to be a strong, vibrant, healthy core and gateway to our hobby.



IMHO, YMMV, et c., et c.

 

[Deset Gled]

A new edition isn't just a way to increase profit margin; it's a method of increasing overall sales with the base requirement of a larger/more talented work force. Keeping an aging edition in print is probably profitable enough for Hasbro to justify not killing D+D completely, but it's also low cost enough that they would have no reason to keep a full blown design staff.

You think the yearly WotC layoffs have been bad the last couple of years? Try letting them sit on a single edition for too long, and then see how small the D+D design staff gets. As a very rough estimate, I'd guess it would only take another three more years or so before D+D stopped being an autonomous branch and was completely folded into the operations of another game.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Whether ANY game is "necessary" is entirely in the eyes of the beholder.

I'm sure you would've found plenty of players of BECMI who asked whether AD&D was "necessary" when that got released. Hell, there's probably some 1E player NOW who still questions whether 2E, 3E & 4E were "necessary".

But at the end of the day... what does it matter? If you want to keep playing 3E... do so. If you enjoy 4E enough that the changes in 5E don't do anything for you... then stay with 4E.

But I mean come on... with so much ranting that goes on about new editions, I get the feeling that some people take it as a personal affront that the game they like gets moved on from by the company making it. As though WotC is saying to you "Hey 4E player... since we're now making a 5E, that implies that we don't like 4E anymore. And thus it also implies we don't like YOU either. You stink. See ya!"

You'd think in this day and age our egos would have been hardened a bit more than that. Obviously, I don't really think that is the case. We're still fragile little kids who get all upset when we think something we like isn't fully embraced by everyone else.

 

[Number48]

If WotC hadn't been bought by Hasbro, who knows. But look at it from Hasbro's perspective. They've got the top name-brand recognition IP in fantasy gaming, in roleplaying in general. Is this giving them more traction or are they losing ground in the market? That analysis is embarrassing. If Hasbro spends the money to come out with a new line of Transformers and the new line creates a surge in Go-Bots sales? There would be some people in serious trouble. The fact that WotC is a separate division is probably the main reason they are even getting to try again.

Now, picture what happens if 5E not only unites the customer base (as much as within reason, at least) but also creates a resurgence? New players come on board? Well, that will lead to a jumping off point for more licensing uses for the brand. A D&D movie reboot. Lunch boxes. A toy line. These are the things a marketer pictures, to take the brand to a point where you earn much more money from incidentals because, really, just how many 500-page books can you reasonably sell?

What Hasbro wants is to cash in on the kind of attention you see in My Little Pony, which is a cultural phenomenon, or Harry Potter, which pretty much defines a generation. It's a good time to do it, too, as fantasy is on the rise in the modern consciousness. I mean, really, we aren't exactly seeing a lot more On Golden Pond and Chariots of Fire today. We're seeing Lord of the Rings and Captain America.

If 5E fails? Well, TSR failed and somebody eventually bought the rights when it wasn't worth much. So...

Thinking about superheroes, I wonder who owns the rights for the Marvel Superhero game? TSR put it out, but it obviously traded heavily on the Marvel name. Does anyone remember if WotC bought out all of TSR or just the D&D rights alone? They must've bought out TSR, they put out Gamma World again.

 

[wolfattack]

I understand what you mean. but i thought that with the essentials line,the 4E had gained a new breath, and maybe another 2 or 3 years worth of products.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Necessary? No, but death and taxes aren't necessary either.

Unfortunately, the edition cycle isn't about what's necessary.

 

[Number48]

I understand what you mean. but i thought that with the essentials line,the 4E had gained a new breath, and maybe another 2 or 3 years worth of products.

You might think that, but I hadn't heard of 4E Essentials 2 weeks ago. I've been playing Pathfinder and have had no need to see what's happening in 4E. So my personal feeling is that 4E Essentials is a great way to keep current 4E players interested, which just isn't enough anymore.