Mercurius
Legend
In this thread, [MENTION=4129]Alaxk Knight of Galt[/MENTION] re-posted a recent Rule of Three article in which Rich Baker discussed the problems with the Powers structure in 4E. This, in addition to all of the "5E ruminations" by Mike Mearls and Monte Cook, inspired an idea and recommendation for Wizards of the Coast as to how they might proceed towards 5E with the hopes of accomplishing two things at once: not pre-maturely killing 4E (although still taking its stuff) and effectively open playtesting ideas for 5E so as to seamlessly (and relatively painlessly) transition from one edition to the next.
First of all, let us assume that 5E is inevitable - that at some point in the future, whether GenCon 2012 or beyond, we'll be receiving an announcement from WotC that 5E is on the horizon. While I like 4E, my first impulse is "the sooner the better." Not only do I admit to liking "teh new shiny" but 4E has some major flaws that are difficult to bypass without a new edition or, at least, a major revision and probably re-packaging. Furthermore, given today's speed of technological development, a 2012 announcement leading to a 2013 release is hardly too soon - that's five years between editions.
That said, as some have pointed out, WotC finally seems to be hitting their stride with 4E. Among the post-Essentials products, only Heroes of Shadow was a doozy by consensus opinion; most of the other major releases--Shadowfell, Madness at Gardmore Abbey, Monsters of Nentir Vale, Neverwinter Campaign Setting, and Heroes of the Feywild--have been well regarded by fans, with Mordenkainen's Magnificient Emporium receiving mixed reviews. Even the online tools (from what I've heard) have improved. So, if 4E is finally hitting its stride, now would not be the time to announce 5E...at least not quite yet.
Given that 4E has reached a kind of plateau, it is unlikely to last for long; with today's speed of technological development, I would guess 1-2 years at best, maybe even less than a year (I maintain that GenCon 2012 is the right time for such an announcement...that's probably around the time that the current plateau will be starting to show signs of crumbling). What WotC wouldn't want to happen is for 4E to fall completely on its face (again); that already (almost/kind of) happened with the lull post-Essentials and the switch-over from "classic" to the new Character Builder. WotC seemed to be flailing with no discernible direction. So to put off the transition to 5E for too long would be a mistake as well; so it comes down to "not too loose, not too tight" or rather, "not too soon, not too late" and, more specific to this post, how to make that transition.
Which brings me to my idea, or recommendation really. Now would be the time to try out new ideas for 5E. It seems this has alreadly started with the Legends & Lore articles of the last six months or so, but at some point you should take it a step further and start producing products that are, in essence, trial runs for 5E. What I mean by this would be something similar to the 2E options books - rules packaged as "optional" modules to add to one's 4E game. Rules that try out new ideas, that play with the potential of the 4E core rules, even change them slightly.
The reason Rich Baker's article about powers inspired this idea for me is that I could see a book that offered a new power structure, one that could be used in place of the existing one. Powers would be consolidated, clarified, and re-compiled. Perhaps PCs can choose from lists specific to their Power sources. Classes can be re-envisioned as combining primary, secondary, and tertiary power sources, with varying degrees of access of the different power lists (e.g. only a class with Martial as primary could gain access to the more powerful and/or daily Martial powers...or something like that). There could still be specialty powers only available to certain classes, but those would be the exception and not the rule. This approach would offer a further degree of customization and may reduce the number of classes, although the point of this post is not to get into details--that's your job, WotC folks!
So the way forward that makes sense to me would be to, over the next year or so, roll out "optional" items that both take 4E to a new level and bring forth ideas that will form 5E. This is a way whereby you get to further develop the existing game, but also see what people like for 5E. If Essentials was 4.25E then this would be 4.5E, but you wouldn't have to call it so.
If nothing else I'm saying that you (WotC) don't have to squeeze every last drop out of 4E before moving on to 5E; you don't have to abruptly shift gears on us; you don't have to design 5E in a vacuum without community feedback (which it seems that, with Legends & Lore, you realize).
Now if you don't want to publish books that you (and we) know are only temporary transitions to 5E, why not utilize D&D Insider for an ongoing series of rules options? Let the larger pool of D&D players try out new rules...in other words, let us help you design 5E. But--and this is the important part--in the context of further developing 4E. The key being that 5E can be an out-growth, development, and evolution from 4E, not just a new game. That's how you got in trouble with 4E in the first place!
If I were to posit (and recommend) a timeline, it would be something like this:
Jan-August, 2012: rules options books, articles; alpha playtesting
August, 2012 (GenCon): 5E announcement
August, 2012-June, 2013: D&D Insider beta playtesting, further "rules options" products
June, 2013: 5E
Looking at the product catalog, there are only two major D&D products planned for 2012: Heroes of Elemental Chaos in February and The Dungeon Explorer's Guide in May; this gives you plenty of calendar space for the types of products I'm talking about.
First of all, let us assume that 5E is inevitable - that at some point in the future, whether GenCon 2012 or beyond, we'll be receiving an announcement from WotC that 5E is on the horizon. While I like 4E, my first impulse is "the sooner the better." Not only do I admit to liking "teh new shiny" but 4E has some major flaws that are difficult to bypass without a new edition or, at least, a major revision and probably re-packaging. Furthermore, given today's speed of technological development, a 2012 announcement leading to a 2013 release is hardly too soon - that's five years between editions.
That said, as some have pointed out, WotC finally seems to be hitting their stride with 4E. Among the post-Essentials products, only Heroes of Shadow was a doozy by consensus opinion; most of the other major releases--Shadowfell, Madness at Gardmore Abbey, Monsters of Nentir Vale, Neverwinter Campaign Setting, and Heroes of the Feywild--have been well regarded by fans, with Mordenkainen's Magnificient Emporium receiving mixed reviews. Even the online tools (from what I've heard) have improved. So, if 4E is finally hitting its stride, now would not be the time to announce 5E...at least not quite yet.
Given that 4E has reached a kind of plateau, it is unlikely to last for long; with today's speed of technological development, I would guess 1-2 years at best, maybe even less than a year (I maintain that GenCon 2012 is the right time for such an announcement...that's probably around the time that the current plateau will be starting to show signs of crumbling). What WotC wouldn't want to happen is for 4E to fall completely on its face (again); that already (almost/kind of) happened with the lull post-Essentials and the switch-over from "classic" to the new Character Builder. WotC seemed to be flailing with no discernible direction. So to put off the transition to 5E for too long would be a mistake as well; so it comes down to "not too loose, not too tight" or rather, "not too soon, not too late" and, more specific to this post, how to make that transition.
Which brings me to my idea, or recommendation really. Now would be the time to try out new ideas for 5E. It seems this has alreadly started with the Legends & Lore articles of the last six months or so, but at some point you should take it a step further and start producing products that are, in essence, trial runs for 5E. What I mean by this would be something similar to the 2E options books - rules packaged as "optional" modules to add to one's 4E game. Rules that try out new ideas, that play with the potential of the 4E core rules, even change them slightly.
The reason Rich Baker's article about powers inspired this idea for me is that I could see a book that offered a new power structure, one that could be used in place of the existing one. Powers would be consolidated, clarified, and re-compiled. Perhaps PCs can choose from lists specific to their Power sources. Classes can be re-envisioned as combining primary, secondary, and tertiary power sources, with varying degrees of access of the different power lists (e.g. only a class with Martial as primary could gain access to the more powerful and/or daily Martial powers...or something like that). There could still be specialty powers only available to certain classes, but those would be the exception and not the rule. This approach would offer a further degree of customization and may reduce the number of classes, although the point of this post is not to get into details--that's your job, WotC folks!
So the way forward that makes sense to me would be to, over the next year or so, roll out "optional" items that both take 4E to a new level and bring forth ideas that will form 5E. This is a way whereby you get to further develop the existing game, but also see what people like for 5E. If Essentials was 4.25E then this would be 4.5E, but you wouldn't have to call it so.
If nothing else I'm saying that you (WotC) don't have to squeeze every last drop out of 4E before moving on to 5E; you don't have to abruptly shift gears on us; you don't have to design 5E in a vacuum without community feedback (which it seems that, with Legends & Lore, you realize).
Now if you don't want to publish books that you (and we) know are only temporary transitions to 5E, why not utilize D&D Insider for an ongoing series of rules options? Let the larger pool of D&D players try out new rules...in other words, let us help you design 5E. But--and this is the important part--in the context of further developing 4E. The key being that 5E can be an out-growth, development, and evolution from 4E, not just a new game. That's how you got in trouble with 4E in the first place!
If I were to posit (and recommend) a timeline, it would be something like this:
Jan-August, 2012: rules options books, articles; alpha playtesting
August, 2012 (GenCon): 5E announcement
August, 2012-June, 2013: D&D Insider beta playtesting, further "rules options" products
June, 2013: 5E
Looking at the product catalog, there are only two major D&D products planned for 2012: Heroes of Elemental Chaos in February and The Dungeon Explorer's Guide in May; this gives you plenty of calendar space for the types of products I'm talking about.
