Chris Perkins was just on Stan!'s 50 years in the Dungeon YouTube interview series.
As part of the interview, Chris was asked about some of the distinguishing feature of previous editions.
Here are my paraphrases of his answer:
5E: Designed with the view of what was great about previous editions and how do we get the best bits into 5E - a love letter to all of D&D.
4E: An answer to a question of how do we make a game that resonates with Video Gamers? Lots of video games have stolen D&D's tech, how do we get some of those people back?
3E: Create a version of D&D that felt right for (the new owners), Wizards of the Coast. Meant to reignite the D&D audience. 1E/2E had become a bit loosey-goosey - let's try to nail things down and use modern game sensibilities (like rolling high is always good!)
2E: 5E is closest to this in feel, since it takes its ease-of-play, something 3E and 4E sort of lost. In 5E tried to reduce time to make characters & monsters.
When asked about what he saw as part of the future of D&D (though it's hard for him to answer this one since he's on staff at Wizards!):
As part of the interview, Chris was asked about some of the distinguishing feature of previous editions.
Here are my paraphrases of his answer:
5E: Designed with the view of what was great about previous editions and how do we get the best bits into 5E - a love letter to all of D&D.
4E: An answer to a question of how do we make a game that resonates with Video Gamers? Lots of video games have stolen D&D's tech, how do we get some of those people back?
3E: Create a version of D&D that felt right for (the new owners), Wizards of the Coast. Meant to reignite the D&D audience. 1E/2E had become a bit loosey-goosey - let's try to nail things down and use modern game sensibilities (like rolling high is always good!)
2E: 5E is closest to this in feel, since it takes its ease-of-play, something 3E and 4E sort of lost. In 5E tried to reduce time to make characters & monsters.
When asked about what he saw as part of the future of D&D (though it's hard for him to answer this one since he's on staff at Wizards!):
- There'll be more daring in the future of D&D as to types of products released.
- We'll see a lot more attempts at products for younger audiences.
- Also fun experimental cross-over stuff. (Much as Magic has been having fun with Universes Beyond product lines).
