D&D (2024) D&D species article

[mamba]

I think they can: people turn 12 every day.

time will tell, while people turn 12 every day, their interests certainly changed over time

Making money by digital minis and terrain are providing to be helpful for keeping the rules evergreen.

I am not sure how they require the rules to be evergreem, you still will have dwarves, mindflayers, the underdark and what have you, even in 7e. The minis and terrain transfer right over

 

[mamba]

To even consider a true rules overhaul and completely new systems, DnD would have to fade back into obscurity and other TTRPGs would have to be more successful than it.

I agree, I did not say I expected a full blown new version, as different from 5e as 4e was from 3e. I said I expected more drastic changes on the 5e chassis the next time around than 2024 brought now.

A true 6e will need 5e to fade away, just like 1e to 4e did before it

 

[Parmandur]

time will tell, while people turn 12 every day, their interests certainly changed over time


I am not sure how they require the rules to be evergreem, you still will have dwarves, mindflayers, the underdark and what have you, even in 7e. The minis and terrain transfer right over

The point is that "new rules" don't need to get squeezed for juice when "look, a new dragon mini" will make more money.

 

[Parmandur]

I think Actual Plays are also a huge part of this.

Nothing inspires people to play more than hearing about other people's games. We, as a community, thrive on the "One time...." stories. And with this edition, there are hundreds of options to pursue. From the huge endeavors to the simple tables, there is so much content, so many stories already in place.

And with a consistent rule set, you create a consistent language. You know the joke of someone watching Soccer and when the ball goes in the net, they say "Touchdown"? The joke works because, for the vast majority of people it is told to, they know what a touchdown is. I can tell you the difference between a field goal and a 2-point conversion.

DnD has its own language, always has, but NOW it has a superior way to spread that language, and a group playing DnD now can likely still play it in 5 years, and their audience is going to be able to quickly follow what is going on, even as they use the new rules and keep things slightly fresh. And if someone gets deep into a group, and decides to binge their old material... it still makes sense to them.

Yeah, I think that is a major point in favor of evergreen rules.

 

[Parmandur]

I agree, I did not say I expected a full blown new version, as different from 5e as 4e was from 3e. I said I expected more drastic changes on the 5e chassis the next time around than 2024 brought now.

A true 6e will need 5e to fade way, just like 1e to 4e did before it

Thing is, the further on they go, the less likely that WotC will make more drastic changes, by the nature of their process which has proven very workable in the past decade.

The 2024 rules might be the biggest change the game sees in the next few decades.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

It has been out in the open for years now PCS will have no downsides regardless of lore, race, national origin, or xyz. I think I called a few years ago about just given pcs a movement of 30.

And back then I said I have a(n adult) gnome sized 6 year old that can keep up with that pace easily.

(square cube law favours little people)

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The next rules update will be in 2028, 5.5 is just a money grab to hold them over until they need to make serious changes in the face of rising competitors.

What serious competition?

 

[Clint_L]

The next rules update will be in 2028, 5.5 is just a money grab to hold them over until they need to make serious changes in the face of rising competitors.

I think the old editions were the money grabs. Whenever sales flagged on an edition, TSR/WotC introduced a new one to temporally juice sales. Each new edition had swiftly diminishing returns, and also split the player base. And created opportunities for competitors to jump into that divide (c.f. Pathfinder).

The experiment of 2024 is to NOT go for the short term money grab, but to stick with what has been working and try to maintain a steady player base. I'm sure they are expecting a spike in sales from the new books with some new rules and a lot of new art, etc., but the priority is to keep the ball rolling on what 5e has already built.

This is not me speculating. WotC has been very up front about the new business plan. It makes sense. It's how most companies operate, relying on sustained growth rather than an unpredictable boom/bust cycle.

WotC keeps telling us what they plan to do, but since OneD&D was announced, I feel like most folks aren't listening:

1. They don't like the old editions paradigm because it was bad for the brand and the company, sacrificing long term stability for short term profits.

2. They are therefore rejecting it, and they are adopting evergreen rules with room for gradual evolution as the new paradigm for D&D. 5e has been incredibly successful, so that is D&D going forward for the foreseeable future.

3. They will use digital tools, specifically DnDBeyond and the Virtual Tabletop currently in development, to enhance growth by building on and better monetizing the existing strong player base.

WotC specifically doesn't want you to feel like you HAVE to replace all your current 5e stuff as soon as the 2024 books drop, because that just incentivizes a lot of folks to break away and stick with their sunk cost. Instead, they are offering shiny new books that will tempt you to replace the core three, but are endlessly emphasizing that you aren't required to swap, and if you do so, you don't need to replace all the rest of your stuff. This seems like a much smarter approach than, "New edition time! All your old stuff is now junk, suckers! Hey, where are you going?"

 

[Zuranthium]

I don't want to debate the definition of a moneygrab, but for me 5.5E absolutely is one. They made very few real changes and are lying to people with their promotional videos: "we entirely redesigned this class!" No, all they've done is made tiny tweaks, to things that mostly already existed in an already existing supplemental book.

What serious competition?

That wasn't a real prediction, just trying to speak hope into reality

 

[Clint_L]

I don't want to debate the definition of a moneygrab, but for me 5.5E absolutely is one. They made very few real changes and are lying to people with their promotional videos: "we entirely redesigned this class!" No, all they've done is made tiny tweaks, to things that mostly already existed in an already existing supplemental book.

Give me a specific example of a lie. I feel that they've been extremely clear in their statements about any changes being made to the game. From the beginning, from the first video announcing OneD&D, they have stated explicitly that the 5e system was staying and they are making incremental changes. Which is what they've delivered.