Dislike 4E? You can write off 5E

[JRRNeiklot]

If by "being announced in the following year and then hitting the shelves a year after that" is at the printer, then yes.

I'm curious, because you seem angry about something that strikes me as both unsurprising and predictable. Let's say you work for WotC, you've signed a non-disclosure agreement, and someone asks you about something you can't talk about. What do you tell them?

(That's not a trap (cue Admiral Akbar!); I'm seriously curious.)

I would tell people something to the effect of "I'm sorry, I can't talk about that." That may be frustrating, but it's better than lying or misleading people.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I for one am glad that the WOTC people are ethical and professional enough to take Non-disclosure agreements seriously.

 

[Lanefan]

I for one am glad that the WOTC people are ethical and professional enough to take Non-disclosure agreements seriously.

Here's a thought: what if they went the other way? Instead of non-disclosure, an all-hands-in approach...

What if we woke up tomorrow (or next week, or next year, or whenever) to an announcement from WotC: "We have decided to design and release a 5th edition of the world's most popular RPG. The first phase of that design process starts today: for the next 6 months we are accepting ideas and submissions for this new edition. You may reasonably expect your submission to be read and reviewed, but nothing more; and [insert some legal bumph basically saying not to expect credit or reward if your ideas end up in the game]."

Talk about a way to get audience buy-in right from the start!

Lan-"hell, I'd buy it just to see if they used any of my ideas"-efan

 

[ggroy]

Here's a thought: what if they went the other way? Instead of non-disclosure, an all-hands-in approach...

What if we woke up tomorrow (or next week, or next year, or whenever) to an announcement from WotC: "We have decided to design and release a 5th edition of the world's most popular RPG. The first phase of that design process starts today: for the next 6 months we are accepting ideas and submissions for this new edition. You may reasonably expect your submission to be read and reviewed, but nothing more; and [insert some legal bumph basically saying not to expect credit or reward if your ideas end up in the game]."

Talk about a way to get audience buy-in right from the start!

Lan-"hell, I'd buy it just to see if they used any of my ideas"-efan

Design by committee done to the extreme?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Here's a thought: what if they went the other way? Instead of non-disclosure, an all-hands-in approach...

What if we woke up tomorrow (or next week, or next year, or whenever) to an announcement from WotC: "We have decided to design and release a 5th edition of the world's most popular RPG. The first phase of that design process starts today: for the next 6 months we are accepting ideas and submissions for this new edition. You may reasonably expect your submission to be read and reviewed, but nothing more; and [insert some legal bumph basically saying not to expect credit or reward if your ideas end up in the game]."

Talk about a way to get audience buy-in right from the start!

Lan-"hell, I'd buy it just to see if they used any of my ideas"-efan

When these 6 months are over, it will take about 2 years until we have finished a new edition.

Please still give us your money for 4E material we'll create in the meaintime, even if you fear it will be useless when the 5E will come around, or you think 5E doesn't go in a direction you do not like and motivates you to look for a different game all together.

It might be nice for us to know when a new game is coming around, but it will hurt WotC sales, I am afraid.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Here's a thought: what if they went the other way? Instead of non-disclosure, an all-hands-in approach...

What if we woke up tomorrow (or next week, or next year, or whenever) to an announcement from WotC: "We have decided to design and release a 5th edition of the world's most popular RPG. The first phase of that design process starts today: for the next 6 months we are accepting ideas and submissions for this new edition. You may reasonably expect your submission to be read and reviewed, but nothing more; and [insert some legal bumph basically saying not to expect credit or reward if your ideas end up in the game]."

Talk about a way to get audience buy-in right from the start!

Lan-"hell, I'd buy it just to see if they used any of my ideas"-efan

If that were to happen, who would be willing to bet that Diaglo would send WoTC a copy of OD&D in a sealed envelope?

 

[Relique du Madde]

It might be nice for us to know when a new game is coming around, but it will hurt WotC sales, I am afraid.

Don't worry, those two years of content would be craptacular and contain a lot of filler books that no one could use in game. Seriously, did anyone buy Wizards of the Coast Presents: Classes and Races of Dungeons and Dragons or some of those other "Wizards Presents" books?

 

[Lanefan]

Please still give us your money for 4E material we'll create in the meaintime, even if you fear it will be useless when the 5E will come around, or you think 5E doesn't go in a direction you do not like and motivates you to look for a different game all together.

It might be nice for us to know when a new game is coming around, but it will hurt WotC sales, I am afraid.

Perhaps true, but *if* they had been planning ahead, they could have held back as much mostly-system-neutral material as possible for release during this period. This could include stuff like settings, generic adventure modules, magic item compendiums, etc.

Lan-"quoted three times in a row - a new record!"-efan

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Here's a thought: what if they went the other way? Instead of non-disclosure, an all-hands-in approach...

What if we woke up tomorrow (or next week, or next year, or whenever) to an announcement from WotC: "We have decided to design and release a 5th edition of the world's most popular RPG. The first phase of that design process starts today: for the next 6 months we are accepting ideas and submissions for this new edition. You may reasonably expect your submission to be read and reviewed, but nothing more; and [insert some legal bumph basically saying not to expect credit or reward if your ideas end up in the game]."

Talk about a way to get audience buy-in right from the start!

Lan-"hell, I'd buy it just to see if they used any of my ideas"-efan

That would be my "D&D - nightmare edition". It would be like asking soccer fans "how should we revise the soccer rules - send us your admissions." I.e. "beer hats for every player."

D&D influenced by the most hardcore fans (and let´s be honest, those would mail a majority of the submission) = bye bye, Keefe. I like D&D because it is NOT dominated by the hard-core crowd, exept perhaps on message boards.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Don't worry, those two years of content would be craptacular and contain a lot of filler books that no one could use in game. Seriously, did anyone buy Wizards of the Coast Presents: Classes and Races of Dungeons and Dragons or some of those other "Wizards Presents" books?

I did buy the 4E "announcement/advertisement" books. They were very good and made me really enthusiastic about the new edtion. The fluff, the design concepts, the designer thoughts, they all clicked with me. But I haven't really bought any 3.x supplements at that time. I think I stopped with the last Complete Something book...