D&D 5E Do all the rules need to be released at once?

[Jester David]

Let's jump ahead a year and change.
The basic rules of D&D 5th Edition are released. The formatting is irrelevant, and all that matters is you can go to stores and buy the basic game, likely with the big four classes and races.

How long after that product is released should there be an expansion with modules, more classes, more races, and the like? Does it have to be within the same month? Can it be a couple months later?
Can they spend an extra six months really testing that content? How about a year? Is that too long?

 

[Warbringer]

It needs to be simultaneous, at least to play a "standard" game, if not "advanced".

As a better way of explaining, it needs to feel that I have the selection of 3e out of the gate, not constrained like 4e initially was. That means the top 14-16 classes with a great selection of backgrounds. It means the critical 8-10 races. It means full skills, feats (whatever they decide that mechanic looks like) and it means playing all the way through adventurer tier.

It also means a robust monsters manual (if it will be a separate tome) and a strong DMG/Adventurer Build book.

Things that can wait for me are advanced exploration rules, advanced combat rules (armor as DR, etc), less iconic monsters, races and classes.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

As a better way of explaining, it needs to feel that I have the selection of 3e out of the gate, not constrained like 4e initially was. That means the top 14-16 classes with a great selection of backgrounds. It means the critical 8-10 races. It means full skills, feats (whatever they decide that mechanic looks like) and it means playing all the way through adventurer tier.

Pretty much this.

I'd like the equivalent of the 3E core rules at release (or at least within 90 days) -- a range of basic-to-advanced choices, 5-6 races, 10-11 classes, and enough monsters, treasures, and character options for a healthy 20 levels of campaigning.

 

[Morrus]

Well, a company needs to sell things or it has to close. It's not like it has a research grant to develop stuff for years with no immediate financial return like a scientific study might have.

I imagine this play testing period is hurting WotC's bottom line - they're not currently selling anything (other than some reprints and a bunch of PDFs). I don't imagine they're going to want to sell one book then go back back to not selling anything for another year.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think much of the intended audience would be satisfied with only a "basic" game. I think most would say a cut down, basic version is a fine thing to have, but that's for *new* customers, not for old hands. But, on the other hand, I don't think they need to present the *full* breadth of 3e with all its splatbooks out of the gate either.

I think it would be sufficient to start with the equivalent of what the 3e PHB presented. Same races, same classes (or their equivalents). You probably want some adventures all set and ready to roll, but rules expansions can wait a few months. So, if they do release in summer (say, for GenCon 2014 - beginning of August), they ought to have some expansions out for the winter holiday season (say, November or December). You have to be able to have something new to buy each other as gifts, after all! If they release a couple months before GenCon, they'd probably want to have something in between for momentum - rules expansion or online/digital tools, maybe?

 

[GX.Sigma]

Remember how the 4e Essentials Red Box was released before the 4e Essentials rules were finished, so it ended up being incompatible? I don't want that to happen again, especially when one of the main goals of this edition is making it easy to transition from a simple game to a more complex one.

 

[Texicles]

Actually, if anything, I think the "basic" set could stand to be released later than the "standard."

While new players (the intended audience of "basic") are obviously one of their goals of 5e, odds are, potential new players are less likely to be champing at the bit for it on release day than veteran players (the intended audience of "standard" and "advanced"). New players can come in over time, as they've always done, but give the average player enough to really get a feel for the new edition's feel, flavor and flexibility on day-one.

I think the vast majority of players, new and veteran alike, will be ok waiting some time for "advanced" rules, provided 1) "standard" rules are sufficiently robust and, 2) "some time" isn't longer than say 6-months.

 

[tangleknot]

4th editions thin over priced 3 core books with vast amounts of white space and faulty rules; paired with subscription fees... I don't want to see D&D 5th flop due to another round of greedy Hasbro Executives, but there are plenty of dungeon dwelling rpg's on the market and I'm not buying into 5 edition unless I think I'm getting some value.
More rules, more classes, a book at least as big as pathfinder, and toss the DMG. We shouldn't have to buy an entire book just for the treasure tables.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I want there to be a robust game at launch, and while I'd like it to be available on day one, there's a reasonable launch window of a few months to get all the materials on shelves, if that's what is needed.

Personally, I want there to be a single Dungeons & Dragons product that is the core. Whether you want a basic or advanced game, that product should be all you need.

But, there are differing views, and that's cool.

After the few month launch window, I don't want to see another major player facing book for at least six months to a year. And then I want a big one. Instead, I want the first year to focus on setting, adventures, and campaign tools.

 

[Hussar]

You don't really have a choice but to get out a number of products right away.

If you only come out with, say, the initial boxed set, in any physical store, it will get buried under the mountains of other games out there. That was one of the big reasons for the OGL - to get 3e out there and look like a complete game line as fast as possible, to compete with other game lines that had complete lines already in place.

One of the biggest complaints about 4e was the lack of classes at release. They don't want to repeat that.