D&D 3E/3.5 Do you get the impression more people have left 3.5 for 4th?

[Siuis]

The issue is perception.
On a forum, only people with questions that rely adjudication post very often for 3.5, because most of the mechanics have been hashed out, and no one wants to keep answering those same questions for newer players.

With 4e, there is still the "how the &!#@ does this work?!" thing goin on, even with relatively experienced players. No one stops by to say "still playing 3.5, woo!" because it's not productive. Finding out that reach doesn't generally net you more AoOs in 4e, or that you can still force your own movement when immobilized, is productive. People are unsure and collaborative with the newer edition. For 3.5, most folks are content to play their game and occasionally share stories.

But 3.5 is here to stay. It's what I plan to pass on to my children when I have em.

 

[Piratecat]

My experience is that a lot of people tried 4e, and a sizeable chunk returned to 3.5 or shifted over to Pathfinder. If the report that Pathfinder is currently outselling 4e is correct, that would have to be the case.

I have no idea how many, though.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I play both

 

[DumbPaladin]

Based on your own games and/ or reading forums in the last 3, 4 years, do you get the impression most 3.5 & earlier players made a permanent switch to 4th?

No.

 

[Herzog]

Some people I game with have tried 4.0, but switched back to 3.5 (and some have moved to GURPS).
I have tried both 4.0 and Pathfinder, but my 4.0 books are now gathering dust.

I have two weekly games, one bi-weekly game and two monthly games.
All but one of them are 3.5 (and the remaining is GURPS).

I have a few friends that play 4.0 at their local game shop, but one of them is already considering dropping that game. (he's DMing and has expressed frustration about the type of players the 4.0 game appearently attracts at game stores)

My conclusion: 3.5 is alive and kicking, and WotC is missing out on a lot of income by dropping the product line....

 

[Ahnehnois]

Hey- New to the board as an official member.
Just curious to read some opinions.

I don't spend much time on D&D forums, but a quick background- I started off w/ 1st ed. back in the day, stopped playing for a while, then picked it back up when 3rd ed. came out, then moved on to 3.5. That was my last switch.

Based on your own games and/ or reading forums in the last 3, 4 years, do you get the impression most 3.5 & earlier players made a permanent switch to 4th?

I get the impression that a lot of 3e players never played 4e, for various reasons.

I also get the impression that a lot of people tried it but moved on.

From there, many moved on to Pathfinder, some back to 3.X, some to other derivatives, and some gave up D&D altogether.

I also get the impression that there are no good measurements of what people are playing, there are no Nielsen ratings for D&D.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I think most of the bleeding off to 4E has already happened, a few will still switch, but it is a very small trickle at this point, easy to counteract with a modest influx of new players. Which...WotC is trying its hardest to prevent.

If anything's killing 3E to the point of leaving it as a dried out husk, it's Pathfinder. A lot of people consider the two games basically synonymous and thus any transitions from 3E to PF isn't a true "loss." But for me and a rapidly diminishing group of others, it is a bad thing. I'll play PF, it's an ok game and close to 3E. But there are so many annoying little glitches and problems and oversights, and thus far my experience has been DMs are unwilling to houserule with some common sense to fix them. It may just be little things, but little things matter, and in enough abundance sour one's impression of the entire game. I have almost a catch phrase, "The more I learn about Pathfinder, the less I like it." Referring to all the hidden little changes from 3E that aren't immediately obvious sometimes.

This massive bleeding has affecting me greatly, as among the handful of friends I play with the most, and have for years, all seem to prefer PF to 3E. One of them in fact claims (paraphrasing, forgot his exact words) that PF is so perfect, that he could not go back to 3E, even though he enjoyed playing it for many years, because the PF rules have spoiled him. Or something like that. Which means if I want a 3E game with them, I have to DM it, because they'd do PF. Further, I'm noticing less "advertised" games (on gamers seeking gamers and other places) for 3E, in favor of PF. It's very disheartening to say the least.

All of this being IME, IMHO, etc...

 

[PhoenixWings]

I've actually downloaded the PF core rulebook, mainly in the hopes of taking what I liked & using it for my 3.5 game. Not for a full-on replacement.

Anything to help smooth out combat & spell use, annoying grappling/ tripping rules, etc. but I haven't really sat & given it a real look yet.

 

[Erekose]

My conclusion: 3.5 is alive and kicking, and WotC is missing out on a lot of income by dropping the product line....

I agree that 3.5E is alive and kicking and I'd like to think that this is a loss in revenue that WotC would notice (not because I want WotC to fail more as a clear signal that they fumbled the ball with 4E as far as many existing players were concerned) but I'm not sure it's true.

Similarly, if Pathfinder is outselling 4E and WotC were to respond in some way I've no real sense for how they would???

 

[Piratecat]

This massive bleeding has affecting me greatly, as among the handful of friends I play with the most, and have for years, all seem to prefer PF to 3E. One of them in fact claims (paraphrasing, forgot his exact words) that PF is so perfect, that he could not go back to 3E, even though he enjoyed playing it for many years, because the PF rules have spoiled him. Or something like that. Which means if I want a 3E game with them, I have to DM it, because they'd do PF. Further, I'm noticing less "advertised" games (on gamers seeking gamers and other places) for 3E, in favor of PF. It's very disheartening to say the least.

Although it's a different beast, we saw the same behavior when 2e D&D switched to 3e. People generally like to play a supported game, and games gather momentum - the more people playing, the easier it is to find a game, so the more people play. I think Pathfinder is on the upward swing.