D&D (2024) Does anyone else think that 1D&D will create a significant divide in the community?

[payn]

The real divide will be books vs. digital.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Infinite growth is not possible.

I sure hope Hasbro isn't looking at Covid Years growth, and banking on the same in the new edition.

There is no vast untapped market.

There are people who turn 14 every year though.

 

[Incenjucar]

There are also people who looked at 5E and felt it was close but not quite good enough to be worth investing in.

 

[Scribe]

There are people who turn 14 every year though.

Sure, do you think that 'the coming of age kid' was responsible for the unprecedented growth of D&D while all the adults were in lock downs?

 

[Incenjucar]

Sure, do you think that 'the coming of age kid' was responsible for the unprecedented growth of D&D while all the adults were in lock downs?

I certainly do think it was mostly young people, yes. It would be fascinating if Critical Role's main audience was 30-50 year olds.

 

[Scribe]

I certainly do think it was mostly young people, yes. It would be fascinating if Critical Role's main audience was 30-50 year olds.

I'd be floored if its not 20-35.

 

[Incenjucar]

I'd be floored if its not 20-35.

So people who were 12-27 when 5E came out?

 

[Scribe]

So people who were 12-27 when 5E came out?

Who didnt buy or play the game until they were adults on lockdown? Sure.

This still isnt the 'fresh wave of 14 year olds' every year.

To put it plainly: Do you honestly believe there is another covid bubble of D&D growth?

 

[mamba]

Perhaps the fact that there are so many players of the current game indicates a general contentment with it, which would work against replacing their existing books.

there are some issues being brought up consistently too though, and even if there weren't there is no reason to assume that WotC would not work on improved rules.

What do we know about people who might play in the future but aren't? Pretty much nothing.

and what do we know about what current players like and dislike? Not all that much more, that is why we have playtests. I'd say what a player in 5 years wants is not all that different from what players want today

Ultimately I do not understand your reasoning here, you are basically saying '5e is popular, just do nothing' and at the same time you constantly complain about it

 

[MNblockhead]

I don't think it will be a permanent schism. I imagine a lot of holdout 5e groups will eventually switch years down the line when they get new players who can't track down a classic 5e PHB, or when they have actually used up the player options of or generally got a bit more tired of 5e, and presumably by that point there will be enough new OneD&D player facing content to make it worth playing over 5e on those grounds.

Time will tell. A bigger divide, I think, is digital vs. physical. I think that the those who make heavy use of D&D Beyond will move to the updated rule books. While I'm confident that the older books will still be available to those who bought them as "legacy" content, I expect that they will stop selling them as soon as the new books are available on DDB. I mean, they already did that with Volo's and Mordenkainen's which are both published during the life of the 2014 rules. While you can continue to play with 2014 rules in DDB, I can't imagine they will indefiniately support legacy content as they develop new features. Certainly the VTT won't. It'll be interesting how they handle the pricing.

For those who stick to physical books, there is a lot more friction to moving to new rule books. Putting aside collectors and completionists, many people will may put off of buying the new books until they finish current and planned campaigns and some may just not want to spend money on lightly updated rulesets if they are happy with what they have. Besides money, I think having a physical books on the shelf creates additional friction in that you don't want to just get rid of the books you have, but non-collectors are not necessarily going to want to have old and new versions of the same game taking space on your shelves.

Reading this thread, I realized that this is the first time I ever really had to deal with this. Back in the late 80s, I stopped playing 1st edition D&D and moved to Warhammer Fantasy as my main fantasy game. Then I stopped playing TTRPGs when I went to college and traded away nearly all of my gaming stuff. So I was blissfully unaware all of the edition wars from 2nd through 4th edition. I don't really have strong opinions on it, but it is interesting to look at all the 5e stuff I have and wonder whether I really need updated rules. I'm on the fence and am waiting to see what the final product is. But I'm also looking at running a campaign with a non-DnD system after my current campaign is done. 2023 may be a repeat of 1989 for me.