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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 8743672" data-attributes="member: 2525">A criticism of 3.5 and 4e, which was addressed in a variety of ways since then by WOTC, was that WOTC believes those games became unwieldy for new players. 5e has brought in exponential numbers of new players, and one primary means WOTC believes they have used to do that is to make sure potential new players are not overwhelmed. To accomplish this, WOTC did all of the following (and probably a few other things): 1) Reduce number of books published per year to avoid wall of books. 2) Publish abbreviated rules sets like Basic and starter set rules. 3) Reduce Adventurers League sessions to 2 hours instead of 4 hour4) Reduce the incentive for system mastery by trying to make it hard to make a "bad" character accidentally + eliminating things like feat chains. 5) Provide easy rules suggestions: pregen backgrounds, fixed equipment lists, ability score arrays, fixed monster damage, suggested feats, etc..6) Show people how to play through a variety of actual play videos. WOTC appear to be still focused on this philosophy and convinced that a major component of the popularity of 5e is that it does not overwhelm potential new players. 3.5, PF1e, and PF2e are all fine games. But they don't focus on this goal as much as 5e did, and they're often sold to "new" players as "advanced" RPGs with "more options to better customize" your character, with the target audience often being existing RPG players with experience playing RPGs. Not that a new player can't learn one of those system, but the marketing focus and fan pitch is often on existing RPG players switching systems. Others might argue it's media like Critical Role and Stranger Things which is the overwhelming portion of the popularity of 5e and this concern for overwhelming potential new players is exaggerated. Still others would respond that the exponential growth of 5e began before either came out and so it must be this concept was important to the growth, and on and on debating that topic. But the important part is it seems WOTC believes this is an important concept.  The sales of all three of those systems are mere fractions of the 5e sales, which I suspect WOTC still believes is at least in meaningful part due to this concept of not overwhelming potential new players.  I can't speak to whether WOTC are correct in their belief that overwhelming new players is an important component in their additional sales of 5e. I just think they do still believe that.</blockquote>

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