D&D 5E (2014) Final playtest packet due in mid September.

[Gundark]

Fine by me.

Right now the game contained in the stack of photocopied Next playtest PDFs sitting in my binder is already leagues better than my 3rd and 4th edition books sitting on the shelf next to them.

I do hope to see rough edges polished, and irritating burrs ground off, but D&D Next is already providing me and my group with the best tabletop gaming experience we've had in a long time.

That said, I certainly don't want a rushed unfinished game, and I'm slightly nervous about the Monster Manual and DMG. I wish we would have gotten more material from those books to chew on.

Agreed.
I knew at one point the public play test would be over. it is a little bitter sweet.

 

[Gundark]

once I heard that they were several packets ahead of what we had I figured that the play test was coming to an end

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

once I heard that they were several packets ahead of what we had I figured that the play test was coming to an end

They have always been multiple packets ahead of the public playtest. A packet was only released to the public when they had functional, understandable mechanics that they wanted our opinion on.

 

[Jester David]

The main page says Mearls also announced the launch timeframe of Next. What was it? Anyone have a link?

 

[Dausuul]

Huh.
That's, well, stupid.

It means the playtest was never actually a playtest but a concept test. We're not testing mechanics to fine tune them and look for problems. That's a mistake.
And the modules certainly need to be tested. They should move to having us test those until launch (and after).

They have a closed playtest for fine-tuning. Each release for the open playtest has significant overhead; just sifting through all the responses has got to be a major chore. Trying to get information on a million fiddly balance details via open playtest would be next to impossible.

 

[DMSamuel]

The main page says Mearls also announced the launch timeframe of Next. What was it? Anyone have a link?

I would like to know the same thing. I don't think that was actually announced though...

 

[RevTurkey]

I always thought the play test was a bit of a marketing exercise. Quite an entertaining one though...we have had a little bit of input and that has been nice.

Glad to see it coming to an end. I am looking forward to the game now.

Too many cooks spoil the broth...so it is good that they are starting to get down to the actual publication of the next edition now behind closed doors. I wish them luck.

The game looks like it will be fun and I agree with several on here that it looks like it will be an improvement on 3rd and 4th editions whilst incorporating a few things from those versions that worked. I hope it maintains a quick, fast old school approach with the crunch as optional for you to add where you like it. If they achieve that...bravo.

I too would like to know the timeframe that Mike Mearls announced please?

oh and they still need to sort out the racial stat mods for humans etc...that is nuts.

 

[Gundark]

The Tome show has a pod cast. Listening to it now.

http://thetome.podbean.com/

 

[Alnag]

There is certain methodological problem with doing surveys o so long as you get mostly positive results. Let me ilustrate.

================================
You have 1.000.000 players of DnD.
You publish first survey. Half of the players participate.
50% (250.000) likes it, and 50% (250.000) does not.
Out of those, who don't like it, 100.000 goes away to play 4e.

Next survey. Out of 400.000 participants 60% (240.000) likes the changes. 40% (160.000) does not.
Result: Hey, we are on a right track. 60% is more then 50% right? Some drop in numbers of participants is natural, right?
Another 100.000 goes away to play Pathfinder.

Next survey. Out of 300.000 participants incredible 70% (210.000) likes the changes. 30% (90.000) does not.
Result: Wow. The changes are still better and better. 70% is much more better than 50% in the first playtest. Yeah, some people are tired by the polling.
Another 60.000 people goes away to play 13th Age.

Next survey. Out of 240.000 participants we get to 75% success rate (yeah, it is tough to get to final line, right... 180.000 people still likes what they see, and yeah... 60.000 does not, no big deal).

Conclusion: We are getting really positive reactions to the game lately. We will publish. And possibly, 18% of the previous fan base will buy it.
================================

Statistics of this kind is very dangerous thing. Unless the surveys are very much controlled for the number of participants this might be very nasty surprise at the end. If you wish DnD happy future (and I do) you might not take this with light heart.

Disclaimer: I dropped form the surveys after third playtest not liking what I see. So I basically ilustruate the problem as well.

 

[DMSamuel]

The Tome show has a pod cast. Listening to it now.

http://thetome.podbean.com/

I am the editor of the Tome Show - there is no announced timeline on that show. Unless Morrus has some insider information, I think it's just a mis-speak.