D&D 4E Gencon and 4E

[Len]

My group tried 4e for a while, but it was horribly unbalanced so we went back to 3.5.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Mike Mearls needs to get 2-3 years of experience at WotC before he can be the lead developer on 4e, therefore I don't want development to start until 2007 or 2008.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

All in all it's just a-nother book on the wall.

fixed that for ya!

 

[William Ronald]

Mike Mearls needs to get 2-3 years of experience at WotC before he can be the lead developer on 4e, therefore I don't want development to start until 2007 or 2008.

He would be someone to definitely have on a team of developers, and I have been impressed by his work. Of course, for such a huge project, it might be a good idea to hire some of the people who are at some of the other companies. Possibly, they might wish to incorporate some of the innovations by other publishers. I would argue that the RPG industry is far more innovative than it was a decade ago. The advent of the OGL has helped create several new companies and allowed a much more competetive marketplace. EN World and other sites also have helped in allowing feedback from gamers. In fact, the reviews on EN World and the opinions of my fellow board members have lead me to pick up D20 products and WotC products that I might have not purchased.

Mind you, this is highly theoretical as there is no evidence of another edition on the way. However, I think that a common theme I see in this thread is that a future edition should have great designers and extensive playtesting. I would argue that products that have been through playtesting tend to be better products. Sometimes, an idea that looks good on paper does not work at the gaming table. (If you go to WotC's website, you can look into some of the articles that featured playtesting groups for 3.0 and their impact on the rules.)

 

[Hammerforge]

As for Gen Con 2007, I think some sort of GREAT product is in order for a 40th anniversary.

It being the 40th anniversary, a product that resurrects an older aspect of D&D would be nice, like something for Greyhawk. Then again, with Eberron getting the spotlight nowadays, I doubt that would happen.

 

[babomb]

4th edition will be released in 2008. It will be reformulated to be more like White Wolf's Storyteller system. D&D fans will be outraged. The outcry will be so great that WOTC will remove 4e from the shelves and replace it with 3.5, rebranded Dungeons & Dragons Classic.

 

[Draven]

4E means wotc wants more money and i already give them to much for magic the gathering and the few 3.5 books i have. i still play 2nd edition and convert 3.5 to my needs

 

[William Ronald]

It being the 40th anniversary, a product that resurrects an older aspect of D&D would be nice, like something for Greyhawk. Then again, with Eberron getting the spotlight nowadays, I doubt that would happen.

While I play in Living Greyhawk occassionally, I think that a good Greyhawk hardcover would be well received. Part of the problem with doing such a product is that Greyhawk fandom often disagrees about canon. (It can get pretty heated.) However, I think that most people could take what they like from a product and modify it. So, a Greyhawk Campaign Setting book or a City of Greyhawk book might be nice. Or possibly a reissue of several classic adventures updated to 3.5. (The Slavers series, or the Giant-Drow-Queen of the Demonweb Pits might be great adventures to update as a connected series.)

 

[Rasyr]

He would be someone to definitely have on a team of developers, and I have been impressed by his work. Of course, for such a huge project, it might be a good idea to hire some of the people who are at some of the other companies.

Umm... IIRC, back in December (give or take a few months), Mike Mearls made a post on one of the periodic 4E threads. In this post he stated something to the effect that he expected 4E to be released in a couple of years cause of all the hiring that WotC was doing. Oh! Look! They hired him as well!

 

[William Ronald]

Umm... IIRC, back in December (give or take a few months), Mike Mearls made a post on one of the periodic 4E threads. In this post he stated something to the effect that he expected 4E to be released in a couple of years cause of all the hiring that WotC was doing. Oh! Look! They hired him as well!

I must have missed that post, but if WotC is thinking of a new edition, Mike Mearls would be a good man to have on the team. (Mind you, I tend to be a bit skeptical about 4E coming out soon as I have seen little evidence of this. However, if we banned speculation about future products, the boards would have far fewer threads.) If this speculation is correct, I hope that WotC would at least have extensive playtesting. However, I fear that might be some resistance to a new edition in the next few years. Also, it might be possible to bring back some former WotC employees for such a big project.

There are some factors that might impact a 4E release date. For example, if Hasbro sells the D&D license (or the RPG division, or Wizards), a new owner might want a new edition to recover the money spent on such a big purchase. Or possibly, a new owner might wait to build up a little trust with the customers.

Rasyr, thanks for the information! So, what do you think are some of the reasons for WotC to create a new edition and what changes would you like to see to the rules?