Has 3.5E "failed"?

[dreaded_beast]

Well, I have the core 3.0 rulebooks and with the advent of 3.5, only decided on getting the 3.5 PHB, since I was a player and not a DM. I wasn't planning on buying anything else for a long time.

However, I left my group and started a new one with my GF who bought the 3.5 Gift Set, which has all 3 Core Books.

I guess I lucked out.

In my opinion, I believe 3.5 was not a failure, for many of the same reasons posted here: a better fix for some of the "broken" rules and a more "balanced" game when compared to 3.0.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Rather, I believe WotC intended for existing D&D players to use the online revision update and the SRD to update their games---with 3.5 core books only being purchased by new players or by those replacing their old 3.0 books.

Sure that would work but who wants to have a stack of print outs to cross reference with out of date books in the middle of a game? Nope, I think WOTC knew exactlly what they were doing. They knew that regular D&D players & DM's want to have all of their information in one place. If I only played once in a while then I wouldn't mind using the online documentation but as I play twice every other week it would get to be a real pain.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Sure that would work but who wants to have a stack of print outs to cross reference with out of date books in the middle of a game? Nope, I think WOTC knew exactlly what they were doing. They knew that regular D&D players & DM's want to have all of their information in one place. If I only played once in a while then I wouldn't mind using the online documentation but as I play twice every other week it would get to be a real pain.

Let's put it this way: WotC doesn't mind players using the SRD as a means to update from 3.0 to 3.5 (and how could they?), but they knew that the SRD isn't enough for most roleplayers because most of them prefer real books over a bunch of RTFs.

My guess would be that 3.5 sold pretty well... but it's never good enough for large corporation... Hasbro would only call it successful if it made as much money as MtG (for instance).

 

[tzor]

I wouldn't say that 3.5 has failed. I think we still have to wait to see if 3.5 was a success. It might go down as one of the most brilliant one two punches in the history of the game. Or it might not.

There was one thing noticed about 3.5 that was mostly unnoticed by many who complained or complemented it. If you look at 3.0 you can clearly see that the book was designed for the role playing community. It's not all that obvious for someone who knows nothing of role playing to pick up the 3.0 book and create a character. The revision seems more newbie friendly for the player and the DM.

Normally I would say ho hum, it's not like we are going to get a plethora of brand new people for no apparent reason. But apparently I forgot that this is 2004, the 30th anniversary of D&D. If WOTC plays the cards right ... (and if the company that brought us MtG cant play cards right it's their fault) ... they might get a whole new set of players to try the game for the first time.

And by now most of the complaints from the old guard about 3.5 has died down. Was this the timing issue that WOTC was wondering about? To get the new revision in so that all the complaints die down when they start pushing the media blitz? (Otherwise the revision would have come out at the end of the blitz or a year later and that would have been very bad for relations with the new customer base.) If so 3.5 is the first strike of a killer one two punch. Only time can tell.

 

[johnsemlak]

Among the gamers I know I certainly don't know any D&D books that have sold as well in the past 2 years as the Revised Core Books

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Maybe it's an evil plot by Hasbro to kill D&D once and for all. Maybe they figure that by putting out a bunch of overpriced books and then putting out revised editions after a couple of years they'll drive away interest.

 

[Henry]

Well, considering that those overpriced books have been driving sales better than they have been in 10 years, I'd say their strategy of drivin' 'em away is failing miserably.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

However, I left my group and started a new one with my GF who bought the 3.5 Gift Set, which has all 3 Core Books.

What all does the Gift Set come with? Is it just the 3 Core Books in a slip cover? Or are there other goodies involved?

 

[Desdichado]

If I were to buy new books now, I'd buy 3.5, but otherwise I just haven't seen the point. I'm happy enough with 3.0 still and my books are in good shape.

 

[JesterPoet]

I thought the 3.5 PH and DMG were worth buying, but, for the life of me, I still don't know why I bought the Monster Manual as well. I really didn't need that. For me, that was a waste of money. I still use the old one nearly as often. It's just a matter of which one I pick up first.