Falling Icicle
Adventurer
So, what about you? What vain ambitions do you desire out of D&D Next? What promises does WotC have to deliver on? Can you be won over, and how?
I'd say that in order to win me over 5e has to be better than any of the editions that came before it. After all, if it's not, I see no reason to not just keep playing what I've been playing. That's stating the obvious, I know, but it really is as simple as that.
When I first heard about 5e, it sounded to me like they were aiming to make another retro-clone or 3.75 edition (or perhaps more accurately, a 2.75 edition with 3e mechanics and 2e feel and DM "empowerment"). I worried that the new edition was going to lack any real innovation or improvements over the older editions of the game. I've been pleasently surprised by how much they have innovated so far, with things like bounded accuracy, ability-score saving throws, skills being tied to background instead of class, and so forth.
While I could make a wish list pages long of things I'd love to see (or not see) in the new edition, the truth is, I'm never going to get everything I want. It's silly to expect as much (and I'll be honest, even if I did get everything I want, it may not turn out to be as much fun as I expect!).
Vancain casting, for example, is one sacred cow I'd like to see made into hamburger. But I know that isn't going to happen. I've come to accept that. Besides, I've had fun playing casters in the past despite it, and I'm sure I can have fun playing a vanican caster in the future, especially if they have at-will spells and rituals to make up for some of its biggest shortcomings. I think it's safe to say with 99.99% certainty that there will be a sorcerer in the new edition, so there's always that.
So as much as I might argue for or against certain things during the playtest, I'm trying not to draw too many lines in the sand. I could write entire essays about all of the rules I didn't like going back to 2e, and yet I had alot of fun playing the game then and since.