I'm stocked for life! (But what if no one cares?)

[Razz]

That looks like a very good reason for a publisher to publish 4th edition. Since the 3.5 market is saturated with adventures and supplements, the market has dwindled. If you start a new edition, however, you have millions of people who don't even own the basic rules yet.

Not if enough people say,"Don't bother. By the time you get into it, 5E is on its way."

I'll switch to 4E if it's an upgrade similar to how 3.5E was with 3.0E and only if they convert all 3.0/3.5e books to the 4E format.

Otherwise, WotC can say goodbye to this hardcore D&D fan.

 

[EricNoah]

I'm not worried about the majority of the players. I'll do what's best for my group as DM. And I will go with the flow in groups where I am not the DM.

 

[amethal]

The question isn't, "Will you switch?" but "When you switch, how willing would you be to play in a D&D 3.5 game if someone else was offering to run it?".

That is an interesting question.

<Takes a deep breath and stands up>

"My name is amethal and I loved 2nd edition."

I hardly ever got to play it (played a lot more 1st edition), but at the time my idea of heaven would have been to have a regular gaming group to play 2nd edition AD&D with.

Third edition, when it came along, just seemed weird. Multi-classing got completely nerfed, the "dungeonpunk" artwork was totally alien, and the PHB (the only 3rd edition book I owned) was completely lacking in the one thing gaming is all about - imagination.

Then, due to a bizarre series of coincidences, I got the chance to play in a 3rd edition game. I loved it, and I've never looked back. Later, I moved on to DMing a 3.5 game.

I'll still play in a one-off 3.0 game, a 2nd edition game, or any other game, but I'll be playing in spite of the system rather than because of it.

Could the same thing happen with 4th edition? I don't know, and at this stage neither does anyone else.

 

[Ourph]

Could the same thing happen with 4th edition? I don't know, and at this stage neither does anyone else.

I'm not sure I understand why you say that though. If D&D 3.5 is a system you are enjoying right now and it's meeting all your needs and you are happy to be playing it, what about a new edition coming out would make you declare "I'll never play with those rules again."?

 

[ThirdWizard]

I'm not sure I understand why you say that though. If D&D 3.5 is a system you are enjoying right now and it's meeting all your needs and you are happy to be playing it, what about a new edition coming out would make you declare "I'll never play with those rules again."?

Here's my perspective: If 4e comes out, and I like it better than 3E, why would I ever want to play 3E again? I don't suspect that a new Edition of D&D would have a distinctly different feel to it, so the only difference would probably be mechanics.

 

[Agamon]

My group is more likely to keep playing the same game than try something new. A couple of them were mad about 3.5....

 

[GAAAHHH]

I loved 2nd edition too. I started gaming with the Red Box basic D&D set, but it was 2nd edition that made me a hardcore gamer.

I don't know if I would go back, though. I had a really good group for 2nd edition, and it would take a really good DM to get me to play it for more than a few sessions. Either that or if all my friends started playing it, then I would too.

As for upgrading to 4th edition, I don't know. I have more 3.0 and 3.5 books than I ever had for 2nd edition. And I'm stockpiling adventures that I may never get to run.

I think as long as I can find people willing to play I would prefer to stick to 3rd edition, but I would most likely pick up a 4th edition player's handbook. I seriously doubt I would run it, though.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

My group will probably be sticking with 3.5e until the first big revision of 4e. Of course, that depends on the direction of 4e. There is a big possibility that we might just migrate to a FUDGE/C&C system or the new edition of HackMaster and skip 4e altogether.

 

[Ourph]

Here's my perspective: If 4e comes out, and I like it better than 3E, why would I ever want to play 3E again?

Let's say (for the sake of argument) that 3 years from now you are DMing a 4e game on Friday nights. Let's also assume you haven't sold off or given away any 3E stuff you currently own.

One of your players says, "Hey, ThirdWizard, I'm thinking about starting up a D&D 3.5 game on Sunday afternoons. Do you want to play?".

Assuming you don't currently have any other plans for Sunday afternoons and you would be more than happy to participate if the DM in question were using 4e rules, do you refuse to play simply because the game isn't using the most current rules?

 

[amethal]

Assuming you don't currently have any other plans for Sunday afternoons and you would be more than happy to participate if the DM in question were using 4e rules, do you refuse to play simply because the game isn't using the most current rules?

If it was me, the answer remains "it depends".

We don't know how different 4th edition will be.

If, while I'm playing this 3.5 game, I'm constantly thinking :-

"I can see what the DM was trying to achieve, but 4th edition would have handled that particular encounter so much better"

"if this was 4th edition I'd have something cool I could do now, but since its 3.5 I'll have to just do nothing this round"

"it was only when 4th edition removed that rule that I realised just how much playing time it had been taking up for so little effect; its a real pain to have to worry about it again"

"if we were using the streamlined, intuitive 4th edition grappling rules, maybe the DM would have spent more time describing the encounter in cool ways and less time with his nose buried in the rule book"

then the rules are intruding upon the role-playing, and I might have more fun doing something else with my Sunday afternoons.