Interesting statement from a WizO on the D&D forum:

[mhacdebhandia]

In this now-locked Future Releases board thread, WizO_Sith stated:

When D&D 3.0 was revised for the 3.5 release (a revision, I might add, that can be played by supplementing the original 3.0 books with the revision data posted on the internet for free, thus making it possible to play D&D 3.5 without laying out any more hard-earned cash), opinions and playtest data was collected from players all around the world regarding what rules worked and which ones didn't. No such collection of data has been started.

Now, is this a new piece of information? I haven't seen this assertion - that they're definitely not doing what they would be doing if they were going to revise the rules anytime soon - before.

 

[Darklone]

Well. Perhaps they simply think THIS time they can do it alone ?

 

[Nyaricus]

Wow, a 4e thread that isn't about how the sky is falling mhacdebhandia, have my post babies

But seriously, I ahve no idea if this is new or not, but that is an interesting little tidbit you've happened upon. I honestly don't think that 4e is close by in any case; there are still so many more ways that WotC can stretch 3.xe that there relly isn't any need. Besides, anything which is broken now, they can simply fix for the next edition. Mind you, this isn't optimal, but it happens in every industry from automobile manufacturers to, yes, the gaming industry. It's all about planning for the next phase.

In any case, neat little tidbit of info there.

cheers,
--N

 

[JustKim]

It's an educated guess. WizOs do not work for WotC. WotC employees have "WotC" in their usernames; WizOs are just volunteers who police the message boards. He doesn't have any insight to shed.

 

[Mark CMG]

Could just be that when they were gearing up for 3.x they didn't have tons of data openly posted on the Internet and so they had to directly solicit the information.

 

[ssampier]

Probably an attempt to stem the fourth edition rumors. As Wizo_Paradox did months (?) ago with the post, "There is no fourth edition."

It's an educated guess. WizOs do not work for WotC. WotC employees have "WotC" in their usernames; WizOs are just volunteers who police the message boards. He doesn't have any insight to shed.

Huh. My understanding is that Wizo were employees (paid a small hourly fee), but still did not necessarily possess "inside information".

 

[Iku Rex]

When D&D 3.0 was revised for the 3.5 release (a revision, I might add, that can be played by supplementing the original 3.0 books with the revision data posted on the internet for free, thus making it possible to play D&D 3.5 without laying out any more hard-earned cash), opinions and playtest data was collected from players all around the world regarding what rules worked and which ones didn't. No such collection of data has been started.

1. Unless "revision data" refers to the SRD you can not play "3.5" without 3.5 books. (And the SRD doesn't have rules for experience.) There are no comprehensive conversion rules available from WotC.

2. If WotC collected "opinions and playtest data" before making 3.5 they did it very quietly. They kept the new edition/revision a secret as long as they thought could get away with. (3.5 was planned before the 3.0 PHB was even printed.)

 

[JVisgaitis]

Bah. All signs point that its coming soon. Including their comment stating that "No 4th Edition products are on the schedule for 2007." Don't you think they would have said the same for 2008 if that was the case? I'd be really surprised if we don't see an announcement at D&D Experience. What would be really cool is if they did a public beta test of the rules... I'd be all over that.

 

[crazy_cat]

*snip* ...Including their comment stating that "No 4th Edition products are on the schedule for 2007." Don't you think they would have said the same for 2008 if that was the case?... *snip*

I'm not sure they necessarily would have said that, even if they could.

I'm fairly sure I remember reading something previously somewhere (possibly on ENWorld or the WOTC messagboards) about how, as part of Hasbro (a publicly traded company) WOTC have to be quite careful about making claims about future product releases and developments that are underway - and only do so within a certain lead time or when products are in a published catalogue, as to do otherwise could potentially be seen as some form of attempt to manipulate the share price (I think)

On a more practical level if WOTC confirm anything at all about 4e then we all know the sky will fall in...

It's better, for our own sakes and for the children that they don't tell us anything.

 

[Umbran]

Now, is this a new piece of information? I haven't seen this assertion - that they're definitely not doing what they would be doing if they were going to revise the rules anytime soon

Well, to quote the old adage about information - it is impossible to prove a negative (or,to say it another way, lack of evidence is not evidence of lack). Maybe this insider simply isn't privvy to the relevant information.

So, I can't say as I find this a particularly impressive revelation.

Don't you think they would have said the same for 2008 if that was the case?

No. Very specifically, in corporate America there's usually a general policy to not discuss that which does has not been released as official information.