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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Warpiglet-7" data-source="post: 8720174" data-attributes="member: 7025282">Not going to disagree with sunk costs and brand loyalty.  Those things can happen for any edition and do not mean 5e is ‘special’ alone.What I am almost sure we will find is that there will be folks fixing most editions including 6e or 5.5 or whatever.  But at first all the shiny is pretty intoxicating.All of that said, the question is really one of preferences and how many people end up preferring something.I don’t think it’s 5e per se that is so special but rather some of its features.  Some of these are probably going to be around for a bit.  That 5e hit well for so many suggests it has some elements that resonate and that there are enough of them to get a wide audience.  What would prove that?  I am not sure.  If they drop the new game with similar elements and it does not have huge drop off it would be somewhat convincing with me.The only real way to know would be to create another condition.  If the game got really different and stayed popular we would suspect brand loyalty.  If it does not change much and loses favor we would think “regression to the mean” after the blitzkrieg of special conditions—-critical role, the play test pandemic, a cohort effect all in combination?Brand loyalty did not save 4e.  So I don’t think it made 5e.  It was a precondition but was not sufficient.My assertion (just opinion after all) is that it was the right game at the right time.  All the warts were not just “overlooked” but rather were not that “warty” to all but a subset who use the game differently.  I think if 5e was just obscuring so many problems that there are enough discerning players that would have moved on.  They did from 4e, from some D&D competitors too.  I think 5e had a lot of the right stuff such that for most folks the good far outweighs the bad and that it’s enduring appeal to a big cross section of players is a testament to its formula.  For sure hat reason I will say it is special.The only real way to know is to make New Coke and see if people clamor for Coca Cola.But this does not mean it’s a perfect game.  If they reduced spell slots or added some maneuvers for fighters, I don’t think there will be a mass exodus.</blockquote>

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