D&D (2024) Jeremy Crawford: “We are releasing new editions of the books”

[renbot]

My shoulder hurts like a bard's feelings.

This brought me an irrational amount of joy!

 

[Vaalingrade]

Skipping from 5 to '24 is even worse than when Apple went from 8 to X because they couldn't wait another two years of planned obsolescence to use the X logo.

 

[R_J_K75]

I seem to recall that Ryan Dancey had a major critique of TSR, in that they were competing with themselves via two products lines, and multiple campaign settings.

Yes I recall this as well, and that's when they declared that moving forward with the transition from 2E to just "Dungeons & Dragons" (3.0) and that's the way it was going to stay. Well as you pointed out in your post, we know this didn't happen.

 

[R_J_K75]

1D&D might change that, hence the focus on it being compatible rather than the clean breaks we had in the past

I'm extremely skeptical of the claims of backwards compatibility. IIRC D&D Next promised the same that it would be backwards compatible with prior editions. That didn't happen. I have a feeling it will play out something like this, you could play 1D&D with 5E, but with all the changes in terminology and lineage and class features, it'd probably be a PITA to mix the two, so most people will probably just play one or the other, but WotC will still be able to say they delivered on their promise.

 

[Dire Bare]

So when exactly are the next edition books coming out?

”Unknown” appears to be the answer.

My 13 year old niece DM’d for the first time on Sunday, with 3.5e because that what I run for our family campaign and she learned from me.

I think it makes sense for her to start a new family campaign from scratch in the next few to 6 months, and 5e is easier and current, so it would make sense.

EXCEPT with 6e on the horizon, 5e becomes a dead end, WHEN becomes important in deciding 3.5e versus 6e for her rookie campaign.

Do I believe 5e and 2024/One/6 will be compatible? Doesn’t matter, because everyone else in her high school next year will be on the latest and think the older stuff is no good. Learning “old 5e“ at this point seems a complete waste of time.

If that's what you insist on believing . . . okay.

The new 2024 books are not going to be a different game. Current 5E players are not going to have to re-learn the game, it's the same game.

But if you just can't accept that . . . okay.

 

[Dire Bare]

I think that, in general, you are correct. But in this instance, Crawford has pretty clearly laid oit the issue: by the usage common in the publishing industry, this is a new typical "edition," but by that standard these are the 9th Edition of PHB, DMG, and MM. But that doesn't jive with how TSR and WotC butchered the term, as demonstrated by the core books of "Fifth Edition" being the 8th set of ISBNs to bear those names, not the 5th. So, these are updated books, but they are not "Editions" in the old WotC sense.

So, this is an example of clear communication trying to deal with WotC traditional misuse of words.

To be fair to WotC, D&D's use of "edition" to refer to a new version of the game predates WotC's acquisition of the game.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Polygon's written a bad article. This has nothing at all to do with OGL and everything to do with basic marketing.

I've said this elsewhere, but right now WotC/Hasbro need to keep sales of the 2014 books as high as they can, and they need sales of the books printing before 2024 to stay high. They need to clear that backstock, and they have to maintain consumer confidence. That's why there have been so many sales on the core books. If people want backup copies of the 2014 5e books, keep your eyes out for sales over the next couple of years. I've already seen a sale of $50 for the 5e core gift set on Amazon (PHB + MM + DMG + screen). Even now it's under $80.

They need to emphasize that the old books are still good, and that the last of the 5e books are still good.

Then next year, we'll see them releasing "new & improved" books. Emphasizing that they'll improve your game, fix problems with old edition, streamline player experiences, reduce DM prep time, feed your car, and change the oil in your dog.

 

[Dire Bare]

That just spurred a thought. I seem to recall that Ryan Dancey had a major critique of TSR, in that they were competing with themselves via two products lines, and multiple campaign settings. WotC was going to avoid that with 3rd edition (back when it was just 3rd edition, not even 3.0 yet).

However, how is WotC not competing with themselves nowadays? 3.0 to 3.5 wasn’t a huge shift (though I do believe that it was more significant than most credit it for), but then they released 4th, followed by Essentials (which was a restatement and rearrangement of 4th), with Next (not a product most saw due to only being playtest), followed by 5th, and now 5E 2024.

That’s at least three, possibly four, different product lines in 23 years. While it is true that support for previous products has ended, we still have people playing different versions, which had significant mechanical and lore differences.

Just a thought.

TSR had multiple, competing product lines AT THE SAME TIME. Fans with limited budgets had to choose between the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Dark Sun, and other settings. The 2E era of D&D was a firehose of products and game lines.

Which, from a fan perspective, was glorious. But from a business perspective, in retrospect, not so great.

WotC has ONE roleplaying product line currently, D&D 5E. They have released setting books, but as one-off releases, not entire product lines.

D&D 3E and D&D 4E are no longer currently supported product lines and do not directly compete with 5E . . . although . . . there are of course folks who still play these games instead of 5E, which is why (in part) WotC is NOT releasing a 6th Edition of the game in 2024, but a revised set of books for the current edition.

 

[MoonSong]

Skipping from 5 to '24 is even worse than when Apple went from 8 to X because they couldn't wait another two years of planned obsolescence to use the X logo.

That had to do more with the Chinese market and their adversion to number 9. Same case with windows and galaxy s skipping that number.

 

[deganawida]

TSR had multiple, competing product lines AT THE SAME TIME. Fans with limited budgets had to choose between the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Dark Sun, and other settings. The 2E era of D&D was a firehose of products and game lines.

Which, from a fan perspective, was glorious. But from a business perspective, in retrospect, not so great.

WotC has ONE roleplaying product line currently, D&D 5E. They have released setting books, but as one-off releases, not entire product lines.

D&D 3E and D&D 4E are no longer currently supported product lines and do not directly compete with 5E . . . although . . . there are of course folks who still play these games instead of 5E, which is why (in part) WotC is NOT releasing a 6th Edition of the game in 2024, but a revised set of books for the current edition.

Thank you for restating my point with a bit easier language.