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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HywelPhillips" data-source="post: 9575520" data-attributes="member: 7029826">Anecdotally, Mike's thesis is supported by my experience with my own three gaming groups and their wider circle. Nobody (and I mean nobody) is excited for 5.5e , although quite a few of us have already bought the PHB and DMG. In fact it's more being treated as a matter of resignation ("oh well I suppose I better see what they've messed around with") than any anticipation. That's because 5e isn't broken. It's not perfect, but it hit the bullseye in terms of feeling like D&D whilst playing faster than spreadsheet edition (3e) and having more rational choices and streamlined systems than old faithful (1/2e). After 4e, it was exactly what the old crowd wanted and was able to pull in massive new crowds as well. Where I think WOTC dropped the ball is that they've simply not produced any new material that my groups are interested in playing. They got all the mileage I think they can get out of retreads and reissues (Quests from the Infinite Staircase was just lazy at that point in 5E's lifecycle IMO, Keys from the Golden Vault only highlighted how ill-suited 5E is for Heists compared with other rule systems, Shadow of the Dragon Queen and Spelljammer were both lazy re-use of IP and just plain bad. Vecna's a too-late tie in and they missed the boat completely with tie-ins for Baldur's Gate 3 and the D&D movie).Launching 5.5E with a focus on yet another dusty old setting is a major mistake, I think. In all honesty, who is going to be excited by playing a game in something called "the Flanaess on Oerik on Oerth"? Any 5E player interested in Greyhawk has probably already investigated it and it completely fails the tie in test with Baldur's Gate 3 - again, couldn't be less interesting if they tried. There was a chance to tie in with domains and bastions and so forth and hook into a streamlined version of Birthright, which might have been interesting, but nope. What adventure am I going to pull off the shelf to entice my players to try the new rulebook? The last decent adventure they published was The Wild Beyond The Witchlight (which even if it wasn't to your taste at least was trying something new). I gather they're trying a new setting at some point next year, and more bits-and-bobs scenario books before those. They may be useful for DM's to split apart but they hardly make for a compelling splash launch for 5.5E.Our groups are doing what the long-established ones have done cyclically over the decades - dropping 5E because there's nothing much compelling to play, in favour of other RPGs for a bit (Savage Worlds is a big hit, along with the various Free League games). The group composed of 5E-era D&D recruits is going down this path for the first time for them, and having a whale of a time discovering bennies and adventure cards and rules for chases and bases that actually make sense and are fun to play.I'm sure we'll be back, but right now there's nothing tempting me to pick up any 5E or 5.5E D&D material to run or to find a group online to play. In short - yes, the cool has gone.</blockquote>

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