D&D 1E My clever theory: why 1e AD&D is being reprinted

[howandwhy99]

My theory? The Gygax's contacted and somehow got through to Wizards about promoting the memorial fund. Someone at Wizards recognized helping out was a good idea. Suggestions were floated around and this release is what they came up with. There was little to no downside. News hit the day before the interview, which was pretty short, was published. Was it planned? Who knows. The promotion became good news for fans and more goodwill along the interwebs. We'll see what the future holds.

 

[Zak S]

My theory? If Monte Cook killed a pillbug on his back patio there'd be 300 conspiracy theories about it before lunch.

 

[BluSponge]

Not a bad observation, Piratecat. Having the 1st ed AD&D books fresh in the customer's consciousness in the midst of playtesting 5e could be one way to keep the old school vibe coming.

OTOH, having just announced a new edition is in the works, WotC has to be looking at what alternative books it can sell. Remember the Dungeon Survival Guide and the History of the Realms books that came out in the period between 3.5 and 4e? I suspect this is a similar marketing move. It lets you keep your talent invested in the new edition, but puts new product on the shelf for revenue.

But let's meet half way on this one, because I'm sure someone in the marketing department thinks this is a good way to capitalize on the retro-buzz going on around 5e.

I do fear that by republishing the 1E books WotC will have re-set an impossible bar for the 5E rulebooks -- players will be expecting a continuation of Gygaxian prose and minutae, to say nothing of the wondrous items and wandering trollop table!

Fat chance of that happening. I think most of the new players who pick these up will be doing so as collection pieces or curiosities. It's not like the originals aren't still readily available at used book stores. If there was going to be clamoring for Gygaxian prose and trollup tables, I think we would have seen it by now (edition wars notwithstanding – I'm talking about new players, who started with 3.5 and 4e).

Tom

 

[darjr]

I wonder if these will be prints of the scans or newly typeset?

 

[Incenjucar]

I went on an atrocity tour of ...other... gaming sites and you know what? The one place I thought would be full of weeping and wailing and oh-noes and "our precious fore-eeh saves it from the naaasty furst addition!" was almost universally positive about this.

I can only speak as part of the Penny Arcade Forums crowd, but in general the psychedness is from caring about other gamers who do want the books, and not necessarily wanting the books ourselves. Edition wars tend to bring out the most vocal of the least pleasant aspects of the community, but make no mistake that a lot of gamers genuinely care about the entertainment of others, even if they themselves have no interest in it - though I'm sure some are interested. So long as all the people who want it can get it (like those folks outside of North America), it's all good.

 

[Nebulous]

it is also interesting that new 4e players, even if they don't buy the books, might know someone who has the reprints, and they can get a look at the roots of the system. It's a piece of history, way before edition wars, and pretty much before there were other rpgs to even compare it to. I really wonder how many brand new 1e campaigns are going to spring up the next year. It should be interesting.

 

[Roland55]

One thing that folks sometimes forget is that gestures matter. "Thank you," matters. Thoughtfulness matters. Companies may run on money, but people run on consideration.

If I have learned anything after 40+ years in my own, rather technical profession, it is just this.

Technology is wonderful. Science is fascinating. But people ... people matter.

To get anything meaningful done, you need people -- often, lots of them. And the only way to pull them together is to treat them with honest respect and real consideration.

I've seen important programs fail due to a lack of respect and consideration.

And I've seen some really crazy things I thought were impossible actually happen -- because a key leader provided that respect and consideration.

 

[Roland55]

I wonder if they will release special editions of 2e or the Rules Cyclopedia. I don't think they will do a reprint of the 3.x

Hmm. Let's think about human nature for a minute.

Someone tries something that you like. You would like to see more of this behavior.

What should you do to incentivize them? To get the desired behavior to continue?

This is not a test. And everyone reading this already knows the answer.

 

[Nebulous]

And I've seen some really crazy things I thought were impossible actually happen -- because a key leader provided that respect and consideration.

And that is exactly what i feel the 5e designers are trying to do. To be honest, their goal of "Merging all eras of DnD into one adhesive game" is an impossible design. But i really, really admire their approach. At best, and this is a GOOD at best, they will make a rules system that players from 1e to 4e will adhere to, and with added or subtracted complexity, they can play the game that most suits them. Playing a grognard 1e player at the same table as a hardcore 4e player....probably not. But this edition has the promise of gathering us by our strengths and not our differences, and that is really, really awesome.

 

[Lanefan]

In that vein, tThe best 'theory' I've read is Jolly Blackburn's (Kenzer & Co) over at TheRPGSite: this is PR stunt for 1E fans to check out Wizards' webpage again. When you go to the webpage to check the multiply linked to pre-order/sales pages for the 1E books you'll get instantly hit by a "SIGN UP FOR OUR 5E PLAYTEST HERE!" pop-up window.

Who's going to check out these pre-order webpages? 1E fans obviously. Dragonsfoot. Knights & Knaves Alehouse. D&D fans who call 3rd 'the edition which is not to be named' and for whom 4E is 'Jar-Jaromir and da magic ring'. People who've refused to go to Wizards' webpage for years.

And now they return. And are alerted to a 5E in the works, and are asked to sign up for a playtest.

Good! I hope they all sign up!

Part of the problem with 3e was their legendary marketing survey auto-tossed all results from respondents over a certain age - 35, I believe - which effectively threw out the opinions of anyone who had been in since early 1e. In my view this had a huge impact on the design of what became 3e; and this followed on to 4e.

If a bunch of us old-timers get into the 5e playtest it'll be the first chance we've had to give WotC our feedback in any official capacity on how we'd like to see the game designed and-or played.

Lanefan