Psionics Survey Results: Generally Positive But More Work Needed

WotC has published the results of last month's psionics survey. They indicate a generally positive reaction to the playtest psionics rules, with some aspects proving less popular, especially the way psionics and magic interact, and the mystic class itself getting lower scores. The general conclusion is that more work is needed on the psionics rules, and that there will be another draft in a couple of months.

Find the survey resuts here.

 

[Mistwell]

I think the lack of presence at GenCon relates to the lack of things they have to say. I do not like their strategy of not informing consumers on what they are working on until it's almost ready. The fact that they get harassed when something is cancelled should be expected instead of reason to clam up. I've stated this opinion in the survey.

When they do announce something under the current system, it makes for much bigger news. The slow and steady drip of small bits of information over a long period of time decreases their ability to focus news coverage on one big event at a time. I know we don't like it this way - because we feed on news. But, in terms of effectiveness for the brand, I think the way they are doing it right now is much more effective.

 

[Zaran]

When they do announce something under the current system, it makes for much bigger news. The slow and steady drip of small bits of information over a long period of time decreases their ability to focus news coverage on one big event at a time. I know we don't like it this way - because we feed on news. But, in terms of effectiveness for the brand, I think the way they are doing it right now is much more effective.

I don't agree. My group still only buys ~1 book per "season" no matter what. Not knowing what they are producing next year doesn't make me buy more product. Forbes won't stop posting articles about D&D because next year there will be a Dragonlance Setting.

 

[Mistwell]

I don't agree. My group still only buys ~1 book per "season" no matter what. Not knowing what they are producing next year doesn't make me buy more product.

I know individual experience will vary, but general business analysis discussed many times by multiple people at WOTC says their data suggests otherwise as a general rule.

Forbes won't stop posting articles about D&D because next year there will be a Dragonlance Setting.

They were not getting nearly this level of coverage when the announcement list was a year long. Experience suggests this method does consolidate coverage on one product a lot, more than spreading it out like the type of announcements you're talking about seemed to accomplish for them.

 

[ZeshinX]

I still think Mystic is an idiotic name for the class (though I suppose it's more colourful and less "constrained" than psion or psionicist).

 

[Jester David]

Nentir Vale in 4e.

That was really more of a location. You could easily cram that whole region into an unexplored chunk of most settings.

 

[Jester David]

Also, it looks like updated psionics in November.

We'll see. They seldom write well for deadlines (as was shown by prior playtest updates) and we haven't seen revisions of anything else for Unearthed Arcana. Maybe. Maybe not.

 

[Kramodlog]

I think the lack of presence at GenCon relates to the lack of things they have to say. I do not like their strategy of not informing consumers on what they are working on until it's almost ready. The fact that they get harassed when something is cancelled should be expected instead of reason to clam up. I've stated this opinion in the survey.

It is a lesson learn from 4e. Instead of announcing lots of changes that will not please people all at once, info is trickling out and fan shrug it off. It took us a while to learn that we'd get one or two AP a year. That the FR will be the default setting. That there will be few splatbooks. It took Nathan Stewart's April interview in Forbes for us to found out for sure. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2015/04/15/new-dungeons-dragons-fifth-edition/ Those aren't fantasic news. Same with how GenCon is being dropped by WotC when it comes to D&D. People found out after or during GenCon. From tweets by Mearls I believe. I might be mistaken on that detail.

It is a mediatic strategy designed to lessen fan backlash. This is why we aren't told that the PnP RPG is taking a backseat to video games, movies, cartoons... The result is no backlash like they got with 4e. I guess they know they aren't making popular choices with where the PnP RPG is going. And its working. Individually, these news are taken with a shrug by the community. Ok, sure we get some people who are talking about their disatisfaction, you for example, but we mostly get the usual cheerleaders and some fatalism.

Don't expect anything about the OGL or whatever might replace it until they are ready to release one. If they release one. We'll sort of never know if an OGL for 5e as been scraped. Except maybe in a tweet by Mearls. Two years from now. Which will be totally non-official.

 

[SilentWolf]

I was glad to see them asking the questions they did about adventure products. It won't amount to a hill of beans, but I gave 'em what for

I was glad to see them asking about rulesbooks for other genres than Fantasy (Science Fiction, Post-Apocalipse, etc).

 

[Louis Brenton]

The survey makes pretty clear that they won't be including psionics in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide release. I'm disappointed because I was kind of hoping they'd be in there, but I'd rather see more developing & playtesting than a rushed release of something.

 

[JeffB]

That was really more of a location. You could easily cram that whole region into an unexplored chunk of most settings.

But it was expanded in the plethora of modules and adventure locations such as Vor Rukoth, and was it not also where the scales of war path, and the chaos scar encounters seasons were set? All together I would say it qualifies as new setting, and it was used in anything that was not FR, DS, or Eberron specific. Though its presentation was piecemeal, so was The Known World, until the Gaz series.