Publishers' opinions on v3.5

[Monte At Home]

I do think that 2E outsold 1E, but I'm not sure. (And it's more complicated than that since I don't think either outsold plain old D&D) I am fairly sure that 3E has already outsold 2E.

But I wouldn't use that as a model to predict the results of 3.5 necessarily anyway. Those new editions revitalized a sagging, slumping interest in the game, so they brought in new players (and, particularly in the case of 3E, brough lapsed players back into the fold).

We are not currently seeing a slump in interest in D&D, nor do we see a lot of people falling away from the game who need to be brought back. Risking splitting the market and losing people resistant to the change is something you do when things are bad, not when things are good. (Really good, if what I hear about D&D sales is true.) That's what I meant. Who knows, maybe I'll be wrong.

 

[Black Knight]

So most PDF publishers have not seen it yet.

I can honestly say that some of the PDF publishers are getting around this small problem by hiring freelancers that are on the 3.5 NDA list. Even some freelancers are getting in on the 3.5 PDF race by producing their own products so that they can reach the market the day 3.5 hits the shelves.

Even my own PDF company (Phoenix Rising Games) is doing this and anxiously awaiting the announcement that the first copies have hit the shelves. And I'm pretty sure that other "established" companies will be flooding RPGNow and other PDF vendors with products at the same time. So if you're waiting for 3.5 PDF releases, I don't think anyone will be too disappointed.

IMHO, 3.5 is a good fix. I've had copies of it for months. Game play is smoother. Was it released too soon? No. All the other editions also went through changes during their lifetimes (remember the differences between 1st Ed and 1st Ed Revised?). But now that there are more 2nd and 3rd party publishers, it just seems to take on a broader scope.

Just my 2 cents.

Edit for spelling mistakes.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Risking splitting the market and losing people resistant to the change is something you do when things are bad, not when things are good. (Really good, if what I hear about D&D sales is true.) That's what I meant. Who knows, maybe I'll be wrong.

I know you can't divulge details yet, but is 3.5 really that different from 3.0? I'm not asking this rhetorically or combatively, but given the skirmishes about 3.5 we're already seeing, I know it could come off that way. I'm genuinely curious. You're the first major figure in the D&D/d20 industry that I've seen that has been critical of it. Again, I'm not calling you on the carpet. Since you're one of the designers of 3e, I'm sure your assessment of the new "half edition" will be an interesting read.

 

[Monte At Home]

is 3.5 really that different from 3.0?

I suppose it's a matter of perspective. There are people who thought that the changes from 1E to 2E were massive and others who thought the changes from 2E to 3E were slight. I suppose my answer to this is, "not as different as I had originally feared"--because of the market split it would create.

I don't want to be a 3.5 basher. There are things I don't like about it from a design standpoint, but there are things I like too. And I think it will sell well for WotC. I just worry about the effect it could (emphasis on "could") have on d20 sales. It's certainly muddied the waters and made d20 a more confusing place. I've already had people tell me "I won't buy your product if you convert to 3.5" and others say "I'll only buy your product if it works with 3.5." That's a lose/lose situation for me. While you can make logical arguments all day long that the changes aren't that severe, that it's all compatible, etc. what matters in the end is consumer perception.

Not to mention damage that's going to be caused to d20 by the artificial glut that 3.5 has created by everyone waiting to put their products until after it's release. But that's another topic.

 

[jmucchiello]

anxiously awaiting the announcement that the first copies have hit the shelves.

Not that I know, but I would assume you have to wait for the 3.5 SRD release before you can release. Books hitting shelves shouldn't matter.

 

[Eternalknight]

So most PDF publishers have not seen it yet.

We had books half written (but none released) when 3.5 was announced. Most of them should require only a small change when it comes out.

 

[Kerrick]

I know you can't divulge details yet, but is 3.5 really that different from 3.0?

If you're interested, check out the thread in GD wherein ShadowMan answeris questions about 3.5 - he's got a copy of the PHB.

Personally, so far seeing the changes that have been instituted, we (The Brood) are having serious thoughts about converting. We're not even sure if we're going to bother buying the books, or if we'll just download the SRD and use that.

 

[Voadam]

As a freelance writer who has not seen 3.5 the part I'm hoping for is more straightforward monster creation and advancement formulas for feats etc., as well as the addition of ECL to the srd.

 

[der_kluge]

My wife asked me what I wanted for Father's Day, and I said I wanted the 3.5 core rulebooks, which I had planned on pre-ordering off the net.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to ask my group what their intentions were. We're all married 30-somethings with careers, so spending upwards of $90 for three books doesn't sound like a superb thing at face value, since our current books don't seem broken. Whatever rules we disagree with, we can house-rule to resolve, and have, in fact I have 16 pages of house rules which include alternate PrCs, and a new core class.

But I'm also a writer for Mystic Eye Games, so moving forward, it would seem that it's the thing to do to write for 3.5, and I agree with that, because I think the transition is probably inevitable, though I could just continue to use the SRD, because I'm sure they'll update it once the books are released.

I plan on talking with my group to see what their plan is. If we move, we need to all move, or we need to all just stay with 3.0. If we move, I'll probably just get the PHB, and maybe the DMG, but the MM will be a hard sell.

 

[EOL]

Since all of my adventures are generated on the fly I'm toying with the idea of putting in a "3.5 switch" you can choose to generate the 3.0 version of the adventure or the 3.5 version. Although thus far the reaction I've gotten from people I've talked to is that the changes will be so minor it won't really matter, and that I should just standardize around 3.5.

Being a lowly PDF publisher I haven't seen the new rules (although I do have so freelancers who have) I don't know how extensive the changes are, but from some of the stuff I've seen in the rumor mill they're extensive enough that this sort of switch might be very popular. Any other PDF publishers thinking of doing the same thing? Generating two versions of a book for sale on RPGNow?