[Rant] is D&D going the way of the CCG?

[shadow]

These changes are based on more than two years of player feedback. Comments, requests, and other input from fans let us know that we had a few game elements that needed some revision in order to improve overall gameplay. Since we consider the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game to be a living game that grows with the community, we felt that it was time to compile fan feedback with our own observations and give fans what they needed to play a better D&D game.

This quote from the Revised D&D FAQ really concerns me. Although the official word is that the revisions will improve the game, the fact is that Wizards is just trying to milk more money out of us. What really concerns me though is the quote about D&D being a "living game", which essentially means that we'll see a new revision, or at least rule changes every so often which will invalidate older books. Methinks that Wizards is applying the same marketing strategy that made Magic (*shudder*) to D&D. Think about it, every so often Wizards releases a new expansion set of Magic cards which introduces new rules. At the same time they declare older cards invalid. At one time I was a victim of card crack, too. However, I was surprised to learn the large majority of the magic cards that I own from my Magic days are no longer considered legal. In the same vein Wizards is releasing a new edition of D&D in less than four years after the release of 3e. All the 3e stuff that I brought is no longer official after the release of 3.5e. Sure Wizards talks about "backward compatibility" but what does it really mean? Fixing spell like Harm/Haste with errata would be one thing, but screwing around with the classes is really going to change the game. All the NPCs of the all the previous books were built with the original rules, not 3.5e rules. Also the challenge ratings of the encounters in all the previous books were determined using the power of the original classes. I see a "butterfly effect" happening here. Little changes are going to make a big difference in the game.
Although I don't "have" buy the revised books, a new books and modules are going to be based on the new rules, meaning that if I want to use anything published after the 3.5 is released I'm going to have to buy the revised rule books.

Besides, even after they revise the rules how are we going to know that they aren't going to revise them further? No set of rules is going to please every player, especially with such a diverse audience as D&D players (you just have to read the boards to see the differences in opinions regarding how the rules should be built to see this diversity). Just as Wizards continually updates Magic and constantly revises the rules, Wizards is bound to update D&D again before long since it's a "living game". Although 3e isn't perfect it's far better than any previous edition. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[mystraschosen]

I will make this short and sweet.....here here right on.

 

[WayneLigon]

I have to say I think you're way off base. Many games go through a revision cycle way before three-four years, and many go through a complete edition change. The previous ten year gaps between D&D editions is far, far longer than any other game I can think of. Most other games are almost unrecognizable when they undergo an edition change.

Look at the various White Wolf books, most of which had a second edition within one year of coming out, rendering most of the supplements produced in that time of far less value than the 3.5 revision will do for 3.0 books. And the revisions will be freely available as part of the SRD, remember?

 

[Enkhidu]

Hmmm.

Constantly evolving dataset?

Updates every 2 to 3 years?

Supplemental material meant to drive the sales of one main product?

Face it folks: WotC is using the same business model as the biggest kid on the block (and their nsighbor from down the street), Microsoft. Giving your audience constant updates and then finding ways to get them to buy those updates is an unbelievably effective way to do business - it basically enables you to sell the same product multiple times.

What does that mean? WotC is going to be doing this every 3 to 5 years, making adjustements to the game's engine in order to cater to changing needs expressed by the players. It's going to happen, and it's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[LostSoul]

You can always ignore the changes, you know.

 

[Corinth]

Wizards acts in a responsible manner by bothering to take two years of feedback garnered from millions of players playing the game to its limits for millions of hours, fix the known problems with the existing version of the game and then wait until the time comes to reprint the rulebooks to compile the fixes into one place. (Until now, it's all done by FAQs and errata.)

This reaction--to whine like spoiled brats--to such responsible actions on WotC's part garner is abominable. What ungrateful wretches! They're doing what so many here and elsewhere wanted: to acknowledge that D&D3e has broken elements, and to fix them for the betterment of the game. They're doing the sort of things that users hollared about for years; to bitch about WotC doing what you asked them to do is hypocricy and stupidity in action. You know not what WotC has in store for the game, so you lack the information that you need to make a full and fair assesment of the revisions to the game; it would be wise to reserve your judgement until you do.

 

[Scupper]

So? Other game companies have been doing this for years.

White Wolf's has second editions (at least) of every one of its core World of Darkness games.

Hero system (Champions) is on its fifth edition.

Personally, I'd rather they move forward, give us new stuff to buy, and STAY IN BUSINESS.

If Wizard's tanks, or switches from Pencil and Paper RPGs to just licensing out D&D to computer game makers, I would be pretty bummed. Especially when the rest of the Pencil and Paper RPG hobby followed D&D down the crapper. It almost surely would -- without D&D, which outsells all other rpgs combined, I doubt game stores would make enough money on rpgs for it to be worthwhile. And, since most of them already operate on the edge of disaster...boom.

 

[Mordane76]

I understand that Wizards wants to make money.

I understand their concept of a "living game" that they want to make better.

I understand that Microsoft makes money the same way.

I don't understand where that makes it right.


However, I do understand that companies will continue to do this as long as people continue to buy their products. I just wish I could not have to worry about shilling out $90 bucks for a new ruleset every 3-5 years. It's not even the problem of shilling out that kinda money -- it's shilling it out all at once. I already have enough trouble with my wife when I pick up one hardcover... but three? She's gonna skin me alive, and feed me to that new Pit Fiend...


3E has been out for two years. We've had a lot good games with it. We've had a few problems with it. I played White Wolf through second edition into Revised, and I didn't complain when the new books came out, because I'd gotten my money's worth out of them because I'd had them for four years before the new edition came out.

I think my last word on this is I'd be less wary of a version to 3E if it the ruleset was a little older (like 4 years) -- that's my major problem with the whole deal.

 

[EricNoah]

The one saving grace for many folks will be that all of the new rules will be available for free, through the SRD. Thus if people want to keep gaming with their older rulebooks but want some or all of the new rules, they have access to it and there is basically no monetary barrier to "moving up."

 

[Zappo]

Umm, so the "right" way to go is to leave us with a flawed product forever?

WotC stated even before releasing 3E that they were going to adopt a model similar to software development. Which is just sensible, since RPGs are a lot more similar to computer programs than to novels. This means that the product gets progressive changes as users find bugs and suggest tweaks, and as the user base and context evolves over time.

And every now and then, they'll compile the changes in a new release and add something of their own. You can buy the new release, or keep using the old one, and ultimately you'll be more or less fine either way. I still have Windows 98 and I'm not planning on upgrading any time soon.

Just like software, it is effectively impossible to develop a flawless RPG of the complexity of D&D. I believe that forsaking the static style of older RPGs, where if you had a flaw you had it forever, is one of the greatest achievements of D20.