D&D 5E Reasons Why My Interest in 5e is Waning

[Ranes]

And congratulations to you in managing to avoid any form of rebuttal

A post quote, because you can't click 'laugh' and 'xp' on the same post.

 

[Hussar]

I've discovered that there are certain people on this forum I simply cannot carry on conversation with. BryonD is one of them. We simply cannot have a productive conversation. So, the only posts I see from him are what others quote. Every six months or so, I try taking him off ignore and I find myself arguing the poster and not the post, and it spirals downwards.

If there are any rebuttals to my posts, others are going to have to make them.

 

[Tony Vargas]

My first game of D&D ever was one of your Fivie games at Dundracon this year. Since then I've been to Endgame in Oakland http://www.endgameoakland.com/ every week to play and have been having a great time of it.

I'm just quoting you again, because now we have a second new-to-the-hobby player who has come back to a 5e table! Not once, but 3 weeks running to Encounters at Isle of Gamers in Santa Clara.
http://www.isleofgamers.com/

You in Feb, it's still March. At this rate, we'll have initiated a new party worth of players before the end of the year. WOOT!

 

[Imaro]

And congratulations to you in managing to avoid any form of rebuttal

It's his M.O. ... well that and telling you about inconsistencies...

 

[Wicht]

I've discovered that there are certain people on this forum I simply cannot carry on conversation with. BryonD is one of them. We simply cannot have a productive conversation. So, the only posts I see from him are what others quote. Every six months or so, I try taking him off ignore and I find myself arguing the poster and not the post, and it spirals downwards.

If there are any rebuttals to my posts, others are going to have to make them.

Actually, he was speaking to Tony Vargas, not you... so no worries.

 

[Imaro]

Why does all this matter anyway?

4th edition is no longer around.

Pathfinder and 5th edition are still going strong and that's really all that matters.

Because discussion in the general D&D forums, about 4e has become nearly non-existent except for the same 5 or 6 posters... and so those same posters, due to boredom in their own forums, come into the 5e forums... to antagonistically provoke 5e players into conversations about 4e...

 

[Tony Vargas]

I've discovered that there are certain people on this forum I simply cannot carry on conversation with. BryonD is one of them. We simply cannot have a productive conversation. So, the only posts I see from him are what others quote. Every six months or so, I try taking him off ignore and I find myself arguing the poster and not the post, and it spirals downwards.

If there are any rebuttals to my posts, others are going to have to make them.

ByronD launched into a spirited defense of Pathfinder fans not wanting/needing 'validation' for their preference over D&D, by waxing eloquent about how excitedly they flocked around Pathfinder's release. He then wondered why no one 'rebutted' him.
It's because he provided an example of the very point he was arguing against.

D&D is topping the available rankings again, now that it's back in print, and Pathfinder boosters are understandably upset. But 5e isn't Essentials - they may have to get used to being number 2 for a while.

 

[sunshadow21]

D&D is topping the available rankings again, now that it's back in print, and Pathfinder boosters are understandably upset. But 5e isn't Essentials - they may have to get used to being number 2 for a while.

Probably not with WotC's release schedule. For better or for worse, WotC has basically all but declared their interest in the rpg to be dead on arrival. You'll see just enough books to keep conversation about it from completely dying amonst those who don't actively play it and that's pretty much it. Depending on how big the inevitable post release dip is after the shine wears off, even that might be reduced sooner rather than later. The health of the rpg several years down the road from now remains very much an open question for now.

The more interesting comparison will be how their other products fare against Paizo's efforts at diversifying the Pathfinder brand. WotC has the brand recognition, but Paizo has the better business plan and has already achieved a basic level of saturation and brand presence in many of the markets that WotC seems to favor over the rpg. The only areas that Paizo does not yet have are computer games and movies, and the former won't be true for much longer, as PFO and Paizo's license with Obsidian makes clear. This is where WotC's recent history is going to hurt them, as their reputation as a business partner has more than a little mending that has to occur before they can easily sell the D&D brand. Because of this, even against the lesser known Pathfinder brand, WotC has no particular advantage, and that's the least of their competitors. They also have to deal with Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and even to a certain extent the various super hero franchises. It will be interesting to see if they can get their goal of enlarging the brand to work this time, especially since they won't have much of an rpg to fall back on. 4E may not have been what they wanted in terms of success, but I suspect long term it will show itself to have been more effective than this edition, which is shaping up to have very anemic long term support.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Probably not with WotC's release schedule. For better or for worse, WotC has basically all but declared their interest in the rpg to be dead on arrival.

At the risk of circling back to my first post in this thread, a slow pace of release is not necessarily all bad. Some of the drop off in demand after core, for instance, could be contributed to the way bloat impacts a game like D&D. Fewer releases, less bloat, more 'pent up demand,' maybe demand can hold steady for a while? Just a possibility.

 

[sunshadow21]

At the risk of circling back to my first post in this thread, a slow pace of release is not necessarily all bad. Some of the drop off in demand after core, for instance, could be contributed to the way bloat impacts a game like D&D. Fewer releases, less bloat, more 'pent up demand,' maybe demand can hold steady for a while? Just a possibility.

And as many have posted, slow is not the same in virtually nonexistent, which is precisely what their release schedule for everything up to at least late summer is. Relying on 'pent up demand' in the current entertainment market will likely get them just enough word of mouth to keep 5E from completely dying, which seems to be all they are concerned about, but is not nearly enough to keep them #1, and possibly not even routinely #2, in the rpg market. I don't think Paizo or any of the other rpg brands have anything to worry about when it comes to the competition that 5E is creating. It's a good edition and a strong enough product that we'll probably still be seeing it in some form several years from now, but nowhere near #1. There are lots of ways they could release more product while avoiding the dreaded bloat, but WotC isn't showing any interest in pursuing any of them. It's becoming clear that WotC doesn't have the remotest interest in how their rpg compares to the rest of the rpg market; the rpg is basically just a placeholder while they try to get the other licenses signed and carried through to actual, hopefully well received, product.