Ruleset as Lingua Franca - I wanna sell my 4E collection

[Dice4Hire]

There is just too much tied into the mechanics that will get invalidated if 5E rolls in.

4E and Pathfinder did nothing to 'invalidate' my 3.5 collection. For that matter, my 2E or 1e collections.

If you value 4E keep it, if not sell it. No need to try to justify it further.

 

[Mr. Greengoat]

4E and Pathfinder did nothing to 'invalidate' my 3.5 collection. For that matter, my 2E or 1e collections.

If you value 4E keep it, if not sell it. No need to try to justify it further.

I think the argument could be made that it is much easier to use older 3rd edition stuff with Pathfinder than it is to make it fit with 4E. Indeed I think that is one of the primary intents behind PF, keeping the selection of players and written material "mostly" compatible.

The reason for posting the poll in the first place and asking the question is to forecast for my gaming fun in the future, with other people who are not held to my personal book collection. Value is hard to judge on static gaming books until you know it will be used.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I think the argument could be made that it is much easier to use older 3rd edition stuff with Pathfinder than it is to make it fit with 4E. Indeed I think that is one of the primary intents behind PF, keeping the selection of players and written material "mostly" compatible.

The reason for posting the poll in the first place and asking the question is to forecast for my gaming fun in the future, with other people who are not held to my personal book collection. Value is hard to judge on static gaming books until you know it will be used.

You seemed to be saying that when 5E comes out, your 4E collection will drop in value and become worthless. I do not htink it is so as long as you like and will play 4E. If you don't like it or will not play, then the decision is easier.

As for mt 1E and 2E stuff, if I were inteh states, I would probably sell it as I ahve not used it in a very very long time.

 

[Mercurius]

Two words of advice: be flexible. If your main concern is whether or not you'll be able to find people to play with, then be flexible: don't be overly identified with any specific rules set, be willing to try new things, adapt to different situations and games. On the other hand, given the dearth of DMs relative to willing players, take one from a cheesy Kevin Costner movie: If you build it they will come; that is, if you say "I'm running a 4E game if anyone wants to play," chances are you'll be able to find folks, if for no other reason than you're someone willing to take on the time and responsibility to DM, so you should have a say in what you run. I always feel that the DM should have the lion's share as to what game is being played, considering they're investing the most time and money.

I miss just about every RPG product that I no longer have at least once in a while- even most of the real stinkers.

I can't tell you how many times I've sold and re-bought (and, once or twice, sold and re-bought again) a gaming book. This goes for D&D editions, as well. A few years ago I sold off the vast majority of my collection, including all my 3.x books (I knew 4E was coming out). About two years ago I went on a total binge, buying tons of stuff, including a bunch of 3.x stuff. Thank the gods for Ebay (and various other online sites that I shall not mention)...

Back to the OP, I think it depends upon how you identify yourself, or rather what your relationship to the hobby is. Are you a gamer or a gamer/collector? Most diehard gamers--which include almost every regular on this site--are gamer/collectors; a major part of the run of the hobby is buying books, having bookshelves filled with the stuff, caressing them, occasionally browsing them for entertainment or ideas. Most serious/diehard gamers have tons of gaming material that they'll never actually play or use beyond occasional browsing and dust-collecting. And the real diehards even have whole rooms dedicated to gaming and would never even think about selling an RPG book. There's a fun thread somewhere in the annals of this site in which people post their game collection pictures...you wouldn't believe what some folks have.

The nice thing about 4E is that you don't need all that many books if you have a DDI subscription. I stopped buying most of the splat books long ago, only buying the theme and campaign books, and the most useful references. So to answer your question, you might want to try a middle way: sell most of it, but keep the essentials and the stuff you really like. And make sure you keep the books that you'd want to be able to read again even if you never play 4E again. I have most of the old 1E hardcovers, for instance, though I'm pretty sure I'll never play it again (although you never really know).

Oh yeah: be flexible. Did I say that?

 

[Stormonu]

I don't use the 4E material I've bought, but I don't plan on letting it go anytime soon either. Like others, I've had occasions where having the copy years down the road allowed me to pick the game back up and play it on a lark.

Though I don't think you should need 200 lbs. worth of stuff. Maybe just the PHB, MM & DMG - and maybe their iterations.

If you're serious about abandoning the game and wanting to make money, I would recommend dumping the books before an edition change. The price drop on even the announcement of an edition change is rather frightful, and with the exception of a few items, D&D books have not held their value very well.

 

[Umbran]

I think the argument could be made that it is much easier to use older 3rd edition stuff with Pathfinder than it is to make it fit with 4E.

Yes, but that argument doesn't speak to "invalidation". 3e and 4e are both games that play pretty darned well all by themselves. They don't need compatibility with another game to make them valid games in and of themselves.

I currently run classic Deadlands. Since the original went out of print, there's been a a d20 version of the game produced, and there's a Savage Worlds version of the game out in print now. I don't care - the new versions don't make my old books a less valid, less playable game.

And, the fact that the rules are baroque and out of print for a decade or more (hardly "linua franca", I assure you), didn't stop my friends from jumping on the bandwagon.

Never mind the updates - do you *like* 4e, as it is written? Then, keep the books. If you don't like it, ditch them. "Lingua franca" is not material when compared to liking what you're playing. If you don't like it, it being common won't make it fun. And it is one of the best selling games of the past few years - you'll find folks who can work with you, even if you're not using up-to-the-minute rules.

 

[Alan Shutko]

My feeling is, figure out which version of D&D you like most and keep that stuff, and sell or toss the rest.

I keep the PHB and DMG for each edition, and deep sixed the rest. I'm keeping everything from BECMI and RCD&D because I'll run it and play it again, but I'm never going to run a 2e, 3e, 3.5e or 4e game. At the moment I'm running a PF game, and I'm buying PDFs of various books, but not hardcovers. If this game ends, at least I won't have a bunch of books I need to dispose of.

I haven't found anything of merit in any of the rule books from Skills and Powers on. The splatbooks for 3e and 4e have just kept regurgitating ideas that were covered in older works. Since I dislike the rules systems and won't run them, I don't need to keep them.

Adventures and fluff are a different matter. I am keeping the PF adventure paths, and the 4e copies of Dungeon from when I was a DDI subscriber. Story ideas can always be reused. Frankly, this is why I buy more PF stuff than 4e these days: 4e has focused on stats over story. Rules fade but story is eternal. I have collected several supplements on the "academy of mages" theme from multiple RPG systems and multiple editions to help me come up with my future Wizard's Academy game. That's the kind of thing I keep.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

It would be something if those parameters where story or narrative based (adventures, campaign materials) but it seems WOTC is fixated on mechanical expansion and a type of retooling that sometimes feels like planned obsolescence. If they wanting things to last longer, they would be slower and more considered in their implementation.

There is a degree of planned obsolescence, but that's not unique to 4e. The only major difference between 4e and other editions here is if you rely on the character builder; I have no doubt that the 4e functions will be replaced when 5e arrives.

On your second point it seems that a lot of the errata updates revealed go far beyond a simple correction and into a restructuring and change in intent, so that several players with various errata updates and iterations would be playing different games.

I think you're overemphasizing the effect of errata. 4e has a lot of errata, but it doesn't fundamentally change anything. 4e is 4e.

I put forth that 4e with or without errata is comparable to other editions with or without the myriad of house rules for which they're [in]famous. It seems everyone and their mother has house rules for other editions; to balance things, to make things more consistent, or simply to satisfy a DM's asthetic sense. So the way I see it, you're running the risk of having to "keep up" with the rules either way.

So...sell your stuff if you want. Or even better, send it to me for the cost of shipping.

 

[Stormonu]

I keep the PHB and DMG for each edition, and deep sixed the rest. I'm keeping everything from BECMI and RCD&D because I'll run it and play it again, but I'm never going to run a 2e, 3e, 3.5e or 4e game. At the moment I'm running a PF game, and I'm buying PDFs of various books, but not hardcovers. If this game ends, at least I won't have a bunch of books I need to dispose of.

Funny, this last Halloween I ran I6 using the 2nd edition rules. I'd swore to myself when I switched to 3E I'd never go back to that ruleset.

It was a blast, and if I could find a willing group, I'd like to try it once again as a campaign instead of a one-shot. And packrat that I am, I still have all that stuff (Including the Core Rules II CD-Rom, which I actually used to make the characters for the one-shot).

 

[Mr. Greengoat]

Funny, this last Halloween I ran I6 using the 2nd edition rules. I'd swore to myself when I switched to 3E I'd never go back to that ruleset.

It was a blast, and if I could find a willing group, I'd like to try it once again as a campaign instead of a one-shot. And packrat that I am, I still have all that stuff (Including the Core Rules II CD-Rom, which I actually used to make the characters for the one-shot).

I think it has been my own long term experience with out-of-date rulesets that has further driven my desire for one core iteration of everyone's favorite rpg.

(Moldvey Redbox weekly and OD&D monthly for almost two years straight. And we did an AD&D 1st campaign recently as well. So much fun with so little paper to reference.)

I may be siding on the more socialistic side of of the culture when I wish for a set grouping of rules. I wish D&D was like golf, where the agreed nature of the game was very slow to change and recognized by a large swath of the player base. House-rules are welcome (as Umbran points out) but the starting point of the conversation with strangers would be the same. The golf courses (campaigns, adventures), and clubs (accessories) would be the changes in play at the table.

I guess ultimately I am sidetracking a question about book-space in my apartment and my play time as a DM with the design of Wizard's main RPG business. I wish there was an OGL SRD of 4E and be able to say, that is the reference point. I anticipate having to setup play with strangers and I want to have a latin to facilitate the fun.