Serious question - are you going to invest in D&DNext?

[pemerton]

aka D&D Previous

Snide, but witty - sorry I haven no XP to give you.

On the thread topic, I may get a core rulebook, but it's certainly not definite. For me the issue isn't money - I can afford it if I'm curious, and it wouldn't be the only RPG I've bought primarily for reading rather than playing - but space. I have nowhere on my shelves to store it.

I can't see myself playing it.

 

[Li Shenron]

Maybe. I am mildly positive about getting at least the core books, but even that I'm not sure about. It's a matter of many factors... the minimum complexity at which you can play the final game, the absence of glaring inconsistencies, the amount of errata in the printed books, the price tag, and the choice of artwork.

Regarding the last point, it might actually be what will make me decide. Having family and lots of other things to do, and knowing that DMing always requires effort and dedication, to play D&D regularly again I need some good inspiration. Artwork has a powerful effect on me with regard to that. Should their choice of artwork for the new edition lean too much towards cartoonish, manga, pulp, disturbing, splatter, sexist, or overtly violent, it will just inspire me to stay away.

 

[D'karr]

I've been doing the playtest for a very long time. A friend got me a copy of Dragonspear Castle, since I could not make it to GenCon this year. There has been nothing in the playtest, or that print copy that has stood out so much that it would make me say, "damn, I have to get this." The only things about the print copy that "made my day" were the funny side comments (inside jokes) like "this picture is upside down, please fix" or "do we really have to explain dice to "these people"?"

To compound my indifference the "first" adventure for the system, Murder in Baldur's Gate, has really not impressed me at all. Our playtest sessions have not really given me a feeling that I "love" this game. Watching the Acquisitions Incorporated live games has not been as "interesting" or "entertaining" as the previous ones. Even reading about other people's play experiences has not been that interesting.

So based on what I have seen up to now I would not spend money on it. That does not mean that a year from now when the actual game is out I might not buy it. But based on my current feelings about what I've seen, I have found nothing in the game that is not offered in games I'm already playing right now. That's not a put down on WotC, one of my favorite games is Shadowrun, and I decided not to buy the newest version either - for pretty much the same reasons.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Of course.

It's a new game. I like buying new games.

Does the fact that it has 'D&D' on the cover when I have so many other books also with 'D&D' on the cover matter in the slightest? Nope. Who cares? I have many shelves. I don't need to be picky with what to put on them.

 

[Kinak]

After the first packet, I was saying I very easily might get it. After the second, I was waiting to see if they'd move things in the right direction. Since then, I've shifted from waiting to see if they will to just assuming they won't.

It's still possible they'll produce a game that I want but, unless they show me a glimmer of that game before the playtest documents stop flowing, I'm probably not going to be picking up any 5e.

If I'm running a game that isn't Pathfinder in the next few years, it'll probably be Shadowrun or Numenera or straight-up homebrew. I'll probably even pick up 13th Age at some point, but 5e doesn't even get there.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

On a negative note, I have not exactly been enamoured with the "back to the future"-philosophy underpinning Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition's design (aka D&D Previous). I'm obviously not the target market (and if I want to play AD&D I will simply use Swords & Wizardry).

Also, like some others, I also do not consider this an "investment": it's an expense.

Yeah, I've DMed enough editions that my bar for buying a new edition has gone from "I'll buy it just to see what the new edition's like!" to "Any new edition has to have something that my favorite edition doesn't already have for me to consider buying it." (And obviously it has to also be something that I want.)

Right now I'm more likely to GM Exalted than I am to DM 5e. I bought 2e a few years ago because Exalted has lots of things going for it: great art, wildly different rules that I might enjoy, and a unique world milieu. I still haven't gotten around to playing or GMing it, but it's still more appealing than D&D Previous.

 

[S'mon]

No. Maybe if/when they release a Starter Set for it I might look at that if it goes several levels like the Pathfinder Beginner Box, rather than the usual WoTC pay-to-preview.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

No. Maybe if/when they release a Starter Set for it I might look at that if it goes several levels like the Pathfinder Beginner Box, rather than the usual WoTC pay-to-preview.

Pay to preview? I don't follow. I don't buy starter sets or beginner boxes, so maybe I'm missing an important difference?

 

[Ranes]

I'm absolutely uncertain. I only play D&D (as opposed to any other RPG) for nostalgia but I do love it. However, I have lots of D&D stuff that I've already spent a small fortune on and I'm ambivalent about the playtest versions so far.

If I do buy the core game, I doubt I'd buy anything beyond that, unless I find the new works well beyond my expectations.

 

[Derren]

Considering that, at least thats the impression I get, 5E goes into the direction of "4E but even simpler and still focused on dungeon crawls" certainly not.
Thats exactly the direction which drove me away when 4E hit and won't win me back.