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

[Scrivener of Doom]

It depresses me that there are so many responses of "No" or "Meh". (snip)

Me too.

As much as I dislike Next and cannot believe it's taken the full D&D design team more than two years to crank out so little, I still want it to do well for the sake of the brand which, even if only for the sake of nostalgia, I would like to see continue as a TTRPG under this name.

 

[Starfox]

Maybe IDK. This is the 1st version of D&D I will not buy blind as I bought AD&D 2nd ed, 3.0,3.5 and 4th ed without having read a PHB 1st.

Sorry to say, I have to agree with this. WotC/Hasboro has really burned a lot of people's expectations and lessened the value of the Dungeons & Dragon's brand.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sorry to say, I have to agree with this. WotC/Hasboro has really burned a lot of people's expectations and lessened the value of the Dungeons & Dragon's brand.

Yup the automatic buy it if it has D&D on it loyalty is gone. Even TSR did not pull that off.

 

[Starfox]

DnD adventures and sourcebooks/splatbooks were never an automatic bye for me - never had that kind of money. But core rulebooks were.

 

[Starfox]

It depresses me that there are so many responses of "No" or "Meh".

I've run a few 5th Edition campaigns with my group, and it's been some of the best gaming we've had. My experience with the ruleset has me excited to dive into it in greater detail when the core books come out. DM'ing has been light and fun, with some exciting combat, exploration, and interaction.

Apparently I'm an anomaly on this one? Looking at the responses here, seems so.

No worries. If you are right, others who play it and like it will say so too, and it will spread like ripples on a pond.

 

[Ratskinner]

Maybe IDK. This is the 1st version of D&D I will not buy blind as I bought AD&D 2nd ed, 3.0,3.5 and 4th ed without having read a PHB 1st.

Count me as a "+1" to that (and a very skeptical "+1", too). Between FATE Core, 13th Age, Dungeon World, even Abstract Dungeon....there's so much out there. The sad thing is, so much of it is so much "better" than D&D. By which I mean, innovative, simple, narrative, fast, etc. I think there's still a place for D&D, but its a much smaller place in my "gaming" world than it used to be. Its hardly my first choice to tell rich stories any more.

 

[DaveMage]

No, I won't buy. I'll wait for D&D 5.5.


Seriously, though, I don't need a new version of D&D. And since they are charging $34.95 for a 96 page book these days, well, let's just say my wallet will be happier that I don't buy in as well.

I will check out the final rules if they post them for free, though....

The only thing I might be tempted to spend some $$ on is if they produce some non-edition-specific setting material (such as Planescape). But even then, I doubt it.

 

[Jester David]

I'll buy the first three books. I have the other core books so the completionist in me needs them.
After that...

Really, I think the edition is WotC to succeed or fail.
Despite the tones of this thread, I think the majority of the fanbase is willing to buy.

If they can stop redesigning the content for six months to get everything super balanced then it'll have the best chances of succeeding.

And, but more importantly, if they can actually release the promised expansions and rules modules in a timely fashion. If we have to wait another year for some rules modules that' showing to hurt the game. (Unless we have a functional useable playtest of the larger modules.) WotC has corporate ADHD. There's so much staff turnover and management impatience that they often don't finish what they start and leave content gaps. So if they start but don't finish or decide to turn expected books into something different (like the Shadowfell book into an urban campaign setting) that will also hurt impressions of the game. If people don't get the content they need to play their style of game they'll find one of the dozens of other games available online that will let them play what they want.

Adventures and other content will be the swing factor. WotC has not produced great adventures of late and certainly not diverse adventures.

WotC has to get back in touch with the fans and the community. They have to learn what the fans want and give it to them. Because if you make what people want... they will give you money for it.

In the last two camps WotC is playing catch-up with Paizo. Paizo has a great relationship with their fanbase, with the upper management making it their responsibility to read message boards and twitter as part of their work day.
Paizo is also all about their adventures. Two of their big hardcovers (Ultimate Combat and Mythic Adventures) were published to give them the mechanical tools to tell the stories and adventures they wanted to tell. They weren't writing the adventure as a tie-in product for cross-marketing purposes.

 

[Jester David]

Looking through the responses, 5e seems to be the half-Japanese half-Caucasian of editions.

A half-Japanese person in America is usually told they look "Asian" while in Japan a half-American is told they look "White". Obviously the common elements in both are predominant, as humans have a lot of common elements; humans are generally more similar than not. So you notice the differences.
Really, that' shaman nature. That' show we tell people apart. It's very pronounced when looking at near human CG or robots, when uncanny valley kicks in.

5e, by design, focuses on the common elements of D&D. It's an aggregate edition taking the most typically found D&Disms and building that into the spine of the edition. So you don't notice those elements, and instead notice the bits that are less D&D, the differences. Which, of course, is informed by perspective.
A dedicated 4e player is less likely to notice the 4e elements because those are just part of D&D. But the 1e or 3e elements that were not present in 4e will stand out. In contrast, a 1e player will see the 4e additions.

 

[MJS]

It depresses me that there are so many responses of "No" or "Meh".

I've run a few 5th Edition campaigns with my group, and it's been some of the best gaming we've had. My experience with the ruleset has me excited to dive into it in greater detail when the core books come out. DM'ing has been light and fun, with some exciting combat, exploration, and interaction.

Apparently I'm an anomaly on this one? Looking at the responses here, seems so.

I think module / adventure choice is huge. The playtest I was in used a converted 4E module of very low quality. A total railroad, tons of boxed text, no way to avoid combat. Thats simply not adventuring.
Then, when we were funneled into combat, it was grindy as hell, despite the DM being completely fluid.
I think 5E will be popular, but for me, its a book I'd have to rip half the pages out of. IMO they need to stop trying to re-invent the wheel.

As a sice note, I really hope they make a license for 4E. I'm not a fan, but those who love it deserve quality materials and modules.

* I love the Dragonborn, a cool variant of Draconians.