So sick of 2E fans bashing 3E

[Maggan]

Lie right back

Yep. I have a new response now. Great! I love it!

Well, you also consider lying right back. Claim that you are Andy Collins, or that you're his cat or mother or something, and then claim they are working on 3.75, which will bring back kits for 3e. When asked for sources just tap the side of your nose knowingly and say that you promised not to reveal your source.

And also claim that they are bringing Gygax back. Or something. Lies, lies, lies. Try it. It can be fun!

M.

 

[reanjr]

Our argument ended today with one of the 2E fans claiming that 3E isn't working out and WoTC is in development of a non-compatible 4e system because of it.

While I doubt the individual's "source," do you actually doubt that 4e is not in production or at least being thrown around as an idea? If you do, you are naive in the extreme. 3.5 was pushed forward 2 years because sales were sagging a bit. It wasn't even supposed to be a revamp. It was supposed to simply be an errata'd version of the old books with completely new art. Face it. Wizards is running out of ideas. They've done the planes from both DM and Player perspective (poorly in the latter case). They did the class books. Twice. They are quickly running out of unpublished monsters (with MM3, though I'm sure we'll see a 3.5 MM2 for revenue's sake) and while they can always push more of those out, players will quickly lose interest. They have every DM sourcebook redone already. All they need is historical books (which I don't think they could do with 3e's rules). Their marching through their specialized monster series (Draconomicon, etc.) and they'll finish up with their races books (Races of Stone) by end of next year. The environment books are kind of a neat idea, but those can only last so long.

There really isn't much left. I'm sure they'll be able to squeeze it for another couple of years, at least, but 3e was in production for years, so if they plan on a 4e, they better get cracking. The only way they are going to stem the tide of mediocrity is by going back to publishing campaign settings. Unfortunately, they've either bastardized (Planescape) or sold off (Ravenloft and Dragonlance) most of their money-makers.

Might we see new campaigns? Probably. But if Eberron is any indication, I don't think they will have the lasting appeal of those old settings (look at the recent poll on campaign settings to see where Eberron ranks compared to Planescape, for example, and Eberron is still fresh and new).

I expect to see 4e by 2k8, easy.

 

[reanjr]

Dunno.

3e > 2e (simple math )

Bye
Thanee

You haven't shown that e is non-negative.

 

[reanjr]

Well duh they're working on 4e. Microsoft is working on Windows "Longhorn," you know -- lots of differences between that and the venerable old Windows 95. And you can't believe how many Windows 3.1 fans were annoyed when Windows 95 came along... You don't need a consipracy theory to tell you that you're not going to sell more copies of Office/Eberron than you do the OS/PHB. So of course they're working on 4e -- they wouldn't survive as a corporation if they weren't trying to milk a cash cow.

While your argument is sound, I feel I must point out the fallacy that you have to sell more copies of Windows than Office. A better comparison would be if Eberron also included 2e rules in it, since it "runs" on the older version like Office does with Windows.

 

[reanjr]

That said, I'd guess that 4e will probably be roughly compatible with 3.5e simply because WotC doesn't have enough money to go out and sell a whole new game to bunch of houseruling, homebrewing folks who view them (WotC) as corporate puppets just a few years (3-4) after releasing 3.5e -- I'm looking for another overhaul of the magic system with particular attention to Spells Per Day and Caster Level, official integration of Action Points, and bonus region/ancestor feats for everybody.

Actually, what I think could work well is tons of different "house rules" in the books. Several different ways to handle HP, spellcasting, etc. Then you could choose which "official" method to use without house ruling. It would cut down on real house ruling and be a nice lead in to campaign settings (this campaign setting uses Health System C, Spell System B, Skill System G, and D-I class Monsters).

 

[diaglo]

You haven't shown that e is non-negative.

e to the i pi is negative 1

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

All they need is historical books.

I'd sacrifice to Orcus for this.

 

[Psion]

You haven't shown that e is non-negative.

e = 2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995...

Here's proof

Edit: Note to non-mathheads: yes, there is a significance to that number.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So, if people who like 3E are 3tards...

Are people who like second edition 2pid?

Yep, 2e sucked hard.*

*edited...sucked the soul out of the game IMO of course. I don't look back on the 2e era with fondness.

 

[Pants]

The only way they are going to stem the tide of mediocrity is by going back to publishing campaign settings. Unfortunately, they've either bastardized (Planescape) or sold off (Ravenloft and Dragonlance) most of their money-makers.

The only way?! Why is it that the only way to save D&D is to republish old campaign settings? Yeah, I like Planescape, but the fact that it (might) have sold best during a time when there almost a dozen other settings out really doesn't convince me that it's a viable risk.

Same with Greyhawk or Dark Sun.

There are always other options.