Support for All Editions

[Iosue]

Soooo...I was bopping around Wizards' new D&D site, and came across this quote by Mike Mearls:

Back on January 9th, we announced our plans for the future of the D&D RPG. Many fans have focused on the specifics of game mechanics, approaches to creating campaigns and adventures, and methods of presentation. The project we’re undertaking is more than just a revision of the D&D rules, it’s a new approach to how we look at D&D as a whole. The release of the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game is part of our plan to make it clear that we support all versions of D&D, from the original white box set to the newest 4th Edition expansions. D&D has a long and rich history—one that we intend to embrace and support even as we move into the future.

Naturally, it's the kind of statement that says a lot and yet nothing at all. So let the speculation begin! What does Mike mean by "support" here, and how does it tie into a "new approach to how we look at D&D as a whole"? PDFs of old material? Rereleases of old adventures converted to D&D Next, a la the Caves of Chaos playtest?

See, one thing that intrigues me is if you go to the Virtual Tabletop, and start a new campaign, there's a little pulltab for what edition you want to play: 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, 3rd Edition, 4th Edition, or Other. As near as I can see, changing the "edition" setting doesn't really change the Tabletop -- which may one reason why it's still in Beta.

And then there's this line from developer Rory Madden: "We also designed the tool with the flexibility to support integration with tools, stat-blocks, and skins for all editions of D&D, including future ones."

So of course the Virtual Table will be retro-fitted for 5e. But perhaps also for 1e, 2e, and 3e? And if so, what does that say about WotC's attitude towards past editions going forward? It does not seem to fit in with their attitude to date of "kill off the old editions, only the new edition shall reign supreme".

 

[ExploderWizard]

Too early to tell anything about all edition support just yet. My dream would be to let freelancers write support material for their edition of choice and have those products available in POD format. Going to the WOTC website and being able to browse modules for B/X, AD&D,2E, 3E, 4E, OD&D would be awesome.

I wouldn't even mind if there were no pdfs available. I would rather have stuff in hardcopy anyway.

Its nice to dream.

 

[DEFCON 1]

So of course the Virtual Table will be retro-fitted for 5e. But perhaps also for 1e, 2e, and 3e? And if so, what does that say about WotC's attitude towards past editions going forward? It does not seem to fit in with their attitude to date of "kill off the old editions, only the new edition shall reign supreme".

I think their attitude is the same as it's always been... do whatever they think has the best chance to earn them the most profit for the D&D brand. If they had a supposed attitude of "kill off the old editions, only the new edition shall reign supreme"... it was because they believed at the time that they could earn more money by just focusing on the new game and the customers that came with it, than they could trying to do that while simultaneously trying to keep players of the older games happy. They didn't do it because they now hated those older games and said players of them... they did it because they thought there was more money to be made in the newer ones.

What has now happened is that they've learned that there was less of a customer (and probably profit) shift from 3E to 4E than there was from 2E to 3E... and thus their thinking for the future has had to change. If they can create a game where more possible versions of D&D are able to be played (and thus they can release more of their "older" material with a minimum of required editing to make them more profitable) then it behooves them to try it out.

The shift to 4E was very large from a gameplay standpoint, and it seems as though its been determined to not have a long-term profit viability (both from sales and also the ever-sustaining PR hit from the number of people who did not like the shift and continually talk about it.) So since a large jump in gameplay did not apparently succeed to the levels they wanted... casting back to include previous concepts and ideas might. They and we shall see.