D&D 4E Suppose 4e is released, do you buy it?

[Ron]

Although it seems that I am the first to declare that will buy 4e as soon as it is released, I am hardly alone. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that some that choose other options will beat me to the stores. Is a 4th edition necessary? Probably not to the gamer, although I would love to revise some stuff in my likeness, but likely yes to Wizards of the Coast, as it has to make some bucks to keep itself alive.

I have no information about when 4th edition will be released. However, I don't think Magic of the Incarnum is an indication of its readiness. Still, I believe that the end of the classes and races series, as well as the upcoming end of the environment series is a better indication of the end of the really core books and the beginning of the mostly BS core books for the next two years before the new edition. They replaced 3rd edition in three years and they had the bold face to tell us 3.5 wasn't a new edition -- it was a minor revision but still a new edition. I guess that they will announce 4th edition shortly before its release. Also, it should be a major revision, more than 3.5 but not as radical as 3rd edition.

 

[Eye Tyrant]

I think option 2 is for me, I wouldn't want to, but failing my save I probably would buy the new edition. I'm such a whore for new D&D books :\ I just hope that when the next edition comes out, WotC can exercise some decent editing. Maybe it's just me, but for the price of these books the amount of glaring editorial mistakes and need for errata is simply ridiculus, almost to the point of being insulting... I'll leave it at that, I feel a rant coming on.

 

[Warden]

I've been curiuos about this for a while, since it seems that all attempts by WotC to drift away from traditional fantasy is interpreted as preparations for 4E.

Perhaps the main question is: Does the demand for the new version exist mechanically? Are players bored enough with 3.5 to want a new version, since that would require a large rewrite of the rules in order to be called a new edition?

I'm working on an article about the rumours of 4E, so I'd like to hear some more concrete thoughts on the matter if anyone has them.

 

[diaglo]

OD&D(1974) is the only true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing.

i'd buy it to complete my collection. but i'd probably never use any of it. since it is already included in OD&D(1974)

 

[Psion]

Core books likely, if for no better reason than to examine their contents.

After that is more questionable. As I have said before, they had a bit of a "dream team" working on 3e; I don't know if they could convincingly move the game forward in that way again.

 

[Yair]

I wouldn't unless it really improves the game, which I doubt.
Which is a surprise since I bought 3.5e with no fuss. I may yet fail Will and buy anyways, but I'm more likely to try other RPGs at this point. Simpler ones. I'm growing old and tired.

 

[Turanil]

i'd buy it to complete my collection. but i'd probably never use any of it.

Hey! I am really curious: how many D&D 3.0 and 3.5 books do you own, did you use some in actual play, and are there some that you even didn't bother to read. (Maybe some you even didn't bother to open, and were left in their wrapping?).

 

[IronWolf]

If it was released today I would not have any intention of buying it for at least six months or more. I am pretty happy with 3.5 and just now getting my collection back up to speed. Our current group is having fun so I do not see a need to upgrade there. So in the initial months after its release I would probably read reviews and what people are saying about it here and then go from there.

 

[Ravenknight]

I would buy it, Yes. Curse the changes and then start using it. As I always do..

 

[delericho]

Option 1 for me. The core rulebooks for this game get so much use from me that investing in a new set of them is almost guaranteed to be worthwhile (the existing 3.5 books currently work out at something like 1 penny per hour of use). As for supplements, that's an entirely different equation. They're generally not worthwhile (for me), and I'm constantly trying to cut down.

However, it's worth noting that I can't imagine being in a position of buying blindly. I fully expect there to be around a year between the announcement of the new edition and it actually arriving, and I expect this site (or perhaps "Eric Noah's Fourth Edition News"?) to be extremely busy spoiling us on the new features. Given the level of hype that existed prior to 3rd Edition arriving, Wizards would be mad to surprise us with a new edition.

As far as content is concerned, I expect 4th Edition to take us back to the "core experience", with the standard classes and races, a focus on dungeon-crawling, and few or none of the optional rules that have appeared since 3.5 (substitution levels, huge numbers of prestige classes, teamwork benefits, etc). There will be changes, but probably only in the implementation, rather than the concepts (so, the classes might be different, but we won't see classes themselves being removed - and we'll probably see much the same set as in the PHB 3.5).

What I would like to see is Wizards taking a long look at the high level aspects of gameplay, and also the preparation work required of the DM. I think there's a lot of merit in Monte Cook's suggestion that effects such as blindness, paralysis and so on should be tied to PC levels, to better judge CR values for monsters by the powers they have. I think also that there are real problems with the randomness of high level combat, where a single bad save can kill a character, and totally change the character of a game session (not to mention the distaste I have for easy resurrections).