D&D 4E The WotC designers will be bashing 4e once 5e is announced . . .

[D.Shaffer]

Well, if you're going to call a group of people a collective bunch of liars, shouldnt you have the evidence around for it? No one's memory is infallible and often colored by current events. Lord knows that if I was accused of having lied to a bunch of people, I'd like them to show me where.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Well, if you're going to call a group of people a collective bunch of liars, shouldnt you have the evidence around for it? No one's memory is infallible and often colored by current events. Lord knows that if I was accused of having lied to a bunch of people, I'd like them to show me where.

I should have been more specific. An individual on this board (and I kick myself for not subscribing to the thread so that I could bring it up now!) stated that he had inside knowledge through a third party that 4th Edition was definitely coming. In wake of Paizo's license to produce Dragon and Dungeon, and announcement of the DI, this seemed rather plausible.

Thereafter, a person affiliated with running this board stated that he got an email from WotC, and it was definitely a hoax. We didn't see that email, and it is therefore possible that it was worded so as to imply that 4e wasn't coming without actually saying so. It is also possible that one might trust WotC more than EN World.

Either way, though, someone was pulling a fast one.

There's an old saying that goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Add to that contradictory messages like

You can shake your fists at the sky. You can do a rain dance. You can ignore the clouds completely. Given the circumstance you're in as a D&D player right now, those responses are all valid. But none of them move the clouds.​

and

The weird thing is that playing D&D is something that might move the clouds.​

from this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=206483, as well as the apparent lack of playtesting (no announcement for playtesters yet AFAIK) and I'd rather remain skeptical of what WotC is currently announcing than simply accept it at face value, thank you very much.


RC

 

[Maggan]

that he had inside knowledge through a third party that 4th Edition was definitely coming. In wake of Paizo's license to produce Dragon and Dungeon, and announcement of the DI, this seemed rather plausible.

Thereafter, a person affiliated with running this board stated that he got an email from WotC, and it was definitely a hoax. We didn't see that email, and it is therefore possible that it was worded so as to imply that 4e wasn't coming without actually saying so.

I don't remember that.

What I DO remember, and what several people here probably can verify, was that someone came in with guns blazin, claiming the Hasbro was selling WotC.

This was refuted explicitly by a WotC employee.

As for 4e being refuted, no I don't remember anything like that, and I think that if it had been the case that it happened, more people would be up in arms about it.

/M

 

[Raven Crowking]

I don't remember that.

What I DO remember, and what several people here probably can verify, was that someone came in with guns blazin, claiming the Hasbro was selling WotC.

Different thread.

 

[AllisterH]

I don't remember them being as boisterous during the 2e --> 3e switch. I remember Sean K Reynolds talking about how hard it was to write a 2e product after he'd been playtesteing 3e for a while, but not the "Wow! Cool!" type stuff we keep hearing in every preview. I'd rather they give us substance of how things work rather than "my character is so awsome now that it can do everything I've always wanted!" IIRC, that's what happened (more substance) with the 2e to 3e switch. I wish I could go back and see how much we knew of 3e eight months before it released vs. what we know of 4e right now.

As someone from back then as well, I think this was because SKR _WAS_ the only major TSR/Wotc figure with net connection. Dancey had access as well, but we most assuredly didn't have the blogs like now.

Remember as well, when SKR got hired, he was still dealing with the old r.g.f.d crowd and they were a lot more boisterous than ENworld.

 

[hong]

Remember as well, when SKR got hired, he was still dealing with the old r.g.f.d crowd and they were a lot more boisterous than ENworld.

It's actually calmed down a lot these days.

 

[Raven Crowking]

As for 4e being refuted, no I don't remember anything like that, and I think that if it had been the case that it happened, more people would be up in arms about it.

Here's something I could locate: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=188410

Not an actual refutation, but an implied one. Not the thread I am thinking of, though.

RC

EDIT: And then there's this: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=110173, where they say there'll be at least a year's notice, but it's sort of an old post.

 

[gothmaugCC]

Well since you guys are loooking for the old announcement, i'll dig it up for you. Anyhow this is the post that started the 2011 rumors waaaay back in 2002.

Here it is:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20010401a

This is thier old "countodwn to 4th edition" announcement, originally slated for 2011. I copied the text and posted it below:

"Following on the heels of its successful, yearlong "Countdown to Third Edition" promotion for the new version of its Dungeons & Dragons game, Wizards of the Coast announced today that it would begin the "Countdown to Fourth Edition," which is due out April 1, 2011. A Wizards spokesperson, citing continuing strong sales of third edition D&D, said the company decided that "ten times the countdown," should result in "ten times higher" sales of Fourth Edition. Though initially reticent on the issue, former D&D Brand Manager Bryan Rancey admitted (after we poured salt on his wounds) that the Fourth Edition countdown was beginning. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever," said Rancey. "Let me go." Sources say that the new edition will use the revolutionary d30 system, but this is, as yet, unconfirmed."

As you can see the post is really old, but it does show that WoTC was making 4th edition plans from the outset of 3rd edition. Remember guys they are in business to make money just like everyone else, and a new edition does just that.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Well since you guys are loooking for the old announcement, i'll dig it up for you.

I think it was this thread http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=170633 and its links that I was thinking of.

There's nothing there that is, on the surface, untrue per se, but it is that deceptive "grey truth" that doesn't wish to outright lie while making sure that you don't believe what is true to be true.

At least, IMHO.

And it makes me very cautious about what any WotC announcement that isn't clearly stated actually means.

YMMV


RC

 

[Maggan]

Of course, WotC also said that 4e wasn't coming any time soon, just prior to the release announcement.

I think it was this thread http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=170633 and its links that I was thinking of.

While I agree that the post by Morrus you linked to easily reads as "no 4e in the works says WotC", I hardly call it a recent refutation, just prior to the release announcement.

But mad props to you for finding that quote!

/M