D&D 5E Time to Stop Revising

[Jack99]

They should have released the game FIRST, then gotten feedback and released a new, more complete version later on. They should have had a "here, try this" approach, and if it met with bad enough reception they should have waited until another go-around of a new edition discussion in-house.

That would have been the worst way to do things. People would have been mad, because they would have to pay twice for the same books. Really bad idea.

 

[TerraDave]

I would be glad to know that the playtesting would finish in, say, 5 months.

 

[Sunseeker]

D&D is never finalized. Even if we solidify the core materials, there will be more materials, there will be errata, there will be the errata to the errata for the entire life of the game.

So, should Wizards push ahead and roll out a "finalized", but possibly incomplete product? Or should they keep on trucking for a little longer, and finalize a better, but never-to-be-complete product?

I remember when EA and Bioware pushed forward with SWTOR and released the game before it was ready. That worked out well...not.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

As much as I want the game to be good, I do worry about playtesting it into oblivion. If Wotc or Hasbro come to the conclusion that they're just throwing away money on a product that will never get released, they'll just cut their losses and scrap the whole thing.

 

[Rydac]

Says who?

They still have plenty of ways to milk the brand for a year or two.

Actually they haven't been milking the D&D brand much or well. And milking it is hardly going to be satisfying to Hasbro. Even if Next comes out for Christmas 2014 I think they've done well to get Hasbro to sign off on a process that takes that long. WotC almost regularly fires people at Christmas in year end salary dumps. There are a good few people working on Next that represent "dead" money on the payroll. I'm just speaking to the cold hard reality of the deadline they face to produce a final product.

 

[Weather Report]

I think it's a double-edged sword, they take their time, release whenever they feel at that point it is release-worthy, or they dither and the audience gets bored and drifts.

 

[Zardnaar]

Makes me wonder if the fanbase actually wants a new edition. The 4th ed crowd hates it, the 3rd ed crowd seems happy with Pathfinder and the grogs have TSR era D&D and retroclones. For the 1st time in 20 years I do not really care if D&D goes belly up and I would prefer someone else to buy the brand being honest even Disney.

 

[Jester David]

Actually they haven't been milking the D&D brand much or well. And milking it is hardly going to be satisfying to Hasbro. Even if Next comes out for Christmas 2014 I think they've done well to get Hasbro to sign off on a process that takes that long. WotC almost regularly fires people at Christmas in year end salary dumps. There are a good few people working on Next that represent "dead" money on the payroll. I'm just speaking to the cold hard reality of the deadline they face to produce a final product.

That's the other big problem. With just the sales of reprints and board games to provide revenue the Christmas layoffs this year might be nasty. And unless they do gangbusters sales in 2014 there might still be harsh layoffs after going two years into debt over the project.

 

[MortalPlague]

Makes me wonder if the fanbase actually wants a new edition. The 4th ed crowd hates it, the 3rd ed crowd seems happy with Pathfinder and the grogs have TSR era D&D and retroclones.

Well I like it. And I know a few gamers who do too.

What about the folks who find that 3.x, 4th, and TSR-era all have their own unique issues and want something new?