What causes new editions?

[Tony Vargas]

4e, with it's restricted multiclassing and self-contained classes might be a bit less susceptible to death-by-over-publication. Even with the agressive salesmanship of the 'everything is core' philosophy. Rather than saying 'core only' when you want to run a functional game after stacks of suplements have been issued, you can instead restrict your game to a few power sources, and likely get much the same effect, while still being able to run a variety of campaigns. A Martial, Primal, Divine campaign, for instance, would be quite distinct from a Martial, Arcane, Psionic campaign - but, with only so many books supporting each source, each would be managable.

That is, assuming WotC can resist the temptation to publish Arcane Power 2 through /n/....

 

[Victim]

Why does a new edition for any game come out?

Is it because errata just won't cut it? Or there are better ways to do what is wanted with the system?

Is it because the companies' profits are dwindling, and they need a reboot to get more money?

Is it to generate buzz and get new people into the hobby?

I'm not picking on any company in particular. I mean recently we've had the WHFRPG announce a new release. We've still got Shadowrun 4e and D&D 4e out. Not to mention HERO is retooling their game.

So why does it happen? And when SHOULD it happen?

All of them. Enough customers have to want the new edition for it to be a success - so hard to patch flaws in the existing system help there. And a gaming business has to figure that they'll make more money with that product, else they won't make it.

 

[DaveyJones]

company growth.

with new hires and raises you need to generate revenue. this means selling more product. your base product is going to reach a plateau after the initial hype wears off. so the number of new players in won't be the same.

selling supplements and other regalia helps stem the flow of income loss. but these products don't generate the same income as the initial either.

so the only way to stay in the business is to push new product that generates a new hype.

new editions do this mostly.


doesn't mean we have to like it. cuz it surely does mean the company is only in it for the money and not the hobby.

or as Andy Collins put it at Gen Con this year during the ENnie Awards. he wanted to work for TSR. the only way for that to happen was to convince Peter to buy the company.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

You see, when a mama edition and a papa edition really love each other...





Wait, that somehow doesn't work. It must be like bees and flowers this time.

 

[JohnRTroy]

It depends on the game.

Economics is one factor, but it depends on the game design.

GURPS is an example. The waiting time between editions is almost the reverse of the D&D method. GURPS worked out its flaws quickly, then they wanted to stay the same for a long time because of the supplements and (I guess) felt that it would be better for their market for the game to remain the same. I forget when 3rd Edition GURPS came out, but I think it remained stable for about 15 years before they release 4th Edition.

In many cases, if the rules are bad but the setting is popular, you might see new editions because of errata. I think Vampire had a few "revised editions" before remaining stable for years before the "New World of Darkness".

CoC is pretty stable--edition changes pretty much mean errata and adding a few new rules.

More radical changes might come from either the property changing hands, or a true desire to "reboot" from year to year. Look at all the changes to Traveller, RuneQuest, ArsMagica, etc. It can also come from what I would call more liberal or experimental designers being involved.

 

[Jack7]

You see, when a mama edition and a papa edition really love each other...

I was gonna say the same thing myself MR but then decided it was more like Chimera cloning with just a touch of bounty hunter thrown in. It's sort of a scientific kinda thang nowadays.

 

[ggroy]

That is, assuming WotC can resist the temptation to publish Arcane Power 2 through /n/....

Martial Power 2 is scheduled to be released in February 2010, which is 15 months after Martial Power 1 was released (November 2008).

I wouldn't be surprised at all if an Arcane Power 2 is released in fall 2010. (Besides the DMG3 in September 2010, there has been no other official announcements of D&D books for September 2010 -> December 2010 yet). I imagine they will cover the artificer this time around. For other sources, they could possibly redo stuff from 3.5E splatbooks like "Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic" or "Magic of Incarnum".

Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic
Magic of Incarnum

Or for that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if a Divine Power 2 and/or Primal Power 2 are released in late 2010 or early 2011. According to the picture supplied for Player's Handbook 3, there will allegedly be new Divine and Primal classes.

With possibly four psionics classes being covered in PHB3, I wouldn't be surprised if a Psionics Power 1 book is released in early 2011 (or possibly even late 2010). Hopefully it will be a lot better than the 3.5E "Complete Psionic" splatbook.

 

[DaveyJones]

It depends on the game.

certainly.

chess, checkers/draughts, scrabble, monopoly, poker, and many many more games don't require new editions to be enjoyed.

 

[kitsune9]

Why does a new edition for any game come out?

Is it because the companies' profits are dwindling, and they need a reboot to get more money?

I think this describes my opinion in a nutshell. I know that game companies make the decision on factors way more complex than this, but I think when it comes down to it, this is the likely and most simple answer.

 

[coyote6]

certainly.

chess, checkers/draughts, scrabble, monopoly, poker, and many many more games don't require new editions to be enjoyed.

Of course, chess has evolved over centuries, checkers has lots of regional variations (that I had no clue about until I saw a wiki article on checkers), poker has a bazillion forms and the form-of-the-day varies over time (cf., Texas Hold 'Em), and the folks that own Monopoly release new versions all the dang time nowadays (did you want Simpsons Monopoly, or Star Wars, or the soap opera version, or the Euro version, or the cheap version, or the in-an-expensive-wooden box version, or...), and even Scrabble gets new versions, thanks to technology. I can't tell you how many versions of Sorry! I've seen.