D&D 5E What do you think now that we've received the final playtest packet?

[ForeverSlayer]

Well we've received the final playtest packet and I would like to know what you think or what you think is the next step. Personally I am still scratching my head on some things and wanting to pull my hair out on others.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Cautiously optimistic. There's still a lot to be worked on, but the potential is there.

 

[JeffB]

I will reserve final judgement for final product.

Right now, based on a few critical areas of concern for me, it doesn't look good at all.

But it is not like we do not have a gazillion other choices in D&D whether PF, OSR clones and retro styles, or 4e takes like 13th age.

WOTC opened up Pandoras Box 13 years ago, and now it has become a significant problem for them. Nobody really needs to support current WOTC produced D&D products. Tough row to hoe, for them this edition.

Not sure why I felt the need to post that tangent, but...maybe it's the stack of alternate D&D games and older editions sitting on shelves a few feet away, staring back at me

 

[Nagol]

I think the rule set is still in enough flux and has sufficient time in which to mutate that the final playtest gives me little reassurance what the game will look like once it is released.

 

[Kinak]

There are certainly some ideas I really like: bounded accuracy, advantage/disadvantage, and attribute bonuses tradable to feats.

But I don't feel like even those have been implemented in a way that encourages me to buy the system, let alone be excited about it. For example, bounded accuracy meaning you aren't running on a treadmill as you increase in level? Awesome. Bounded accuracy meaning a character trained in something isn't substantially better than someone who isn't? Not a game I'm interested in.

I think the next step is more "packets" under the guise of previews, a period of silence, then release. My hope is that they'll focus on some group and make a really great game for that group. My fear is that we'll just get a watered down mess.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Mistwell]

We're loving it. Having a blast playing the game. Things run so much smoother and quicker than most prior versions of the game. Not getting bogged down in details, not having to run through a bunch of math, not having to deal with a huge series of options just to pick what you're doing on your turn, not too many fiddly bits that trade a small amount of "realism" for a larger amount of delay and focus on rules rather than the game itself. Overall, we find it's much easier to stay "in the game" with the rules not getting in the way. Loving it.

 

[Jester David]

I like it but it does need some work and more options. Right now the game is rather bare bones, less than the minimal required content.
I'm tenatively excited.

Right now it just comes down to WotC being able to finish what they start, to not get bored and not finish releasing books & content planned at launch.
And the designers being able to STOP designing and revising and sticking to balancing and fine tuning. We don't need a less balanced and rough game because they kept changing things until the very end and weren't able to actually test new additions.

 

[Raith5]

My hope is that they'll focus on some group and make a really great game for that group. My fear is that we'll just get a watered down mess.

Cheers!
Kinak

This is my fear as well. I still dont get how modularity and the reaching out to various playstyles is going to work or satisfy. The way they described modularity early on and how it was executed seem very different. But maybe unrealistic expectations on my part are the problem. I hope somebody likes this edition as much as I liked 3rd and currently like 4th ed.

 

[howandwhy99]

They are trying to bridge radically different play styles under the same game. At once I think they were to be all during the same campaign, but they've eased up.

Most importantly, they are still open-minded, paying attention to their customers, designing creatively, and developing care. Once the community gets a hold of the final product I expect we will see a lot of individual interpretations and play styles tried with it. The more the better.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I think we're not looking at the final game.

I also think that it is almost unbelievable that it took the entire WotC design team over two years to produce a game that has little to distinguish it from many other AD&D (the A is deliberate) clones and fantasy heartbreakers. (And now they need another team to nail down the maths.)