GMforPowergamers
Legend
I agree, and from the time I entered the hobby (with 2e) that is what I learned editions were... 1e wasn't radically different it was just 2e with some things not tweaked yet (and over the years I met plenty of people who played 1e and had house rules that lined up a lot with 2e)I think they are taking the opportunity to further refine the game, to make sure it still appeals to a large audience going forward as it does today - they fear that perhaps if they left it as it was with only minor errata, they could get left behind. So trying to keep main focus of game going forward, but tweaking it as they feel is needed to make sure it continues to appeal.
This is what I mean by 'they don't want to call it an edition but it is"
now to be fair 3e was VERY different then 2e, but 3.5 (that half edition) it at the time lined up that I was told it was slightly more different then 1e and 2e where, BUT way less then the difference between 2e and 3e.
Now 4e was a major change again but if we stick pin in this...
5e is a bigger change to 3e then 1e is to 2e and bigger then 3e to 3.5 and smaller then 3.5 to 4e...
so up until now the term of edition sometimes means a slight version change updateing with popular house rules and modern ideas (1 e to 2 e) or a drastic overhaul (2e to 3e and 3e to 4e I think fit here) or even a half edition change (the .5 modle.
so when I see a new version that is tweaking major parts (like say new versions of cleric bard ext) I see a new edition (or version) of teh game.
so if the 2024 PHB doesn't sell like the 2014 PHB did in 2014 or 2015 that would mean it was a success and not a new edition/version in your mind?I don't agree with some posters that they are expecting or even wanting everyone who owns the core books now to go out and buy new core books - they are likely expecting some to do so, but are mainly wanting to make sure the core books continue to maintain a high position in book selling rankings for years to come, and don't think the rules as they currently stand will allow that to happen. If everyone does go out to buy new copies, or as many as often happens for past edition changes, then I think they have failed in this regard, as will have failed to shift the paradigm, either by not selling the idea well enough, or making too many changes that people feel they need to anyway, like I think 3.5 was.
so as long as we only count the major change editions we can say that...To my mind it is much like how various MMOs go through a lot of updates, such that what WoW or LOTRO look like today, even outside of the expanded areas, are very different to when they first launched in terms of mechanics, how classes work, class skills etc - but is still considered the same game.
On that note, I do think that realistically 1e to 2e could have been similar, just tweaks to the game but still essentially same game, except that I think it likely TSR at the time did try to encourage everyone to buy the latest edition, and helped set the long term expectation that WOTC is trying to tackle now - that ideally only 2e to 3e, 3e to 4e and 4e to 5e were in their
mind genuine edition changes, with 3.5 being quite borderline in that regard, and ones that require people to buy new books.
I agree they plan to reprint the adventures... the 'back compatibility' appears (to me) to be entirely on the adventure side... but not the player sideI think they would like to keep the old adventurers in print, and reprint as needed like with Tyranny of Dragons, post 2024, which hasn't occurred with previous editions without having to revise them to match the new rules (I'm unsure what happened between 1e and 2e, a little bit before I came in, I was only playing from 2e onwards).