What makes a new edition?

[francisca]

Subjective, subjective, subjective. So here is my take.

To me, a new edition of a game introduces one or more of the following into the core ruleset:
-overhaul of one or more exisiting mechanics
-introduction of one or more new mechanics
-streamlining multiple mechanics and merging into fewer
-breaking out an aspect of the game which then recieves a mechanic of it's own

To me, anything is else is a expansion, revision, option, or errata.


Speaking from a practical sense, a new edition is whatever the publisher/author defines it as.

 

[FreeXenon]

I found this thread a little bit late - Crothian and Torm, way beat me to it....

I was going to say 'Cool It Now"

But on topic....

If there are significant enough changes so that you may have to differentiate what version of the Rules Set you are using.... if there are fundamental changes to portions of the rules set. Yes, very subjective.... wherer do you place the threshhold... enough for a new version... not enough (errata??)

 

[Turjan]

I keep hearing how two players with AE and AU can play the same game but I'm not seeing it in reality.

Well, if I look at the 11 pages document (including OGL license and other stuff) that brings the AU book to AE standards, then I notice that most of the points are clarifications, followed by errata, and then there are changes. Many of the changes are pretty minor, like changing level borders from, e.g., 6,601 to 6,600 XP, and then there are a few more profound changes, like those to racial levels or the magister spells per day list. So, in principle I don't see why you cannot use the AU book together with the AE book. The important things are still the same.

So how many changes/additions does a game have to have before it's a new edition?

Well, here I go with many of the people who answered before me: It's a new edition when the publisher says so. Whether I have to follow edition changes when it's only some changed cosmetic details is a completely different question .

 

[Ron]

If the contents are different from a previous printing, then the publisher should alert the readers that it is a different edition. I doesn't matter if there is a diferent number or they just called it a revised edition. That's why Chaosium keep releasing new edition of Call of Cthulhu, even if the game rules are very similar, if not the same. Each edition of CoC has different contents, which may be short stories, background information and even some revisions of the rules. As the rules (BRP) hasn't changed much in the last 20 years, a CoC player don't need to buy every single edition, although he might consider an upgrade if his book is in bad shape. There is a big diference in a new edition of a book and a new version of rules, which I think it's why some people are confused.

 

[Ranger REG]

Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens, and Ronnie DeVoe.

ain't New Edition without the others.

For a moment there, I thought you're going to say "Bobby Brown." However, that's your prerogative.

Anyhoo... a new edition of RPG or any game may vary from publishers. Sometimes it is a refinement of a previous edition, or a complete overhaul. Then again, it's a marketing gimmick.

 

[jeffh]

I disagree. It happened for me when I finally found a 3e party. Before that, I played AD&D (because I didn't find anyone to play 3e with me), but already know 3e, and knew how good D&D actually could be. I would go so far to say that it was suddenly twice as fun (but a lot of that is due to the fact that the other DM is much better, so I think 50% is about right)

Far be it from me to tell you what you do and don't find fun, but I think you should consider the possibility that the new group and particularly the better DM is responsible for a lot more of the difference than you think.

Which is not to say I would ever go back to second edition in a million years.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Far be it from me to tell you what you do and don't find fun, but I think you should consider the possibility that the new group and particularly the better DM is responsible for a lot more of the difference than you think.

I know, you cannot really put numeric values to things as this, I was merely stating the above statement to be contrary

The DM and other players did contribute a lot to the "pleasure gain", but the less restrictive and more logical rules were another contributing factor.

My problem was that I knew the 3e rules before I started playing AD&D PnP. My first contact with the game was with Baldur's Gate, and there the rules are not felt as much as with PnP. Then, when the talk about NWN started, I read what they said about this "3rd Edition Rules", and decided to get the PHB 3.0. Soon, I got the other core rules and wanted to play badly. I remembered that some of my old aquaintances played that sort of thing - roleplaying games, tabletop, you name it - and called him. He did play, but only AD&D 2e, because he didn't like 3e. Since it was the only party available, I joined. From day one, I saw the rules and saw that they made no sense compared to the corresponding 3e rules.

It's a bit like playing part two or three of a computer game series first and then playing the former titles - you know how glorious things can be (especially with graphics) and thus are less receptible for the former stuff.