D&D (2024) What would change for you if Wizards started calling it 6E?

[Micah Sweet]

I'm sure it would have worked better if it was a change you liked. That said, D&D Beyond was able to handle legacy and updated versions, regardless of if you could.

Fair enough. I'm never going to see the value of updating major modules of the rules without an edition change call-out though. On the other hand, I don't use D&D Beyond and don't intend to, and the sort of thing I'm concerned about matters more in print I think.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

5e became a runaway success because WoTC learned the hard way of what happens when you don't make an edition backwards compatible with the edition that came before it.

That's... not a thing. You cannot run a 5e game with straight 3e materials any more than 4e materials, or 2e materials when using 3e.

 

[Corinnguard]

That's... not a thing. You cannot run a 5e game with 3e materials any more than 4e materials, or 2e materials when using 3e.

I agree. You cannot run a 5e game with 3e materials. 5e wasn't made to be backwards compatible with 3e or 4e for that matter. It seems backwards compatibility became a thing only when Paizo came out with Pathfinder 1st edition, which was backwards compatible with 3e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I agree. You cannot run a 5e game with 3e materials. 5e wasn't made to be backwards compatible with 3e or 4e for that matter. It seems backwards compatibility became a thing only when Paizo came out with Pathfinder 1st edition, which was backwards compatible with 3e.

Well, 2e was backwards compatible with 1e in very large part, but if you're talking WotC then yes.

 

[Corinnguard]

Well, 2e was backwards compatible with 1e in very large part, but if you're talking WotC then yes.

Back when D&D was owned by TSR. I played 2e back in college in the early 90's.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

It seems backwards compatibility became a thing only when Paizo came out with Pathfinder 1st edition, which was backwards compatible with 3e.

Alright, you're saying that making an edition change is always a risk, and you want to make the transition as painless for your users as possible. This is definitely true. Already we see some splintering in this thread if they'd called it 6e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Back when D&D was owned by TSR. I played 2e back in college in the early 90's.

Me too. High school for me though. Class of '94!

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Now, the above being said, there was no smooth way to go forwards from 3e into something like 5e. It would've gotten just as violent a reaction as 4e did from those same parties...

'nooo my christmas tree of buffs is gone this is made for casuals now'
'how can I roleplay my character without Use Rope? don't people tie ropes in this new strange world'

 

[Corinnguard]

Now, the above being said, there was no smooth way to go forwards from 3e into something like 5e. It would've gotten just as violent a reaction as 4e did from those same parties. 'nooo my christmas tree of buffs is gone this is made for casuals now'

True. You would have needed a 4e that kept what worked for 3e and fixed what didn't work for that edition. Then 5e would have kept what worked for 4e and fixed what didn't work. And so on. A new edition of the game is 'born' when the number of fixes reaches critical mass. Whenever that might be. WoTC is hoping that One D&D is a new version of 5e.

 

[Pedantic]

Now, the above being said, there was no smooth way to go forwards from 3e into something like 5e. It would've gotten just as violent a reaction as 4e did from those same parties...

'nooo my christmas tree of buffs is gone this is made for casuals now'
'how can I roleplay my character without Use Rope? don't people tie ropes in this new strange world'

I don't know if we can really say that. It's possible 4e was uniquely offensive to prior edition player sensibilities in some way that 5e wouldn't have been. Certainly there would have been complaint along the lines you're suggesting, but I'm not sure we can extrapolate that because 4e provoked that reaction, 5e would have provoked the same one.

Certainly, I would have been rioting in the forums in much the same way, but I've found a lot of the bedfellows that didn't like 4e along with me had very different motivations/reasons that might not have put us in the same camp had it been 5e at that point instead.