When will D&D 5e be published?

[Fifth Element]

They could always hire Coke and Pepsi's advertising agents. I'm looking forward to plushie D&D polar owlbears.

Pepsi: for when they don't have Coke.

 

[Odhanan]

When the virtual game table is ready.

 

[Eridanis]

I voted 2011, but not for snarky reasons. The current schedule for 2010 shows no new product past the Dark Sun books, except for "pull in new players" boxed sets and support. I wouldn't be surprised to see WotC continue to push in that direction; we may see all new material (what one might find in the PHB or MM series) released solely on DDI, while in-print books will be the starter material.

WotC may not call it 5E, but I suspect some people are taking a very hard look at the product lines and on distribution. After all, consumers in the 21st century (especially hobbyist gamers like us) are used to going online to obtain product. It's the 12-year-olds and the lapsed players who really need print products visible on shelves to spark impulse buys.

All heavily IMO, it goes without saying.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

It's the 12-year-olds and the lapsed players who really need print products visible on shelves to spark impulse buys.

Well, I would say that capturing the 12-year-olds and the lapsed players would be the best possible goal WotC/Hasbro could set.

And (IMHO) the best way to do that is generating impulse buying by placing boxed sets of D&D in toystores and department stores, not hobby shops or comic book stores.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I said 2015, although that's just a guess. My honest answer would be, "Whenever they announce it, 4e critics will crow that it's shorter than (insert edition here) thus proving the failure that was 4e" regardless of any other factors.

If history has taught us anything, it's that most of those crowing will be former 4e fans

I'm going to say "Depends on what they do after Dark Sun." Will Wizards bring back yet another old setting, or will they make their own? Besides that, will they manage to keep a steady process of new classes and races without beginning to strike the issues 2e had?

 

[Wik]

2017. For a few reasons:

1) 4e seems to release fewer books than 3e did. Which means that if they plan to release the same amount of books as they did for 3e (more or less) it will take longer. Give or take.

2) 4e seems more willing to touch non-core settings than 3e, meaning we can see more campaign settings coming out. One a year means there's a lot of room for wotc to cover without becoming redundant.

3) It seems to me that new editions of D&D seem to come out during times of economic crises - or at the tail end of such crises. Since the one we're currently in is just fading out... we'll have to wait for the next one for 5e. Which I predict to be in about seven years.

 

[Azgulor]

I'm a D&D fan, they have my money pretty much regardless of what they do or when they do it, so it doesn't matter too much to me, hehe.

I truly don't understand this mindset. You're a fan of the brand and the game doesn't matter?

I'm a fan of RPGs. I've been a fan of D&D. I left D&D in 2e but came back to it in 3rd. I have no interest in 4th. I might have an interest in 5e. I would never be naive enough to think I'm guaranteed to like future editions let alone that WotC will definitely get my money.

I can appreciate brand loyalty to a point. I've been a Coca-cola fan forever, but I still thought New Coke sucked.

 

[haakon1]

They could always hire Coke and Pepsi's advertising agents. I'm looking forward to plushie D&D polar owlbears.

And purple worm slushies?

I've got a bad feeling this could turn into another New Coke argument.

 

[AllisterH]

With no true setting support to keep fans of previous settings or to inspire people new to the game, it may cripple the long-term viability of the line. The 3 and done model for settings will, IMO, prove to be incredibly short-sighted.

.

Actually...I don't think this is true about 4e....

3.x core setting was never really expanded upon, but 4e is a lot similar to 1e in that many of the books such as Hammerfast and even PH2 expand on the default setting.

It's actually kind of cool to have to "construct" the setting from the tidbits released so far....

 

[ggroy]

The few ways I can see WotC publishing a 5E D&D in 2011 or 2012 are:

1 - A 5E D&D with a new design has already been in development for several years in secret (ie. since 2007 or earlier).
2 - A corrected and updated version of 3.5E D&D is released as "5E D&D".

An updated corrected version of 3.5E D&D, would be competing head on directly with Pathfinder.