D&D General Which Previous Edition (poll; read OP)

[GMforPowergamers]

On the other hand, being perfectly frank, I don't think Mike Mearls ever actually liked 4e. In fact, I think he was opposed to several of its design conceits, and that his (undoubtedly well-meaning) efforts to defy them dealt significant damage to it.

I never got this impression... but that is an interesting thing to read into.

So I think, both externally and internally, the next decade is going to be kinder to 4e. I had, personally, expected it to be the Forgotten Edition, and we saw plenty of signs of that years ago. People celebrating 5e developing something brand-new that were developed or refined in 4e instead was...a really common occurrence for several years. Now, though? I dunno. We may see 4e rehabilitated.

I hope so

I don't think 4e will have too much influence on "5.50" or whatever we come to call 2024 D&D, unless they make the shocking decision to include an actual Warlord class

GOD I WISH...

I could actually see a future where 6e (or 7e, or whatever the thing that comes after 2024 D&D gets called) is more of a synthesis of 4e and 5e, something with similarities to 13th Age.

in general I like even numbers editions more then odd so far so maybe 6e will be my 4e revisited

 

[payn]

in general I like even numbers editions more then odd so far so maybe 6e will be my 4e revisited

I cant wait for the "why they making D&D like Pathfinder 2?" memes.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I cant wait for the "why they making D&D like Pathfinder 2?" memes.

I very rarely get situations where I actually can choose between laughing and crying. But here I choose to laugh.

 

[Older Beholder]

I wouldn’t be interested in playing an older edition, not for a year long campaign. Maybe a one shot or single adventure. I would miss playing 5E too much, there’s also a lot of interesting stuff on the horizon for the current edition which for me is getting better all the time.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Wow, surprised how much votes for 4e. Although I said I'd want to play in a 4e game, not run it. If it was to run, I'd be in the special snowflake category running Troika or Trophy Gold or Freebooters on the Frontier or some such...

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I never got this impression... but that is an interesting thing to read into.

This is, of course, sort of a matter of reading the tea leaves, aka we may see what we wish to see and not what is real.

However, there are some signs of it. Mearls had a prominent role with the early official adventures for 4e, that was AIUI the part of 4e where his work was more prominent than other authors, whereas for other books his role was more minor. And those adventures...are not very good by 4e rules! They're slow and grindy with a ton of unnecessary combats that only exist to cause slow attrition (something 4e is...different about vs other editions), the mechanics of the fights are largely dull, and the skill challenges are some of the worst examples in the whole game. In general, the Pyramid of Shadows and the Keep on the Shadowfell are both regarded as really, really bad--and dealt a terrible blow to early adopters who figured that must be what 4e would always be like. So that's strike one.

Two, we already knew there was a problem inside WotC, of designers constantly (but not strictly intentionally) making Wizards more powerful than other classes. Heinsoo didn't name names about this, saying it was a team issue that he had to repeatedly correct for. But it's not hard to think Mearls just subconsciously thinks (or thought) that Wizards are better than other classes in D&D. And then, when he was put in charge...we got Essentials, which very specifically produced some of the weakest, most poorly-designed classes in the game, like the Binder. Yet the Wizard was almost untouched by this, getting several perfectly solid options. (I say "almost" because the Bladesinger was bad. Getting Wizard encounter powers as daily powers? Uh...no.) That's strike two.

And then, as noted, Mearls made openly anti-4e edition war jokes during a podcast. Very specifically, he used the "shouting hands back on" joke to make fun of the idea of a Warlord that heals people, as part of talking about why they weren't going to make a Warlord class. He followed this up by saying "I'm being ridiculous," but it was a really noticeable example of the hostility toward 4e ideas, not just mechanics but the very concepts 4e used, coming straight from the top. It's notable that he never used any other edition-warring rhetoric, and was in fact very respectful toward old-school editions. For me, that was strike three.

Mearls just...either he never grokked 4e and the reasons people liked it, or he outright disliked it, or he thought he was making things better when he was not doing so. Regardless of the reason, he was clearly unenthusiastic at best regarding 4e and frequently opposed to its concepts and structures. Crawford seems to have a much more open mind, and seems to value rules consistency and clarity much more than Mearls did (probably from many years of doing Sage Advice.) So I look forward to seeing how this change of leadership affects 4e's legacy.

 

[el-remmen]

1st choice: BECMI or B/X (I never even knew there was a difference even back in the early 80s except for the covers - I had B/X and then supplemented with Companion - by the time Masters came out I had moved on to AD&D - but I did make sure to get a Rules Cyclopedia later)

2nd choice: 2E

 

[thom_likes_gaming]

I voted "other".
Under the 'Group I trust' premise, I'd have no preference. Of all D&D editions, 5e is my fav, but with the right people I'll play anything.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Gotta say, really surprised that 4e remains in the lead even if you don't combine the two options (which, as stated, you should.) If you do, it's nearly a third of all responses, and far and away the most common response. Very surprising.

 

[payn]

Gotta say, really surprised that 4e remains in the lead even if you don't combine the two options (which, as stated, you should.) If you do, it's nearly a third of all responses, and far and away the most common response. Very surprising.

Not really, nearly every conversation here on ENworld ends up a 4E discussion somehow.