Why the thought of D&D 5e makes me sad...

[Henry]

You don't hear the 1E & 2E crowd bellyaching because they can't pick up a new supplement at the local gaming store, do you?

Well, there's two reasons for that, and one is that they have the pre-3E clones to fall back on, lack of defense against which WotC might end up regretting in the future, because if there's a big enough desire, you can bet a "4E-compatible base ruleset" will pop up under the OGL or a similar license -- probably the OGL simply BECAUSE they have reign to use terms like Armor Class, Hit Points, saving throw, etc. Papers and Paychecks, commenting on OSRIC, said the terminology from the OGL is what made it possible, not the rule sets.

The second reason for no bellyaching is because the old books aren't leaving -- everyone currently has everything they possibly need to play 4E for MANY MANY years. I can personally attest that you can get by just fine without the DDI -- I've been playing a Dark Sun game for a year now with a PDF fill-in sheet and a power card creator program, and it's been working flawlessly.

In the end, I think the OGL has not only released D&D to the public for consumption, it's also muddied the waters sufficiently that any version of D&D from here on out will be available to the public to create material for after its demise.

 

[Bedrockgames]

People are still playing 1e and 2e, so I think even without an ogl 4e will still be viable for those who want it.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Walking Dad brings up an important concern. The OGL let ODnD clones, 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, 3.0, 3.5, CnC, Pathfinder and others to exist in a free form throughout the internet without legal reprisal. Will WoTC allow people to continue to create and distribute 4E material throughout the internet once they convert to 5e? If so, for how long? I think it's a great question.

 

[Mallus]

The 3.5 fans were lucky. Because of the OGL, their game can live on.

Other editions of D&D are living on. My group's currently playing AD&D, and I'm using the same books I had in high school to run it. Besides, I saw a whole bunch of AD&D core books on the shelf in Powell's last month when I was visiting Portland... it's not hard to acquire pre-3e material.

And getting back Monte Cook will not help much...

I like Monte as a designer. His quirks --yay casters!-- are, if nothing else, in line with the traditional spirit of the game.

 

[GregoryOatmeal]

I think the most interesting thing that will arise out of this edition change will be to see what happens with the DDI.

If they intentionally removed 4E content from DDI they would provoke unprecedented nerd rage. I can't imagine why they would intentionally remove the content if people are still willing to pay for it.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

I think you are worried without cause.

I'm a fan of 7th Sea. I'm CO-GMing a game currently and will be starting a new game for a group this month. 7th Sea has been out of print for a long time and yet, every couple of years, I never have a problem getting enough people together to play it.

Why? Because the people I play with care more about the game then the game system. They are willing to try new things and old things. Our core group perfers the following systems

4E (two of them)
Mage 2nd Edition
Vampire
2nd Edition DnD
7th Sea

Why worry about the future? Enjoy the game your playing.

 

[jaerdaph]

I was just thinking how 5e will be the first edition of D&D post Gary and Dave.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

If they intentionally removed 4E content from DDI they would provoke unprecedented nerd rage. I can't imagine why they would intentionally remove the content if people are still willing to pay for it.

WotC stopped selling PDFs. It did provoke an uprecedented level of nerd rage. WotC shrugged and mumbled something about pirates.

 

[jaerdaph]

If they intentionally removed 4E content from DDI they would provoke unprecedented nerd rage. I can't imagine why they would intentionally remove the content if people are still willing to pay for it.

They will eventually remove 4e content though. If they are smart they just won't do it right away. I'm guessing they are probably smart.

 

[Hussar]

Sorry, rantish

The 3.5 fans were lucky. Because of the OGL, their game can live on. The GSL forbids a 'Pathfinder' for the 4e.

And getting back Monte Cook will not help much...

IMHO, the 3.x edition changed gaming because of the OGL. Not because the rules were better designed (by MC and others) than 4e or the d20 variants that came later.

Monte Cook is one of the guys who thought building in intentional traps into a RPG would increase the fun. He designed Book of Vile Deeds.

All his in-house-products were magic centric and left non-spellcasters behind. The two best books of his label (IMHO) were Book of Iron Might abd Iron Heroes, both designed by Michael Mearls, not him.

So I predict a backwards step in gaming design and no other company will be able to pick up the great 4e rules.

Please, WotC, once you abandon 4e, make it's rules OGL. Not instantly, to provide a quick competition like Pathfinder, but eventually, for us fans.

No thanks. If they make the rules OGL, then A) 5e can't use any rules from 4e and B)4e will be immedietely stripped from the DDI.

Thing is, with the DDI, there's no reason not to leave it on there. They can't put 3e into the DDI because it's OGL and that won't play well with the subscription model (any OGL material can immediately be copied by someone else and presented for free) and, frankly, it would cost more than it would be worth to input all that material into the DDI since it most likely isn't in a format that can be directly imported.

OTOH, 4e already is IN the DDI. It doesn't require anything and can sit there, quite nicely forever. So long as people continue to subscribe and click that "4e campaign" tab, they'll leave it up. It would be foolish not to.

The thing about the DDI is that you no longer need to sell PHB's to keep your edition afloat. So long as people keep paying you a subscription rate, it's more than worth your while to keep it available. It doesn't steal from new subscriptions - after all, they don't care what you play, so long as you subscribe.

My prediction is that when 5e does eventually come out, there will be a tab in the DDI for switching between rules sets. Since the work for 4e will already be done, there's no reason to drop it.