D&D 4E Will 4E be backwards compatible?

[MoogleEmpMog]

A new edition, I believe, shouldn't have to come for at least 20 years.

Wow.

All I can say is, have fun, because I sure wouldn't.

I'll be here in the present, playing games that grow and develop as we learn more about how RPGs work and explore new ways of making them work better.

I can think of only one tabletop RPG twenty or more years old I could stand to play: 1e Champions. Not that I wouldn't prefer 5e Champions, but the systems are pretty similar. Actually, the then-groundbreaking Ghostbusters game might be twenty years old, now. I'd play that, too, but probably not as a campaign.

 

[thundershot]

Wow. This thread just gave me a flashback to the 3.0 announcement, which nobody was going to buy either!

Thanks for the memories!

I was just thinking the exact same thing.

Could you imagine if there were internet message boards when 2E came out?




Chris

 

[FireLance]

So there'll never be a line drawn somewhere? When 4E slows down, 5E comes, when 5E slows down, 6E comes.

I think WotC is just not running the game properly at all. If you have to make a whole new edition change every 7-8 years, with a possible revision in between, then there's something wrong with the way the company is promoting the game and keeing it fresh. It's definitely not because there's something wrong with the current edition of the game.

A new edition, I believe, shouldn't have to come for at least 20 years.

I think it depends very much on whether you view a RPG as something that should be constantly improving, or something that should remain constant for a long period of time.

My personal view is that WotC has come up with several excellent rule innovations in recent years, and the time is ripe to integrate these rule innovations (and get rid of some rules that don't work) in a new edition.

 

[Tiberius]

So there'll never be a line drawn somewhere? When 4E slows down, 5E comes, when 5E slows down, 6E comes.

In short, no. Why would you, in WotC's shoes, ever artificially limit yourself by saying "We shall produce X editions of the game, and no more!"? We already have a game company that refuses to revise its core mechanics in any appreciable way: we call it Palladium, and when last I checked it was not well-regarded. I, for one, do not want D&D to follow the path trod by RIFTS in this regard.

 

[HeinorNY]

A new edition, I believe, shouldn't have to come for at least 20 years.

I believe it should had come earlier, maybe in 2005.
My buddies that play Vampire get a new edition all the time, now they are hanging out with Nwod and I still have to play the same game since 2000!!!!
That's not fair, WOTC is such a turtle!

 

[Eldragon]

Here is my new edition emotional chart:
2e to 3e: Super Excited. Got me back into the game. I bought every book.
3e to 3.5e: Incredibly mad. I didn't really adopt 3.5 until 2005 or so.
3.5e to 4e: ?

I'm not familiar with Iron Heroes or SW: Saga Edition. I have heard nothing but good things however. So if 4e is like that, I might be excited.

Deal breaker for me: If I can't roll up a good Gish in 4e. The recently released Swiftblade is so much fun for me I'm going to cry if I can't find a DM that won't let me play one in 4e.

 

[Wormwood]

from: http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/11123.html

While there are changes in play (such as incorporating "epic-level play," with 30 levels instead of 20), they are described as "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary." Other changes include new power sources, changes in resource management, and new encounter design, and more clearly defined monster roles. Changes will speed play, make the game easier to learn, and make DM-ing easier. Concepts for 4th Edition gameplay were tested in the new Star Wars RPG, and the Book of 9 Swords.

Damn. I was *really* hoping for "Revolutionary".

 

[HeinorNY]

So there'll never be a line drawn somewhere? When 4E slows down, 5E comes, when 5E slows down, 6E comes.

That's called c-a-p-i-t-a-l-i-s-m.

 

[HeinorNY]

D.P.

 

[HeinorNY]

Concepts for 4th Edition gameplay were tested in the new Star Wars RPG

Say good bye to full melee attacks
Say hello to standard-action charging.

I hope they are talking about the conditions track, that's the only really new thing in SAGA and it would fit D&D pretty well since it brings even more bookeeping and realism!