Will anyone fill WOTC's shoes with 3E?

[GVDammerung]

Thinking about the fact that 3E is the first edition of D&D to have an OGL, and an SRD, it is also the first edition where another company could step in and fill the edition support void left behind when the company moves on to a new edition.

So is there anyone who is going to try out this "first time ever" opportunity?

If someone were to step forward (my favorite candidate being Green Ronin, with Paizo and Goodman close seconds) and fill this void how many of you would stay with 3E rather than move on and esseentially throwing all the money you spent on 3e away?

I'm not going to rule out entirely the possibility of converting to 4e as I have yet to see the game. From what I know of 4e to this point, however, I am not loving the concept in most of its particulars. Add to this that I own a metric TON of 3x material that I have yet to fully utilize, which will not be compatible with 4e as I understand things, and that 3X is a solidly enjoyable game in its own right, and the chances grow slimmer that 4e plays a large part in my gaming future.

While there are others in the same or similar boat, I think 4e's great disability (as I presently understand the game) will be its lack of customization or "mod-ability" as compared to 3x. 3x's PrCs, racial substitution levels, templates etc. have created a host of players for whom "the build" is a game within a game. I doubt they will be happy with 4e if 4e doesn't offer them as great or greater "build" opportunities. These folks, IMO, will be inclined to stick with 3x.

All this by way of preamble, I think for second half 2008 and all of 2009, support for 3x will be very slim pickings. I think, however, that 4e will show its vulnerability by 2010 or, put another way, 3x will show its durability, such that 3rd party support for 3x will begin to pick up by 2010. I'll predict this support from players and publishers for 3x will become sufficiently robust to see 4e revised early to 5e by 2014.

Given what I know of 4e to this point.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Oh, I'm going on to 4E alright - no question. Thus far there's only one thing that I'm seriously hesitant about in it, the rest sounds like it will be fun to try out. As with 3E, however, I'm not such a fanboy that I assume that I will play the new edition to the exclusion of all other considerations. If it turns out I really don't care for 4E, I WILL go back to an earlier edition (maybe 3E, maybe 1E, maybe even OD&D or move to C&C or...). I'm not intending to BURN my old books, just put them on a different shelf because I don't PLAN to use them.

 

[carmachu]

3rd ed seems like a dead end. Never has so much been released for an edition. And it will probably be cheap on ebay, and endlessly available in pdf. There is enough out there to literally play 100s of different kinds of charecters in 100s of adventures in dozens of settings for probably 100s of years.

If you like 3ed. Your set.

Thats sort of the double edged sword, no? Never has so much been released, folks are even MORE reluctant to rebuy the $2K or more worth of books just for a new edition....when they havent even used what they got. I still have to get in some time with IH, Arcana Unearthed and WLD...and some other things.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Probably 3e and "Od20" for the foreseeable future. And that could be quite some time. . .

Oh, well, that plus the occasional dip into other, older systems.

 

[delericho]

If I were running a games company, I would wait and see. If 4e takes off (as I expect it will) then it would be madness to continue to support 3e. If, however, 4e is a flop, or only a moderate success, then a mid-tier OGL company may well see an opportunity, and publish 'their' OGL Fantasy core rulebooks.

Once those are in print, I would expect 3e to remain supported for the foreseeable future, although probably not by the 'big guns' of the industry. My reason for this last assertion is that if WotC found themselves competing with a revitalised 3e then I expect they'd enter "strategic partnerships" with Paizo, Goodman, and others to try to tie them in to the new edition.

Would I stay, or would I go? That depends very much on whether I like 4e or not. In any event, I don't need any new material - I have enough to last me for decades, and can readily create whatever else I need.

 

[bytor4232]

If I were running a games company, I would wait and see. If 4e takes off (as I expect it will) then it would be madness to continue to support 3e. If, however, 4e is a flop, or only a moderate success, then a mid-tier OGL company may well see an opportunity, and publish 'their' OGL Fantasy core rulebooks.

Honestly, I don't see 4e being a smash success. I think it will be a moderate success, but not a runaway hit. There was a reason to switch from 2e to 3e, most everyone I've talked to don't see the current situation as being the same.

I think the third edition poll of players and DMs will split, most likely in half. Half of those with 3e will stay with 3e, and the other half will move on to 4e. I'm sure they will attract new players to 4e, but I simply don't see everyone moving on. Mark my words, 50% of the current D&D gamers won't upgrade. They are probably the same people who bought the PHB and nothing else too.

 

[ivocaliban]

I'm sticking with 3.5e rules. I've sunk way too much money into this system to start again from scratch. There are still quite a few books from third party publishers I want for this edition anyway.

Frankly, I'll be glad to get off the WotC train before it jumps the tracks (or transforms into a space shuttle and flies back to Cybertron).

 

[Marshal Lucky]

Not on these boards.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I won't move to 4e for a while as I have a ton of dough invested in 3.5 and - more importantly - it's still fun.

When that fun begins to diminish to the point where 4e will spark a new thrill is what will have me changing. The rest is details.

The "time is right" for WotC because they want to sell more books - right now.

The "time is right" for me when I'm not getting the fun that I want out of the books I already bought - and that isn't right now.

Those two purposes do not cross paths in the foreseeable future.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I answered I'm going to 4e no matter what. But in reality if the new game sucks I won't.
I don't think a new company needs to start publishing 3.X material for people to keep playing. There's so much 3.5 material already out there I think there actually is no need for anymore of it, just about every area has been covered by a book (I personally only have maybe half a dozen 3.5 books outside of the core rules, I simply don't see the need for some of the areas most of these books cover).

Other than more adventures (and most groups I know homebrew those) what other support would be needed to keep playing 3rd edition is my point essentially?