Will there ever be new editions of the major systems?

[UngainlyTitan]

I don't think it's just naming conventions that will factor into that. I think WotC got burned so badly by making a major break with 4E that, unless something dramatically changes (like sales drop to zero dramatic), they will want to have more continuity with the current version each time they push out a new iteration.

So we'll see stuff like the 1E/2E or 3E/3.5 transition, but those are editions where people quite easily used material from either side of the line interchangeably, although the market largely moved forward to the newest version over time.

I tend to agree with this, I also think, that the bigger WoTC D&D gets the more conservative it becomes. They could risk being radical with 3.x because the market was dead or nearly dead. They attempted radical with 4e because their business model was burning out their customers but the 4e version was not only not as popular, but it burned out customers faster.
From a business perspective they radically changed course with 5e, this was an edition to please the market, and it worked like a dream from a business perspective.
In the near future I do not see that changing much unless they really monetize the brand. By that I mean, that the most of their D&D revenue comes from something other than the game books, The VTT, hosting third party material, mugs, merch and other tat, boardgames or whatever.
If at some point the game books revenue sink below a certain percentage of total revenue, you might see a radically different game.
Does that mean no new editions? I really dunno but I do not foresee a new edition that is not "Backward compatible" anytime soon.

 

[Parmandur]

This is where I suspect WotC would like to take D&D but they've been failing since 4th edition at least. They want recurrent spenders and a subscription seems like a good way to get them.

Here's the thing though, with Beyond theybseem to have finally nailed that.

 

[The Soloist]

Traveller is a REALLY WEIRD example to use here because it sure changed over the years. I mean its main rule engine was the Twilight: 2000 rules for a while, then GURPS. The fact that it (in the form of Mongoose Traveller) appears to have not changed much is because it came back around to it roots.

Well crap on me then! LOL

I don't consider T20, GURPS Traveller and Traveller Hero to be 'new' editions à la D&D. They were entirely different games with licensing agreements.

Traveller Twilight: 2000 qualifies is a sub-set of rules for those who liked T2000, because it was in-house. Regular Traveller was available by GDW, at the same time, right?

 

[Parmandur]

Well crap on me then! LOL

I don't consider T20, GURPS Traveller and Traveller Hero to be 'new' editions à la D&D. They were entirely different games with licensing agreements.

Traveller Twilight: 2000 qualifies is a sub-set of rules for those who liked T2000, because it was in-house. Regular Traveller was available by GDW, at the same time, right?

No. Actually, Traveller: The New Era replaced Megatraveller entirely. It...didn't go well. So much so, in fact, that itnis a pretty direct analogy to 4E D&D.

I think you basically are right thouh: Traveller has a history that parallels D&D pretty closely, a Rollercoaster to an evergreen present.

 

[The Soloist]

No. Actually, Traveller: The New Era replaced Megatraveller entirely. It...didn't go well. So much so, in fact, that itnis a pretty direct analogy to 4E D&D.

WOW! that is what I call a Wisdom 3 moment.

 

[Umbran]

I hate to break it to you, but you're old. 1990 was 35 years ago!

We can look instead at Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Spider-Gwen, and Ironheart/Riri Williams, all creations post 2010.

 

[Argyle King]

I think we will definitely see a D&D 6th Edition. Traditionally, when Vecna dies, that signals time for a new edition.

 

[TwoSix]

I mean I'm on record as a major Fate skeptic (and even more major Fate Accelerated hater) so it really does not surprise me to see their FitD stuff selling much better, but Fate was practically the center of the "but what else?" discussion in TTRPGs for so long, and I know it has it's devoted fans, so it would seem weird to see it fade away entirely.

To those of us who come of age in the TTRPG market of the '90s, it's pretty wild that White Wolf went from one of the two main branches of RPGs to an afterthought in less than a decade, but that's exactly what happened.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Marvel and DC do add new characters, they very often just don't become popular enough to last and join the ranks of the famous characters. Most of the more recent superheroes that seem to have some stickiness are versions of previous characters - e.g., Miles Morales Spider-Man, Ghost Spider/Spider-Gwen, Ms Marvel/Kamala Khan, the Damian Wayne Robin, X-23, etc.

(None of those are actually recent; I haven't been reading comics as much, so I haven't noticed any new characters, beyond new X-Men. Also, it takes years to see if a character is actually going to stick around, and decades to see if they'll really stick around.)

Back on topic, all of those games will have new versions eventually, if just to refresh things. But I'd think you'd always look to new games for whole new mechanics - if a new edition of an old game has whole new mechanics, then it isn't really a new game dressed up as an old game, rather than a new edition of the old game?

Given the differences between 2e, 3e, 4e and 5e D&D, those seem more like new games in many ways rather than new editions to me.

 

[payn]

I think we will definitely see a D&D 6th Edition. Traditionally, when Vecna dies, that signals time for a new edition.

...but Vecna never dies.