Wizards: Musings on the new DDi disaster

[ggroy]

As such, I don't believe there's ever going to be a need for a 5e.

Technically they don't have to market a new "iteration" of D&D as 5E.

A new iteration of D&D (whether it will be called 5E or not) may very well be inevitable, assuming D&D is not taken off the market. The decision to pump out a new iteration of D&D, will most likely be driven by the accounting/finance people and upper management at WotC.

Going back in history, according to the "[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Presents-Classes-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786948019"]Wizards Presents: Races and Classes[/ame]" book on page 8, they mentioned that work on 4E D&D started in mid-2005. So from start to the release date of 4E PHB1, it took around three years.

For 4E Essentials they had a one year "rushed" turnaround, where they started working on it back in September 2009. This is according to the July 2010 WotC D&D podcast, mentioned at around 00:00:55 in the podcast.

If the next iteration of D&D is just a clean up and/or refinement of 4E D&D, most likely it won't take as long as three years, but will most likely still take at least a year (by past precedents).

If they started working on a new iteration of D&D today, most likely it will take them two or three years from start to release date (ie. 2012 or 2013 respectively), depending on whether it is respectively just a "cleanup + refinement" or a completely new design.

 

[the Jester]

WoTC basically tells us they don't like it when you do that. But, yeah, so do I.

If you're referring to piracy or to the "once a year subscriber" phenomenon, maybe.

If you're referring to people that buy a few books and then play the game- which is, I think, what Dice4Hire meant- than you're being silly, perhaps even disingenuous, and I think you should retreat from your statement.

Or, if you'd like to stand by it, I'd like to see a quote or some kind of citation that backs you up.

 

[Scribble]

If they started working on a new iteration of D&D today, most likely it will take them two or three years from start to release date (ie. 2012 or 2013 respectively), depending on whether it is respectively just a "cleanup + refinement" or a completely new design.

If they make it basically "slot in" to your existing 4e game in the way Essentials does- I'm all for it!

If they make it "semi" compatible (like Gamma World) but continue selling the base 4e rules- that would also be cool...

Move away from the idea of edition/reboot, and just keep adding elements and ideas to the existing game in order to re-spark interest.

 

[ggroy]

If they make it basically "slot in" to your existing 4e game in the way Essentials does- I'm all for it!

If they make it "semi" compatible (like Gamma World) but continue selling the base 4e rules- that would also be cool...

Move away from the idea of edition/reboot, and just keep adding elements and ideas to the existing game in order to re-spark interest.

It would be the easiest to start off from a generic 4E Essentials "Rules Compendium" base, instead of "reinventing the wheel" over and over again with each new iteration.

 

[Thanlis]

It would be the easiest to start off from a generic 4E Essentials "Rules Compendium" base, instead of "reinventing the wheel" over and over again with each new iteration.

Exactly. Although the Rules Compendium is a general framework for 4e in a way that the Heroes books or even the Monster Vault is not. Fun exercise for the home viewer: how much would you have to change/cut from the Compendium before you had something as generic as GURPS?

From a branding perspective, my uninformed opinion is that WotC would be better off getting away from the edition-related brands. You want people focusing on D&D, not on a particular edition. But that ship may have sailed a long time ago.

 

[Stoat]

From a branding perspective, my uninformed opinion is that WotC would be better off getting away from the edition-related brands. You want people focusing on D&D, not on a particular edition. But that ship may have sailed a long time ago.

I'm not sure the ship has sailed. My copy of the Rules Compendium doesn't say "4th Edition" anywhere on the cover.

I predict that WotC won't release a product called "5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons." I strongly suspect that it will just play off the 4th Edition framework, using the DDI to evolve the rules without formally declaring a new edition of the game.

If WotC does publish a new edition. I think they'll reboot the franchise and just call it "D&D."

 

[darkwing]

If WotC does publish a new edition. I think they'll reboot the franchise and just call it "D&D."

"D&D: The Collectible Card Game"

 

[renau1g]

mmm....booster packs.

 

[Squire James]

While "voting with your $$$" is indeed a valid and oft-used consumer rights tactic, it does not preclude a lawsuit over a subscription service consumer product that does not deliver what the service provider promised or should have realized would be perceived as a promise.

Again, though, what you get awarded in such cases is typically a refund- possibly some court costs- unless the non-conformity is judged to be fraudulent.

The EULA for the Character Builder had some pretty clear language regarding disclaiming their liability to update their product. There were some advance word on what they planned to do, but I didn't see any promises in there.

Then again, I wager SOME lawyer will still be able to convince a jury to award damages to someone who ate thumbtacks from a box labelled "Do Not Eat" (there was no warning on the tacks!). Pardon the "ad adsurdem" here - I'm not suggesting this situation is this extreme but I want to make my point obvious.

 

[Scribble]

It would be the easiest to start off from a generic 4E Essentials "Rules Compendium" base, instead of "reinventing the wheel" over and over again with each new iteration.

From a branding perspective, my uninformed opinion is that WotC would be better off getting away from the edition-related brands. You want people focusing on D&D, not on a particular edition. But that ship may have sailed a long time ago.

I think we're already starting to see it...

Cases in point: Essentials and Gamma World. Both of them are D&D "Whatever."

I think based on some of the comments at the Gencon Seminars when the Ravenloft Campaign setting comes out, we'll see it functions kind of like Gamma World. It's highly importable into any D&D 4e based game, however, it will have some of it's own unique aspects that change the rules up in certain ways to match the flavor.