D&D (2024) WotC D&D Comunity Update for June 8th.

[Parmandur]

I get the feeling they are going to start backtracking on the amount and nature of changes from "overhaul" to "errata ++"

Well, one could have guessed that from word "Go!"

That's always been how UA goes when they do an iterative series, the initial proposal is the most extreme version of the idea, and gers reigned in through testing.

 

[Deset Gled]

Anecdote time. A few years ago (pre-pandemic) I was at a trade show hanging out with our company's president and someone from the marketing team. We were going over swag that we had seen or heard about, talking about what kind of stuff we could use for future shows. One of the ideas from the marketeer was this type of stretchy cloth band. She showed it to the president and started explaining that it could be used as a sweat band, or a hair band, or a bunch of other things, when he stopped her and said something along the lines of "If you have to explain it to me, it's already failed."

That's exactly what I think when I read this:

As we continue playtesting and discussing materials for the upcoming Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual, and even release updates on the D&D Virtual Tabletop and evolving D&D Beyond toolset, it's important to clarify the language we use around these projects. One D&D is the overarching initiative shaping the future of the game. The updated fifth edition rulebooks, VTT, and D&D Beyond updates are housed under this initiative. When talking specifically about the revised fifth edition core rulebooks and their predecessors, we'll identify them by their year of publication. So, if we're talking about the barbarian class in the upcoming Player's Handbook, we'll refer to the book as the “2024 Player's Handbook.”

When the 2024 core rulebooks release, we'll drop the “2024” and simply refer to them by their title. (e.g., the 2024 Player's Handbook will just be the Player's Handbook). At that point, we will only clarify the publication date of the books when we're comparing the 2014 and 2024 versions, or simply referring back to the older version.

We recognize that the term “One D&D” has caused confusion around the updated rulebooks. The 2024 core rulebooks aren't ushering in a new edition of the game; the books you enjoy today will be compatible with the updated core rulebooks, because it's all the same edition of D&D. If you're a casual reader, though, this may not have been clear with how we've used the One D&D term in the past. That said, we'll be updating the language we use here on D&D Beyond and elsewhere so as to eliminate confusion around our continuing support for fifth edition.

Holy moly, what a mess. What are we calling this new thing now? It's not an edition, it's a release year? But it also won't be a release year once it's released? How do we know when we use a VTT if it will pull up the original 5e barbarian or the new 5e barbarian? How do we tell our friends what book the DM is using? The purpose of a name, version, edition, game, whatever, is communication. It exists so that players can communicate to each other about what game they are playing, and agree on a common set of rules so that they can enjoy the game as a group.

At this point, it doesn't matter what WotC wants to call it. If they have to explain it to us, they've already failed.

 

[Parmandur]

Anecdote time. A few years ago (pre-pandemic) I was at a trade show hanging out with our company's president and someone from the marketing team. We were going over swag that we had seen or heard about, talking about what kind of stuff we could use for future shows. One of the ideas from the marketeer was this type of stretchy cloth band. She showed it to the president and started explaining that it could be used as a sweat band, or a hair band, or a bunch of other things, when he stopped her and said something along the lines of "If you have to explain it to me, it's already failed."

That's exactly what I think when I read this:



Holy moly, what a mess. What are we calling this new thing now? It's not an edition, it's a release year? But it also won't be a release year once it's released? How do we know when we use a VTT if it will pull up the original 5e barbarian or the new 5e barbarian? How do we tell our friends what book the DM is using? The purpose of a name, version, edition, game, whatever, is communication. It exists so that players can communicate to each other about what game they are playing, and agree on a common set of rules so that they can enjoy the game as a group.

At this point, it doesn't matter what WotC wants to call it. If they have to explain it to us, they've already failed.

I mean, what they are doing now.is pretty clear: "OneD&D" as an umbrella term to combine their initiatives sunk like a lead balloon, but "the version of the rules published in 2024 are going to be called the 2024 rules, or just the rules depending on context" is straightforward. That all 5E books will work with the new books is clear and in practice look to be easy.

 

[Clint_L]

Except I'm not confused at all, nor have I been at any point along the way. And I suspect that most players don't even know about the update rulebooks, nor particularly care. At this point, I feel that the only folks who are upset and complaining are the same folks who are upset and complain about anything WotC does.

As for what will happen when the new books are out on the VTT, whenever that becomes a thing? The same thing that already happens on DnDBeyond: it defaults to the new book, but if you own an earlier version (e.g. Volo's) you can toggle it on. In fact, I have both Volo's and Multiverse toggled on, so I can compare both versions of monsters and choose the one I like for each encounter. It's not hard - if I can do it, I'm pretty sure the 95% of the player base who are younger and smarter than me can manage it.

 

[Charlaquin]

I wonder what prompted this wave of clarification. Has there been an upsurge in people complaining about the changes constituting a new edition? Like, more such complaints than there have been all along?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Maybe Jeremy lurks on this forum and noticed that every thread eventually devolved into "what is the true meaning of One D&D"?

Maybe he's been participating in the debate under an alias?

 

[Parmandur]

I wonder what prompted this wave of clarification. Has there been an upsurge in people complaining about the changes constituting a new edition? Like, more such complaints than there have been all along?

Probably: they may have gotten lots of frustrated questions about it in the comment fields for their surveys.

 

[Charlaquin]

Probably: they may have gotten lots of frustrated questions about it in the comment fields for their surveys.

Sure, but I’d imagine that’s been going on since the first packet. What I wonder is why now are they making a concerted effort to respond to such comments? I mean, maybe it’s just a matter of big corporations being slow to act, but I’m curious if something may have happened recently that motivated this big push.

 

[Parmandur]

Sure, but I’d imagine that’s been going on since the first packet. What I wonder I’d why now are they making a concerted effort to respond to such comments? I mean, maybe it’s just a matter of big corporations being slow to act, but I’m curious if something may have happened recently that motivated this big push.

Maybe they've been getting it all along, and because it hasn't slowed down they want to make it as clear as possible? Or, perhaps, they got a lot of feedback on the Warlock focusing on the changes.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think the people who play confused have caused a lot of harm now. We could have gotten a real cool new version. I guess that is over...

I hate the internet. I wish WotC had just dropped the bomb and release an aniversary edition and see how it went.

Maybe they release a companion book with more drastical changes in the near futute. One can hope.