Would you buy a product called 'D&D 4.5'?

[Jhaelen]

Under no circumstances (which is why I ignored Essentials)!

If they want to sell me a new ruleset, they better come up with an actual new ruleset, i.e. 5e. Just like 4e is significantly different from 3e, 5e would have to be significantly different from 4e _and_ I would have to consider it a significant improvement on 4e.

 

[Raith5]

The only problem is because it's been a stealth update from 4.0 and they don't want to alienate more players by calling ti 4.5, they need to leave it backwards compatible and leave in chaff - powers and feats that are obsolete, classes that don't fit the new mold, monsters designed using the old math and not updated.

I think this is 100% right and it creates a mess.

At the table the game is fine - fantastic in fact. But when i sit down and look at the books/errata to level up or create a new PC it is pretty messy. Heaven knows how those new to the game or RPGs perceive it.

I would like to see a 4.5 update which includes errata and stays true to the underlying approach of 4th ed but cleans out the dumb feats and powers.

 

[GameOgre]

I would buy it if it was the type of game I want to play. Essentials is the right direction. Even if they do not move that way i will buy 5E core just because I collect D&D.

 

[Ryujin]

Only if it was available in editable PDF form, so that I could add the errata as it came out. I'm rather tired of books that are out of date, before they hit the shelves, and all but useless in 6 months time.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

A simple, and sad, "No".

MMO's can hotfix easily.
Tabletop games should not attempt the same thing.
Expecting me and my group to spend more money because they had some goofs in design or some people found some game-breaking combos...

A few dollars a month for DDI.
A new book every month or so...each with a dozen pages of material that I may use (give or take).

I don't have time to read new rules to figure out what has changed.
I don't have money to keep up.

Hasbro will receive no more money from me whether it's 4.5, Essentials, or 5E.

 

[Imperialus]

At this point in time, no probably not.

Basically I'd have to end up in a situation where my current gaming group stopped playing altogether. Then I'd have to get invited into a different group that was playing this hypothetical edition. I'd probably buy the PHB (or whatever it's equivelent would be) and give it a shot. If I enjoyed the game I would continue buying.

 

[Vael]

While I agree that there's a lot of chaff and dross, especially in the feat and magic item sections that could use a cleaning, I'd rather not repurchase 4e if that's the only purpose of 4.5. We already get the errata for free, and I'd sooner see something new, like 5th edition.