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So Wizards seem to have learned from Paizo and are going to talk to the community and hold semi-open playtests to help design 5e. Interesting, and even more interesting to see something close to an admission that they fluffed 4e.
• Wizards announcement
• NYTimes
• Forbes
• ENWorld
They're worth a read if you have an interest in the direction the hobby's taking. Some great teasers in there about the modular nature behind the new ruleset.
Ah yes, another system....which is really an excuse to sell more stuff. One would have thought D&D's system would be refined to near perfection after 25 years and a colossal amount of feedback.
I have no qualms about WoTC selling stuff, I just wish they were a little more honest about the reasons!
I hope WotC can survive as a company, as I don't wish to see D&D die. That said, I already have my game system of choice and have no needs for another rendition of D&D, no matter how well they fix it. As someone in the publishing industry, I doubt an OGL will be made available, which is another reason not to consider it. Good luck for them, though.
Edit: I just read, that something like an OGL is being considered - which is hopeful (still doesn't draw me in to want to play, but...)
interesting stuff, thanks for posting! Very curious what they will come up with ( I mostly play 3rd as our main campaign runs already for 11 years (just finished last week, we finally killed the bad guy :D ), but our newer campaigns run 4th). As ravs said, a 'modular' system sounds like a coin-making-system, but if they come up with an OGL then that would make me (and other cartographers as well I bet) very happy :) cheers, DJ
They're explicitly trying to involve the wider community and that means they need to have an open license that allows for third party content. I'd be amazed if they don't have an OGL before release.
I'm hoping for OGL as well as I guess most of us in here are ;) ... and I've signed up for testing. I think its a good initiative lets hope they can live up to the promises - sometimes the big companies tend to forget the consumers along the way no matter their initial intentions.
And yes, that will mean more books to buy but they are a company after all and I don't see Paizo holding back on publishing things either - one gotta survive even as the publishing world is getting both simpler and more complex day by day :)
oh, and the fact the Monte Cook is back is good too ;)
I invested heavily in the 4e books (though I found some great sales on them at various bookstores that were going out of business). I like the play lite nature of 4e but have found myself going back to the OGL d20 time and time again. Think I'll visit some stores and do a Snoopy/vulure imitation, and wait for 4e to pass away. My son, who is starting his own campaign with a new group, I think would be better served using d20 rules. It's not the cost of the product that burns me.
I love a well made, nicely illustrated book. And I don't mind paying for it. But I do mind the marvel/dc comics lets fleece the consumer feel of switching it up every two years.
agree about the system switch thing - if you do that to often its annoying (4e came in 2008 so thats only 3 years).
I don't mind buying supplemental books - quite the opposite - love to delve into new professions, races, skills and powers - but I stopped buying when they got out Essentials ... at first because I didn't think it was an expansion but rather the game again for new players, later cause I didn't want to confuse the rules anymore. We have actually discussed if we would have been better of just playing with the three basic books, especially considering some of the later races, professions and powers seems a little powerful compared to the initial ones ;)
I quite agree, this is really quick turnaround. When 4E came out were quite enthusiastic, but after playing with it for about 3 years we drifted back towards a simpler, fewer options version. With all the powers and abilities that started coming out nobody knew how the rules worked anymore! Now we run a stripped down d20 analog version with horribly mortal characters and it's quite fun.
I'll keep abreast of this 5E, though!
Well, when I came back to RPG after a 15 year hiatus, I tried out 4e, while fun I thought it over simplistic, then I tried 3.5 and it was a little too complicated and when you add all the splatter books, it gets quite broken, I've since moved to Pathfinder (though my group works a system of rotating GM, so who knows what you get to play?).
Anyway, the possible death of 4e won't bother me much, and if the new edition can come back to a more role playing game, it will be a welcome addition I look forward to trying out!