D&D 4E 3rd-Party Publishers' Thoughts on 4E

[afstanton]

Do I have a reputation for being a laugh a minute?

No - your business advice is always good, to the point, and clear. You've dropped hints before.

But at the same time, I also suspect you have a good sense of humor.

 

[afstanton]

Now that is interesting. Monte not sold on the inevitability of 4e, or at least not sold on its arrival in the next few years.

More interesting is the two of them being on flip sides of the coin. I'd think they both would have equally good information on what's happening in the industry, and would tend to agree if not on business models, at least on direction of the whole thing.

 

[Monte At Home]

Now that is interesting. Monte not sold on the inevitability of 4e, or at least not sold on its arrival in the next few years.

No, just the next two. (Note: I have no special knowledge, other than how WotC works. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm confident enough to put a friendly bet on it, which is why I said what I said.)

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

No, just the next two. (Note: I have no special knowledge, other than how WotC works. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm confident enough to put a friendly bet on it, which is why I said what I said.)

You're on. If you win, I'll DM a game session for you at your house; if I win, you DM a session for me at my house. I'm in Florida, btw.

 

[Stormborn]

No, just the next two. (Note: I have no special knowledge, other than how WotC works. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm confident enough to put a friendly bet on it, which is why I said what I said.)

I knew I should have said "next couple of years."

And I am willing to take your well informed guess over most people's speculation anyday. No bets here.

 

[Roudi]

This link effectively explains what a wiki is, from the internet's best-known wiki, Wikipedia. Basically, a wiki is an online database that facilitates easy contribution and editing. Having a searchable, online database that everyone can edit is a far better medium for conducting an exercise in collective creative design than a periodical publication.

 

[BonesMcCoy]

My money's with Matt.

 

[Warden]

This link effectively explains what a wiki is, from the internet's best-known wiki, Wikipedia. Basically, a wiki is an online database that facilitates easy contribution and editing. Having a searchable, online database that everyone can edit is a far better medium for conducting an exercise in collective creative design than a periodical publication.

Thanks, I'll take a look at it.

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

I was surprised by the release of 3.5 so maybe I'm not the most qualified person to answer, but I do not think a 4.0 edition is in the works for a release within the next 24 months either. Perhaps it was merely convenient to update the books at that time. To answer the original questions though...

DSC and Dragon Scale Counters would continue to make material under the OGL for the newest version. Where possible, we'd continue to support older versions as long as it was profitable to do so. The 3.5 SRD, like the 3.0 SRD will always be available, and if there was demand we would be interested in supporting it. It is hard though to support game systems if you don't play them. Based on the speed with which people came to ask for 3.5 edition counters over 3.0 counters, I would say though that support for old editions would dwindle very quickly. It would depend on how different the rules sets were I suppose.

What should be revised? Here are three things.

What happens when you evade an area effect (how come you dont move? (BTW, I have an answer for that)
How do swarms work? Theyre a great idea, but I hate some of the aspects of the way they were implemented. The way that massive damage and swarm hit points work should be revised, along with rules for when a swarm is no longer a swarm.
Spot penalties for Long creatures, and non-square face/reach rules. I appreciate what WotC was doing in changing the face/reach rules, but my horses arent square, and neither are my dragons. Some creatures NEED a face, and I've been hashing some rules around for that too.

I'd hate to see 4.0 come out too soon. It splits the gamers apart and tears down a lot of what WotC accomplished in moving people toward one game system. Its confusing and chaotic, and perhaps made worse because the changes are more subtle than say, the changes between 2E and 3E.

 

[tonym]

* waves hand *
I'm not a publisher, but I have an opinion on this!

I think it is a bad idea for any person who is trying to sell a D&D-alternative RPG to spread rumors about 4E's release. I've read posts like these plenty of times on ENWorld, and they always seem pathetic. Especially if the rumor-monger keeps harping about 4E looming on the horizon, in thread after thread.

It seems pretty obvious that the rumor-mongers want me (the consumer) to be afraid of 4E. They want me to believe that any money I spend on anything related to 3.5E will be a waste of money. They desperately want me to buy their RPG instead.

Bleccch.

I wish all the rumor-mongers would stop using ENWorld to sneakily promote their RPGs by spreading fear about 4E. They should spend their time editing their books, or writing new ones. Or something.

My 2cp.

Tony M