D&D 4E Would 4E be Popular?

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

No arguments there. The point I was trying to make was that; according to the quote from Mearls, WotC is hiring a lot more freelancers than normal. At least that was the impression I got, and I was giving a guess as to why that might be so.

Well, even if Mearls is right about there being more than usual, that doesn't say a thing about 4e. Look at the 2005 product schedule. There are TONS of releases coming, at least once a month, usually more. When exactly was WotC hiring more freelancers? Could it have been in the past for these 2005 releases? Or maybe its to keep UP with this years schedule for later this year and early 2006.

Honestly, 4e coming in 2006 makes no SENSE. Eberron just released, they've got lots of time to milk that before completely jumping to a new edition.

 

[Ranger REG]

As I recall, Ed Greenwood has always been a freelancer. Consider the number of D&D books with his name on them...

Perhaps, but TSR had Jeff Grubb, David "Zeb" Cook, Sean K Reynolds, Skip Williams, Douglas Niles, JD Wiker, etc., on the company's payroll. Names that are no longer associated with WotC's R&D Group. The current pool is so small, that many of them have taken the responsibility of being editors (though sometimes lacking the continuity) and resort to contracting more game designers.

 

[MerricB]

Perhaps, but TSR had Jeff Grubb, David "Zeb" Cook, Sean K Reynolds, Skip Williams, Douglas Niles, JD Wiker, etc., on the company's payroll. Names that are no longer associated with WotC's R&D Group. The current pool is so small, that many of them have taken the responsibility of being editors (though sometimes lacking the continuity) and resort to contracting more game designers.

You might be surprised at how many people Wizards has on staff in the RPG section:

Bill Slavicsek, director, roleplaying games and miniatures R&D
Ed Stark, special projects manager for roleplaying games and miniatures
Rich Baker, senior designer
Bruce Cordell, senior designer
Rob Heinsoo, designer
Gwendolyn Kestrel, designer
David Noonan, designer/developer
Christopher Perkins, design manager for RPGs and miniatures
Matt Sernett, designer
James Wyatt, designer
Jesse Decker, development manager
Michael Donais, developer
Stephen Schubert, developer
Andy Collins, developer
Rob Watkins, developer
Michele Carter, senior editor
Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, editor
Michelle Lyons, assistant editor
Kim Mohan, managing editor
John Rateliff, editor
Chris Thomasson, editor

That's a significant number of people, who put out (on average) two books per month.

Cheers!

 

[diaglo]

To all the people who say "if I don't like 4E, I'll move to GURPS/HERO/C&C/whatever":

Why are you not saying "if I don't like 4E, I'll keep playing 3(.5)E" ?

Me = confused. ?_?

could be b/c d02 isn't any good.

 

[Ranger REG]

could be b/c d02 isn't any good.

Nope. That ain't it.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Nope. That ain't it.

Agreed. Besides, Mr. OD&D kind of loses his argument when you find out he buys all the WotC 3e stuff.

 

[A'koss]

Naturally, 4e will be largely market driven. If sales really begin to slide (does anyone have D&D sales information?), especially for Eberron, they'll know it's time for a shot in the arm. I originally thought 2006 would be the year, but since the campaign competition it's a safer bet to say 2007-8.

 

[MerricB]

Naturally, 4e will be largely market driven. If sales really begin to slide (does anyone have D&D sales information?), especially for Eberron, they'll know it's time for a shot in the arm. I originally thought 2006 would be the year, but since the campaign competition it's a safer bet to say 2007-8.

Let's see, given Charles Ryan said that 2004 was the best year ever for D&D (and not even counting the miniatures, novels or other accessories), I don't think 4E will hurry along.

I still think 2008 is the best date for it. (10 years between editions is far too long).

Cheers!

 

[A'koss]

Let's see, given Charles Ryan said that 2004 was the best year ever for D&D (and not even counting the miniatures, novels or other accessories), I don't think 4E will hurry along.

I still think 2008 is the best date for it. (10 years between editions is far too long).

Cheers!

Really! Better than the year they introduced 3e!?! Do we have any numbers?

Wow... I'd have bet money that wasn't the case. Then again, they weren't making a whole lot of money on the books at the beginning selling them at $20 a pop (IIRC).

Thanks Merric,

A'koss.

 

[MerricB]

Here's his post:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1896955&postcount=170

Cheers!