My initial reaction upon hearing about 5th edition? Anger.
I have lost friends over the Edition Wars. Seriously, there are gamers who treat this as if it’s politics or religion, who feel there’s one true way, who feel that the major name brand must always be supported in order to insure the continued existence of the hobby (as if it’s a zero-sum game), who elevate their personal preferences over personal relationships. I tried to like 4th edition. I did. I made an effort. In the end, I decided I liked the 3.x system better. It suited my style of play and the way I gamemaster. When I came to the fork in the road, I followed Pathfinder.
People actually stopped talking to me after that.
On one hand I could look at the announcement of 5th edition, less than four years after the release of 4th edition, as a sort of vindication of my opinions. Hah hah, see, I told you that system sucked. Except it didn’t suck. 4th does what it sets out to, and does it very well. It’s great for what it is, many people play it and enjoy it, and that’s just fine. To each his or her own. It’s just not for me. I can take no joy in this any more than I can grab bragging rights that Pathfinder seems to outsell 4th edition consistently. It doesn’t mean that you’re having less fun playing your game than I am playing mine. It doesn’t mean that either of us is doing it wrong.
What makes me angry is that this announcement reminds me of how I lost friends over something so ephemeral. It reminds me of all of the hurtful things that were said during the last round of edition wars, and how it can all happen again. Will people who are heavily financially and emotionally invested in 4th edition resent having to buy new stuff for 5th edition? Invariably, some will. Will 5th edition lure back the 3.x players, or the ‘Old School” crowd. Maybe some, but some will continue to dig in their heels for various reasons, including the fact that they love what they love, don’t feel a need for change, and don’t have to justify it.
The announcement of 5th edition, to me, represents one more way to fracture the community, one more slice of pie on the pie chart. I wish it to be not so. I want everyone to get along, for us to recognize that we’re all roleplayers, that this isn’t a religious schism, or partisan poltics, and that preferences as to what version of a game we play is a poor reason to have an argument or hold a grudge. It will not fix the economy, cure cancer, or save your soul. It’s a game.
For my part, I will try to keep my head low and stay out of it. I will check it out, and may even review it. I wish everyone in the industry nothing by success with whatever game they publish, and everyone in the hobby nothing but fun and good times with whatever game they play.
I wonder if this would work out differently if they named new editions sort of like Magic and other card games do. Add a subtitle that gives it a different feel and focus. D&D: Revelation, D&D: Annihilation, D&D: Oblivion, whatever. (I’m thinking of the way some film franchises use subtitles in place of sequel numbers, but they wouldn’t have to be as silly as these examples I’m giving.)
I suppose it would be confusing since they might sound like new campaign settings, and it’s different because it’s a whole revision of rules, unlike new marketing campaigns for Magic where they are mostly compatible with other sets. It would be a way of reducing the implication that YOU CANNOT CONTINUE TO PLAY THE AUTHENTIC D&D UNLESS YOU GET THIS NEW EDITION.
But this is silly. I’m thinking in terms of what would be comfortable or helpful for the gaming community, whereas it’s probably in the best short term economic interest for WOTC to emphasize their shiny new version, pay no attention to that perfectly acceptable game system you played for years or decades because it’s now obsolete.
I would think if somebody stops being friends with you because you are not editionally correct (think similar to politically correct), they weren’t much of a friend in the first place.
Posted by Rob | January 9, 2012, 10:01 amNever mind my suggestion. Steve’s joke about “D&D Vista” nukes that idea.
Posted by Rob | January 9, 2012, 12:23 pmWhen I saw this the letters rearranged themselves into the headline, “Wizards Admits, ’4e Not Good Enough’”. I’m gonna scoop all the news outlets and go ahead and announce 6th Edition D&D right now. You heard it here first.
Honestly though, does this come as a surprise in a world where the Spiderman movie franchise can gross 2.5 billion dollars in release and yet get “rebooted” right about the time you’d expect a fourth sequel? Call me a cynic but this is entirely due to slackening sales. That’s right, all you 4e fans: you didn’t buy enough splats and this is your punishment.
Based on personal experience across dozens of systems, I’ve got some questions for anyone who calls a fatwa on their friends over their choice of game: when you play, what percentage of the rules do you simply ignore, what percentage of the rules which you observe are actually in the books, and for what percentage of your play time are you actively using those rules? If I’ve ever met a gamer who answered any of those questions, “More than 50%,” the sparkly unicorn they’d ridden from the land of make-believe distracted me too much to remember it.
And thus edition wars are stupid. QED.
Posted by Xose Lucero | January 9, 2012, 10:34 amXose, in this next Spiderman, we follow the usual story up to Spidey’s marriage. Mary Jane gives birth halfway through the movie, and then we watch that spider-baby grow up to be a new version of Spiderman. It’s a reboot before the reboot is even finished!
Posted by Rob | January 9, 2012, 12:30 pmOh, man: recursive reboots. I needed that laugh.
Posted by Xose Lucero | January 9, 2012, 5:28 pmI always amazes me with D&D and Warhammer that people are surprised when the publisher churns out another edition. Of course they will, they need to sell more product or they’ll go bankrupt. A new edition isn’t the result of development towards the perfect game, it’s product development to sell more product.
Posted by R Singers | January 10, 2012, 6:01 pmI personally liked the edition war drama. It was good blog fuel. D&D was always fuel for controversy and I hope that it continues to be controversial. Dangerous even. I can’t speak for your superficial friends who abandoned you because you essentially had a disagreement on style and taste. I’ve alienated people because of my style and taste before and I dare say I’ll likely do so again at some point.
As for fifth edition. I have my predictions which I’ve ventured on other sites but overall I’m cautiously optomistic for the edition even though I highly doubt I’ll play it extensively. I’ll probably buy it, maybe try it out a time or two, but D&D has never served the needs of the groups I usually play with and it’s unlikely a new edition will change that.
Posted by Helmsman | January 11, 2012, 12:25 pm