Something will come out for the 20224 50th anniversary but it will basically be simply a 5E DELUXE Edition.
- A trio of core books PHB and DMG and MM all with a better "leathery looking" hardcover and all clearly THICKER and way ooverpriced (like 250$ for each).
- Containing the latest erratas plus minor rules cleanup.
- Maybe a bit extra RAW cleanup of some stuff (with an accomppanyiing official errata PDF fo5r free online)
that say for example introducing keywords like Attack (one attack roll) and Strike (the actual ACTION that can give one or more Attacks) as actual keywords,
- DELUXE PHB contains all most all of the player options from all previous books, with some revised stuff instead of the original stuff (say a properly revised ranger),
plus couple new "you should probably use this from now on instead" variants like for example a Two Weapon Fighting Variant that doesn't depend on wasting your Bonus Action.
- DELUXE MM contains similarly all the monsters and monster rules variants presented in all already preexisting books..
- DELUXE DMG would contain similarly all the DMing rules from all previous books, plus most rules variants and optional rules.
- Probably not including any of the "more unique" stuff from specific adventures that was mostly designed to be for that adventure alone.
For example the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind is very "Curse of Strahd"' specific.
- A bit of new stuff (none of it essential) to make it look like it's not a mere copy-paste-reprint-on-even-better-paper mindless job.
- Finally, some gimmick like say those that bring all their 3 DELUXE books to the next Convention,
they get them stamped (inside the cover) (to insure 1 set of books ggets used like this only oncce)
to get a free VIP PASS upgrade or lottery or something, plus they take a photo of you and the
winner might just get the next planned iconic character to have his face on it.
Basically vanity stuff that a whale fan that spent 750 bucks woulld love but that doesn't really cost wizards all that much.
Basicallly, 100% still remaining 5.0 Edition, cleaned up and reorganized for you, if you're filthy rich. Not even 5.5. More a like someone for those paying the top package on a patreon or kickstarter product, than a really new 5.0 product for everybody.
Question, why would you even want a 6th edition? Between 5th and former editions, and/or mixtures thereof, you can basically do anything you want D&D wise now. Just because it would be a new edition doesn't mean it would bring any newer players than the previous edition would. Also if that's the case, why would someone want something just because it's new? It's not a car, it won't accumulate damage and become useless over time. I understand why WotC, and/or Hasbro would want to do it, just for monetary purposes, but realistically there's no need for it, you could keep producing new books for 5th forever, and it would likely be just fine.
Also for those that claim they are the "new" generation of players and they want the stuff they want in the books, is there any reason why you can't just make your own small addendum within 5th's current ruleset and then play? There doesn't seem to be any reason to reprint the core books as a new edition just to add a few of those items, maybe a supplemental book of course. Secondly, and while this might seem a little odd, the old guard is not necessarily a shrinking resource like some claim. Many scientists and biologists are telling us that age reversal, and/or nigh immortality is coming for all of those who are likely 55 and below. Thus we could be customers for a lot, lot longer than the younger generation claims. All in all, I see no reason to re-re-invent the wheel. There comes a time when the wheel doesn't need to be redesigned any longer, and I think D&D is in that spot now.
Also for those that claim they are the "new" generation of players and they want the stuff they want in the books, is there any reason why you can't just make your own small addendum within 5th's current ruleset and then play? There doesn't seem to be any reason to reprint the core books as a new edition just to add a few of those items, maybe a supplemental book of course. Secondly, and while this might seem a little odd, the old guard is not necessarily a shrinking resource like some claim. Many scientists and biologists are telling us that age reversal, and/or nigh immortality is coming for all of those who are likely 55 and below. Thus we could be customers for a lot, lot longer than the younger generation claims. All in all, I see no reason to re-re-invent the wheel. There comes a time when the wheel doesn't need to be redesigned any longer, and I think D&D is in that spot now.
All the scientists and especially biologists I've seen have called the idea of age reversal/life extension to be a thing that's more in the realm of snake oil than legitimate science. Even if such a thing were possible, it will be obscenely expensive and well out of the reach of the average gamer.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Scientists are within a century of understanding how aging works, in a biomechanical/biological sense. That doesn't necessarily mean anti-aging treatments for everyone, it means the start of knowing what to try and address. Even then, "aging" is not a natural process the body was designed to undergo. It's the result of the body slowly breaking down and accumulating wear and malfunctions over time. Stopping the process of accumulation does not mean a restoration of the damage already done. And as 6LG points out, any such treatments are likely to be outrageously expensive and in ferocious demand, restricted to the elite. To say nothing of the ethical implications of medical immortality.
I know this is all wildly against the thread's topic, but I just find the subject fascinating. And back on topic very briefly - even if 'The Old Guard' doesn't end up dying, they can still quit. Especially if they have hundreds of years to do it in. You'll never, ever make a new 'Old Guard' player without a time machine, but whether you lose them to the Reaper or to simple shifting tastes and boredom, you still lose them.
Are we really discounting the potential immortal market? :D
I'd actually say the Old School Renaissance, the good and the bad of it, does have a number of players and producers who in fact aren't Gen Xers but are trying to emulate or be more in line with "Old Guard" ways (one of the most vocal influencers of that camp I'm aware of looks to me like he's in his mid-late 20s). Basically they're the punk/alt/mod whatever subculture to "mainstream" D&D, claiming to be stripped down to the essential "purity" of the game or whatever. It's a market, I'd reckon considerably bigger than the potential immortal market (whether discounted as a demo or entitled to a discount) but not something I'd say is truly competitive with 5e's player base of regular lifespan anticipating players.
Some "big book or box" product will certainly show up in time for the anniversary. If it was a "new edition" rule set, I imagine we'd hear about it no sooner than early next year; but while there's sort of a logic and art of having Fizban's Draconomicon Title in Line with 5e Title Style being the capstone book of 5e, there doesn't seem to be any serious analysis out there claiming so beyond clickbait press. So I still believe 2024 will be a "celebratory" edition (maybe a consolidation with all the options in one book) etc. Really anniversaries I don't think draw new fans. Rather, in a sales sense they're mostly opportunities to get more engagement and business from consumers already affiliated with the brand, with maybe some boost in the "returning to hobby/nostalgia" and brand new demographic. So I'm still seeing the existing publication line maintained, as well as some premium formatted work that you don't need but would be cool to have (which means not much biz for DDB outside of any adventures puts out in that product wave).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The answer is no. To the original question and every other of the myriad questions and wild mass speculation about "the next edition." Just no. Quit bringing it up again.
Basically they're the punk/alt/mod whatever subculture to "mainstream" D&D, claiming to be stripped down to the essential "purity" of the game or whatever.
As a metalhead who has recently been bit by the OSR bug, I'll own this.
I still love 5e for what it is, but I'm young enough to have missed out on the classic tropes, which is what was still advertised to me as the "typical D&D experience", and I still want to get to have that. It's become clear that WotC isn't trying to reproduce that "classic experience" as much as they seem to be aiming to move the brand forward with the demands of the modern gaming audience. Nothing wrong with that, I like newer metal bands too. But I also like new bands that just rip off Black Sabbath because I was too young to see them back in the 70s.
As far as 6e, it still seems to me like 5e has a lot of gas. We can talk about the typical cycle of TTRPG products, but have we ever seen anything on par with the success of 5e in the industry before? So it stands to reason that the flagship kind of gets to set the standard. I mean, we don't see complete overhauls of classic board games very often. They may get a new polish, but they'll essentially be the same product. I can play Monopoly from the 90s or Monopoly from today, and the art could be different, and there could even be some slight updates to the rules, but it's still fundementally what we'd see as the same "edition" of the game. We could be seeing the onset of an evergreen edition of D&D in that same regard. When sales plateau, they could just release the same game with new art and errata and maybe some stylistic layout changes for newer players, who knows?
If they truly learned from the mistakes of 4e, the transition to a new ruleset (and not just the ruleset itself) has to be part of that consideration. A lot of people still like 4e, so I think it's a playable game, but I think being so different from previous editions made it such a shocking leap. The shift into 2e was basically just an organization to my understanding and were apparently still very compatible with each other, and the shift to 3rd came with new owners so a brand overhaul was to be more expected.
I still think if we see a 6e any time soon, it'll be more like that 1e -> 2e transition than anything current 5e collectors need to be too worried about.
I actually own 5e Hardcore Mode and I've looked at 5TD. I also own Mörk Borg and have OSE on the way. I have Dungeon Crawl Classics too, but my roommate prefers to run that. II'm still glad I have my 5e books as well because I think it has an easier buy-in for totally newbs, especially with DDB here.
I try to stay out of the politics of it. I don't play in public games so as long as everyone at my table is comfortable and happy, I'm good to go.
If a 6e is looming, I may get to it eventually, but I still feel like I have a lot left to do in 5e as well as those other games.
TTRPG's have changed a lot since early DnD, the Hardcore DnD aspects some complain 5thed doesn't have are the very things that stopped me and many many of my friends coming near the system for the 25+ years I have been playing TTRPG's if 6th edition took the game back to this style I would refuse to buy it and either stick with 5th edition or just stop playing DnD and move more full time to one of the many other systems that I currently just dabble in as a DM and this is why WOTC will not take that risk.
I imagine that there will be no "official" 6th edition, instead WOTC will do much as they have with Magic the Gathering all these years, release new rules, different rule sets, provide DM's more choice and varied ways to play, give players more and more options and expand the game more and more. Stopping 5thed and starting over really is a financial risk. You are relying on the majority of your existing players making the switch and then buying another copy of DMG, MM, PHB, and then all the various campaigns and expansions all over again when as a group you can get an infinite amount of fun just out of the 3 basic books and a good DM with a homebrew setting so why would they then buy a new edition.
TTRPG's are not a wargame system, Games Workshop can get away with releasing a new edition of 40K in part because players can still use all the mini's they own the only financial commitments they need to make are a new rulebook (and GW recently started making this free online), and the new sourcebooks for their armies. The they can pick and choose which new models to buy. Wizards would be asking all there current players to stop using the £100 + worth of books they own and replace them with a new set of books.
In addition creating a whole new edition of a ruleset requires a lot of effort, you would need several years of a team investing in creating the mechanics, which would need to be different enough to warrant a whole new edition, play testing them and refining them, then writing the sourcebooks. This would take away from continuing to create new 5th edition content, or would mean poor 5th edition content being released. The reason a company makes a new version of a TTRPG is generally either because there is waning interest in the system, or the system has become so bloated with content that a decision is made to just start over. 5th edition has neither of these problems.
If you look at White Wolf, in 2004 they ended the World of Darkness system and released the Chronicles edition in what was a bold move of actually delivering the apocalypse that the system had promised for 5 years, at the time WoD was the no 1 competitor to DnD, some claim that they switched editions because DnD made the switch from 2-3rd edition, but the facts are that the rules had become bloated, spread across to many supplements and where far to contradictory. I remember large arguments between veterans all of whom could be considered correct and for new players it was daunting to come into the system.
Since then DnD have released 3.5, 4th and now 5th edition, White wolf in that time have stuck to one single edition of there game, although they did start releasing new WoD material for the legacy system in 2011 I think it was. The reason for this is they successfully created a system that could be far more easily expanded upon and developed. You could argue that with 5th edition WOTC has got its WoD Chronicles system, a system that can run for 20+ years without needing a complete overhaul.
I agree with this 100%. Although one thing I must say is that they might go away from D&D after a little while. Possibly start focusing on more video games, probably mobile. Although with the 3 new books coming out I can say that they will not be doing this anytime soon. I do have a slight feeling that WOTC might create a different sub-company for video games though. With the anniversary coming up I can say that if this does happen WOTC will say then. There has recently been a HUGE shortage of good fantasy games. WOTC might even team up with other popular game publishers like EA, Ubisoft, etc.
Another thing is that they will continue creating more NPC/Creature/Monster books. I have a feeling they will also start incorporating entities such as Baba Yaga. I can also see them making a lot more spells. Possibly a whole book on it, that would be great. But that is just speculation. What isn't speculation though is that they will start leaning into collectibles. If you look at a lot of popular MMORPGs and TTRPGs you can see the number of collectibles they have. If WOTC decides that D&D is continuing to be profitable then I am 99.99% sure they will add collectibles. And not mini-figures, probably something like a giant dragon with a moveable tail, wings, and head with speakers. Or possibly a crown, sword, and cape for an evil king attire.
Finally, I can see them eventually lean into the content creators. This is because of media such as Youtube, Twitch, and Tiktok or super popular. And we ALL know that companies need publicity. So if they partner with a media company and then start pumping out a dedicated D&D app, well, I really wouldn't be surprised. A lot of media is extremely successful and the D&D community loves to communicate. I mean, we are on D&D beyond talking about this in 200-500 word essays right? Why wouldn't WOTC make a D&D media app? They could even double down and make a community-based selling system like MtG. Once again the only thing I'm almost 100% sure about is the collectibles.
P.S: they obviously will continue the crossovers with MtG.
I agree with this 100%. Although one thing I must say is that they might go away from D&D after a little while. Possibly start focusing on more video games, probably mobile. Although with the 3 new books coming out I can say that they will not be doing this anytime soon. I do have a slight feeling that WOTC might create a different sub-company for video games though. With the anniversary coming up I can say that if this does happen WOTC will say then. There has recently been a HUGE shortage of good fantasy games. WOTC might even team up with other popular game publishers like EA, Ubisoft, etc
Let's see how Dark Alliance pans out. It's marketed if not as a triple-A game then at least as just below that, and it's decidedly meh. I doubt WotC will incur a significant loss on publishing it, but whether they'll reap meaningful profits is another matter.
As for a shortage of good fantasy games: Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous was just released (and comes highly recommended) and there have certainly been others this year - though what you consider a good fantasy game might depend a lot on the genres you enjoy.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
You lucky duck. I'm so envious.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Something will come out for the 20224 50th anniversary but it will basically be simply a 5E DELUXE Edition.
- A trio of core books PHB and DMG and MM all with a better "leathery looking" hardcover and all clearly THICKER and way ooverpriced (like 250$ for each).
- Containing the latest erratas plus minor rules cleanup.
- Maybe a bit extra RAW cleanup of some stuff (with an accomppanyiing official errata PDF fo5r free online)
that say for example introducing keywords like Attack (one attack roll) and Strike (the actual ACTION that can give one or more Attacks) as actual keywords,
- DELUXE PHB contains all most all of the player options from all previous books, with some revised stuff instead of the original stuff (say a properly revised ranger),
plus couple new "you should probably use this from now on instead" variants like for example a Two Weapon Fighting Variant that doesn't depend on wasting your Bonus Action.
- DELUXE MM contains similarly all the monsters and monster rules variants presented in all already preexisting books..
- DELUXE DMG would contain similarly all the DMing rules from all previous books, plus most rules variants and optional rules.
- Probably not including any of the "more unique" stuff from specific adventures that was mostly designed to be for that adventure alone.
For example the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind is very "Curse of Strahd"' specific.
- A bit of new stuff (none of it essential) to make it look like it's not a mere copy-paste-reprint-on-even-better-paper mindless job.
- Finally, some gimmick like say those that bring all their 3 DELUXE books to the next Convention,
they get them stamped (inside the cover) (to insure 1 set of books ggets used like this only oncce)
to get a free VIP PASS upgrade or lottery or something, plus they take a photo of you and the
winner might just get the next planned iconic character to have his face on it.
Basically vanity stuff that a whale fan that spent 750 bucks woulld love but that doesn't really cost wizards all that much.
Basicallly, 100% still remaining 5.0 Edition, cleaned up and reorganized for you, if you're filthy rich. Not even 5.5. More a like someone for those paying the top package on a patreon or kickstarter product, than a really new 5.0 product for everybody.
No proof of it all just a feeling.
Ah, feelings. Those are always reliable means of information about upcoming products.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Do you mean 18,250th anniversary?
Question, why would you even want a 6th edition? Between 5th and former editions, and/or mixtures thereof, you can basically do anything you want D&D wise now. Just because it would be a new edition doesn't mean it would bring any newer players than the previous edition would. Also if that's the case, why would someone want something just because it's new? It's not a car, it won't accumulate damage and become useless over time. I understand why WotC, and/or Hasbro would want to do it, just for monetary purposes, but realistically there's no need for it, you could keep producing new books for 5th forever, and it would likely be just fine.
Also for those that claim they are the "new" generation of players and they want the stuff they want in the books, is there any reason why you can't just make your own small addendum within 5th's current ruleset and then play? There doesn't seem to be any reason to reprint the core books as a new edition just to add a few of those items, maybe a supplemental book of course. Secondly, and while this might seem a little odd, the old guard is not necessarily a shrinking resource like some claim. Many scientists and biologists are telling us that age reversal, and/or nigh immortality is coming for all of those who are likely 55 and below. Thus we could be customers for a lot, lot longer than the younger generation claims. All in all, I see no reason to re-re-invent the wheel. There comes a time when the wheel doesn't need to be redesigned any longer, and I think D&D is in that spot now.
All the scientists and especially biologists I've seen have called the idea of age reversal/life extension to be a thing that's more in the realm of snake oil than legitimate science. Even if such a thing were possible, it will be obscenely expensive and well out of the reach of the average gamer.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Scientists are within a century of understanding how aging works, in a biomechanical/biological sense. That doesn't necessarily mean anti-aging treatments for everyone, it means the start of knowing what to try and address. Even then, "aging" is not a natural process the body was designed to undergo. It's the result of the body slowly breaking down and accumulating wear and malfunctions over time. Stopping the process of accumulation does not mean a restoration of the damage already done. And as 6LG points out, any such treatments are likely to be outrageously expensive and in ferocious demand, restricted to the elite. To say nothing of the ethical implications of medical immortality.
I know this is all wildly against the thread's topic, but I just find the subject fascinating. And back on topic very briefly - even if 'The Old Guard' doesn't end up dying, they can still quit. Especially if they have hundreds of years to do it in. You'll never, ever make a new 'Old Guard' player without a time machine, but whether you lose them to the Reaper or to simple shifting tastes and boredom, you still lose them.
Please do not contact or message me.
Are we really discounting the potential immortal market? :D
I'd actually say the Old School Renaissance, the good and the bad of it, does have a number of players and producers who in fact aren't Gen Xers but are trying to emulate or be more in line with "Old Guard" ways (one of the most vocal influencers of that camp I'm aware of looks to me like he's in his mid-late 20s). Basically they're the punk/alt/mod whatever subculture to "mainstream" D&D, claiming to be stripped down to the essential "purity" of the game or whatever. It's a market, I'd reckon considerably bigger than the potential immortal market (whether discounted as a demo or entitled to a discount) but not something I'd say is truly competitive with 5e's player base of regular lifespan anticipating players.
Some "big book or box" product will certainly show up in time for the anniversary. If it was a "new edition" rule set, I imagine we'd hear about it no sooner than early next year; but while there's sort of a logic and art of having Fizban's
DraconomiconTitle in Line with 5e Title Style being the capstone book of 5e, there doesn't seem to be any serious analysis out there claiming so beyond clickbait press. So I still believe 2024 will be a "celebratory" edition (maybe a consolidation with all the options in one book) etc. Really anniversaries I don't think draw new fans. Rather, in a sales sense they're mostly opportunities to get more engagement and business from consumers already affiliated with the brand, with maybe some boost in the "returning to hobby/nostalgia" and brand new demographic. So I'm still seeing the existing publication line maintained, as well as some premium formatted work that you don't need but would be cool to have (which means not much biz for DDB outside of any adventures puts out in that product wave).Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The answer is no. To the original question and every other of the myriad questions and wild mass speculation about "the next edition." Just no. Quit bringing it up again.
As a metalhead who has recently been bit by the OSR bug, I'll own this.
I still love 5e for what it is, but I'm young enough to have missed out on the classic tropes, which is what was still advertised to me as the "typical D&D experience", and I still want to get to have that. It's become clear that WotC isn't trying to reproduce that "classic experience" as much as they seem to be aiming to move the brand forward with the demands of the modern gaming audience. Nothing wrong with that, I like newer metal bands too. But I also like new bands that just rip off Black Sabbath because I was too young to see them back in the 70s.
As far as 6e, it still seems to me like 5e has a lot of gas. We can talk about the typical cycle of TTRPG products, but have we ever seen anything on par with the success of 5e in the industry before? So it stands to reason that the flagship kind of gets to set the standard. I mean, we don't see complete overhauls of classic board games very often. They may get a new polish, but they'll essentially be the same product. I can play Monopoly from the 90s or Monopoly from today, and the art could be different, and there could even be some slight updates to the rules, but it's still fundementally what we'd see as the same "edition" of the game. We could be seeing the onset of an evergreen edition of D&D in that same regard. When sales plateau, they could just release the same game with new art and errata and maybe some stylistic layout changes for newer players, who knows?
If they truly learned from the mistakes of 4e, the transition to a new ruleset (and not just the ruleset itself) has to be part of that consideration. A lot of people still like 4e, so I think it's a playable game, but I think being so different from previous editions made it such a shocking leap. The shift into 2e was basically just an organization to my understanding and were apparently still very compatible with each other, and the shift to 3rd came with new owners so a brand overhaul was to be more expected.
I still think if we see a 6e any time soon, it'll be more like that 1e -> 2e transition than anything current 5e collectors need to be too worried about.
I actually own 5e Hardcore Mode and I've looked at 5TD. I also own Mörk Borg and have OSE on the way. I have Dungeon Crawl Classics too, but my roommate prefers to run that. II'm still glad I have my 5e books as well because I think it has an easier buy-in for totally newbs, especially with DDB here.
I try to stay out of the politics of it. I don't play in public games so as long as everyone at my table is comfortable and happy, I'm good to go.
If a 6e is looming, I may get to it eventually, but I still feel like I have a lot left to do in 5e as well as those other games.
TTRPG's have changed a lot since early DnD, the Hardcore DnD aspects some complain 5thed doesn't have are the very things that stopped me and many many of my friends coming near the system for the 25+ years I have been playing TTRPG's if 6th edition took the game back to this style I would refuse to buy it and either stick with 5th edition or just stop playing DnD and move more full time to one of the many other systems that I currently just dabble in as a DM and this is why WOTC will not take that risk.
I imagine that there will be no "official" 6th edition, instead WOTC will do much as they have with Magic the Gathering all these years, release new rules, different rule sets, provide DM's more choice and varied ways to play, give players more and more options and expand the game more and more. Stopping 5thed and starting over really is a financial risk. You are relying on the majority of your existing players making the switch and then buying another copy of DMG, MM, PHB, and then all the various campaigns and expansions all over again when as a group you can get an infinite amount of fun just out of the 3 basic books and a good DM with a homebrew setting so why would they then buy a new edition.
TTRPG's are not a wargame system, Games Workshop can get away with releasing a new edition of 40K in part because players can still use all the mini's they own the only financial commitments they need to make are a new rulebook (and GW recently started making this free online), and the new sourcebooks for their armies. The they can pick and choose which new models to buy. Wizards would be asking all there current players to stop using the £100 + worth of books they own and replace them with a new set of books.
In addition creating a whole new edition of a ruleset requires a lot of effort, you would need several years of a team investing in creating the mechanics, which would need to be different enough to warrant a whole new edition, play testing them and refining them, then writing the sourcebooks. This would take away from continuing to create new 5th edition content, or would mean poor 5th edition content being released. The reason a company makes a new version of a TTRPG is generally either because there is waning interest in the system, or the system has become so bloated with content that a decision is made to just start over. 5th edition has neither of these problems.
If you look at White Wolf, in 2004 they ended the World of Darkness system and released the Chronicles edition in what was a bold move of actually delivering the apocalypse that the system had promised for 5 years, at the time WoD was the no 1 competitor to DnD, some claim that they switched editions because DnD made the switch from 2-3rd edition, but the facts are that the rules had become bloated, spread across to many supplements and where far to contradictory. I remember large arguments between veterans all of whom could be considered correct and for new players it was daunting to come into the system.
Since then DnD have released 3.5, 4th and now 5th edition, White wolf in that time have stuck to one single edition of there game, although they did start releasing new WoD material for the legacy system in 2011 I think it was. The reason for this is they successfully created a system that could be far more easily expanded upon and developed. You could argue that with 5th edition WOTC has got its WoD Chronicles system, a system that can run for 20+ years without needing a complete overhaul.
I agree with this 100%. Although one thing I must say is that they might go away from D&D after a little while. Possibly start focusing on more video games, probably mobile. Although with the 3 new books coming out I can say that they will not be doing this anytime soon. I do have a slight feeling that WOTC might create a different sub-company for video games though. With the anniversary coming up I can say that if this does happen WOTC will say then. There has recently been a HUGE shortage of good fantasy games. WOTC might even team up with other popular game publishers like EA, Ubisoft, etc.
Another thing is that they will continue creating more NPC/Creature/Monster books. I have a feeling they will also start incorporating entities such as Baba Yaga. I can also see them making a lot more spells. Possibly a whole book on it, that would be great. But that is just speculation. What isn't speculation though is that they will start leaning into collectibles. If you look at a lot of popular MMORPGs and TTRPGs you can see the number of collectibles they have. If WOTC decides that D&D is continuing to be profitable then I am 99.99% sure they will add collectibles. And not mini-figures, probably something like a giant dragon with a moveable tail, wings, and head with speakers. Or possibly a crown, sword, and cape for an evil king attire.
Finally, I can see them eventually lean into the content creators. This is because of media such as Youtube, Twitch, and Tiktok or super popular. And we ALL know that companies need publicity. So if they partner with a media company and then start pumping out a dedicated D&D app, well, I really wouldn't be surprised. A lot of media is extremely successful and the D&D community loves to communicate. I mean, we are on D&D beyond talking about this in 200-500 word essays right? Why wouldn't WOTC make a D&D media app? They could even double down and make a community-based selling system like MtG. Once again the only thing I'm almost 100% sure about is the collectibles.
P.S: they obviously will continue the crossovers with MtG.
Let's see how Dark Alliance pans out. It's marketed if not as a triple-A game then at least as just below that, and it's decidedly meh. I doubt WotC will incur a significant loss on publishing it, but whether they'll reap meaningful profits is another matter.
As for a shortage of good fantasy games: Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous was just released (and comes highly recommended) and there have certainly been others this year - though what you consider a good fantasy game might depend a lot on the genres you enjoy.
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