There's another thread in this sub about the GameInformer cover art article, but they also had a more in-depth article released alongside that one that previews the core books in greater detail. For those who don't want to read the whole thing, here are some highlights:

• Aasimar have been added as a core race. Assuming nobody was cut, that brings the final count of PHB races up to 10.
• There will be 75 feats in the new PHB. Note that this is more than the 2014 PHB (42), Xanathar's (15) and Tasha's (15) combined.
• Each class will get an iconic full-page art spread. (and all 48 subclasses will be illustrated as well.)
• Tools will have actual rules / specific suggested actions you can perform with them now.
• Confirmation that there will be brand new spells (the example one named in the article is "Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron.")
• Confirmation that there will be three brand-new subclasses in the PHB (Sea Druid, World Tree Barbarian, Dance Bard) with all the rest returning from either the prior PHB or a different existing book.
• There will be new item-crafting rules in core, including rules to make scrolls.
• Will contain a Lore Glossary that sheds light on the various references, shibboleths, and famous NPCs that have built up in the D&D lexicon over the years and across multiple settings, like what's the deal with these Harper folks and who this Venger guy is supposed to be.
• The new MM will contain 500 monsters, an increase of ~200 over the 2014 MM. Of those, 75 are brand new creations, so the other 125 will be ported in from other books.
• There will be new high-CR megathreats for higher level PCs to deal with on par with Ancient Dragons and the Tarrasque; the example they give in the article is a town-sized gelatinous cube called a Blob of Annihilation, a giant construct called an Elemental Juggernaut, and a super-vampire called a Nightbringer.
• While the Multiverse is still the official "5.5e" setting in the PHB, the DMG will focus on Greyhawk as a sample setting for new DMs to build adventures off of, due to it being more mutable and having less lore baggage than FR or Eberron.
• The pre-order date and price point for each book have been revealed (pre-orders open June 18, and the price point is set at $49.99.) The release dates remain at September for the PHB, November for the DMG, and February 2025 for the MM respectively.
  
  The link above should lead folks to the full article so they can read additional details and designer quotes for themselves - enjoy!

Quote from PsyrenXY >>

There's another thread in this sub about the GameInformer cover art article, but they also had a more in-depth article released alongside that one that previews the core books in greater detail. For those who don't want to read the whole thing, here are some highlights:

• Aasimar have been added as a core race. Assuming nobody was cut, that brings the final count of PHB races up to 10.
• There will be 75 feats in the new PHB. Note that this is more than the 2014 PHB (42), Xanathar's (15) and Tasha's (15) combined.
• Each class will get an iconic full-page art spread. (and all 48 subclasses will be illustrated as well.)
• Tools will have actual rules / specific suggested actions you can perform with them now.
• Confirmation that there will be brand new spells (the example one named in the article is "Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron.")
• Confirmation that there will be three brand-new subclasses in the PHB (Sea Druid, World Tree Barbarian, Dance Bard) with all the rest returning from either the prior PHB or a different existing book.
• There will be new item-crafting rules in core, including rules to make scrolls.
• Will contain a Lore Glossary that sheds light on the various references, shibboleths, and famous NPCs that have built up in the D&D lexicon over the years and across multiple settings, like what's the deal with these Harper folks and who this Venger guy is supposed to be.
• The new MM will contain 500 monsters, an increase of ~200 over the 2014 MM. Of those, 75 are brand new creations, so the other 125 will be ported in from other books.
• There will be new high-CR megathreats for higher level PCs to deal with on par with Ancient Dragons and the Tarrasque; the example they give in the article is a town-sized gelatinous cube called a Blob of Annihilation, a giant construct called an Elemental Juggernaut, and a super-vampire called a Nightbringer.
• While the Multiverse is still the official "5.5e" setting in the PHB, the DMG will focus on Greyhawk as a sample setting for new DMs to build adventures off of, due to it being more mutable and having less lore baggage than FR or Eberron.
• The pre-order date and price point for each book have been revealed (pre-orders open June 18, and the price point is set at $49.99.) The release dates remain at September for the PHB, November for the DMG, and February 2025 for the MM respectively.
  
  The link above should lead folks to the full article so they can read additional details and designer quotes for themselves - enjoy!

I always appreciate a TL;DR! Thanks!

Quote from LaTiaJacquise >>

This issue might make me to go a GameStop and grab a physical copy of the magazine.

 This certainly lends credence to the rumor that GameStop (who own GameInfomer) are looking to branch out into the tabletop/hobby space rather than retaining their purely videogame focus in the future. That's one way to adapt to digital distribution gutting your business model I guess! 😁

Between Steam, PS+, Gamepass and eShop I certainly have had no reason to go near them either.

I also question the success they'll achieve at being hobby stores when a lot of them are glorified mall closets with no room for gaming tables, but hey, I'm no RoaringKitty.

Quote from PsyrenXY >>

Quote from LaTiaJacquise >>

This issue might make me to go a GameStop and grab a physical copy of the magazine.

 This certainly lends credence to the rumor that GameStop (who own GameInfomer) are looking to branch out into the tabletop/hobby space rather than retaining their purely videogame focus in the future. That's one way to adapt to digital distribution gutting your business model I guess! 😁

 I hope this actually happens, GameStop's are in lots of small towns, I think it would do this hobby a great service.

Greyhawk, okay.  Not what I was looking for, but I'm intrigued.

I wonder if the crafting rules are new, or just XGtE rules got promoted to the PHB. Or maybe moved and spruced up a bit.

I also noted that they say changes were made to every monster stat block. Earlier in the playtest process, they’d said something about keeping monster CRs the same to maintain backwards compatibility. But they would just adjust monster stat to more accurately reflect the CR. Seems like they followed through. 

Quote from Mezzurah >>

Greyhawk, okay.  Not what I was looking for, but I'm intrigued.

I'm expecting "not Gary's Greyhawk!" getting posted on blast here and elsewhere by the usual suspects once we get previews of the DMG's treatment; but it makes a lot of sense to treat it as a the sort of tutorial setting, especially given how much core magic (spell and items) have origins to it, and it is not as lore-intricacy saturated as the settings more aggressively developed by later TSR and WotC.  It's a simpler world.  Might also explain why it was sort of kept in reserve in discussions of revisiting classic settings.  5e was a pretty developed system and Greyhawk proportionally may make more sense as a "ground zero" setting for DM development.

Quote from LaTiaJacquise >>

There is a noticeable difference in size when you sit them on shelves next to the 2014 books!

Just wanted to stop in long enough to say thank you for making the effort to drop in and talk with us.  I've seen you around in a good few threads recently, it's heartening to see. 

On topic: if all of this pans out, it's gonna be fantastic.  The improved tool rules and item crafting are especially keen, as is that T.H.I.C.C. feats list.  I am, frankly, even more hopeful the new DMG will live up to this level of improvement and actually be a resource I care about owning.  Let's just hope all the too-sour playtest feedback didn't completely wreck this bountiful wealth of new content to come.

Quote from Xalthu >>

I wonder if the crafting rules are new, or just XGtE rules got promoted to the PHB. Or maybe moved and spruced up a bit.

I also noted that they say changes were made to every monster stat block. Earlier in the playtest process, they’d said something about keeping monster CRs the same to maintain backwards compatibility. But they would just adjust monster stat to more accurately reflect the CR. Seems like they followed through. 

I imagine it may be better expression of the the CR, but we also have the MMM style stat block that was originally announced as the new way stat blocks would be presented (irking some people about caster monsters).

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

Quote from Mezzurah >>

Greyhawk, okay.  Not what I was looking for, but I'm intrigued.

 

I'm expecting "not Gary's Greyhawk!" getting posted on blast here and elsewhere by the usual suspects once we get previews of the DMG's treatment; but it makes a lot of sense to treat it as a the sort of tutorial setting, especially given how much core magic (spell and items) have origins to it, and it is not as lore-intricacy saturated as the settings more aggressively developed by later TSR and WotC.  It's a simpler world.  Might also explain why it was sort of kept in reserve in discussions of revisiting classic settings.  5e was a pretty developed system and Greyhawk proportionally may make more sense as a "ground zero" setting for DM development.

 

 Yes, we can rest assured a significant subset of the remaining Greyhawk fanbase will not be pleased.  That would be the case with any long-dormant setting I'm sure.  I have a lot of nostalgia around Greyhawk as it was the first setting I really tried to wrap my head around as a teenaged DM.  Sounds like a solid choice for the example world to build out both from a logic standpoint and also for the 50th anniversary of DnD given Greyhawk's history.

Just my thoughts:

• I’m glad that Aasimar are being added. While I thought the concept of Ardlings was interesting, they could easily be absorbed into the Aasimar race like how Tieflings can be descended from Demons, Rakshasas, and other fiends in the UA version. Seeing options for Couatl, Archon, and Guardinal descended Aasimar could be a cool way to merge Ardlings and Aasimar and making Aasimar more thematically/visually interesting. I’m currently playing an Aasimar, so of course I’m also interested to see if they change any of the mechanics or just use the MotM version. 
• More feats are always welcome. Hopefully they have better options for the more mechanically weak options of martial combat (sword-and-board, dual wieling, thrown weapons, etc). 
• I’m excited for the new art. All of the previewed art so far has been excellent. And when Xanathar’s came out with art pieces for all the subclasses in that book, I remember thinking that it would have been nice if the PHB did that. So I’m glad this is finally getting added. 
• Hopefully the Tool and Crafting rules are more substantial than those that were in Xanathar’s. Those were kind of barebones. It doesn’t need to be a full video game-style system with potion recipes and listed ingredients for all magic items, but something more than the “here are the gold, time, and level requirements to make this type of item, also maybe make them do a quest first” system from Xanathar’s. 
• New spells and subclasses are nice too, but I again have to express my disappointment that the Artificer will not be included. This would be the perfect time to add them  to the core rulebooks and give them new options, allowing them to get even more options in future releases. Artificers are one of the best designed classes in 5e, but have been neglected since their release. 
• A lore glossary is okay, I guess. Older players already know the lore, and D&D lore is already on the wikis, so I never felt that the core rulebooks needed one. But it could be nice for new players that aren’t aware that those exist. 
• New and more powerful monsters are nice, too. Not much else to say until the book comes out. 
• I have no opinion on Greyhawk (never played in/ran it), besides that I think it makes sense for the 50th Anniversary books to contain information on Gygax’s world. 

Quote from Xalthu >>

I wonder if the crafting rules are new, or just XGtE rules got promoted to the PHB. Or maybe moved and spruced up a bit.

 My money is on a combination. Some of the Xanathar's tool uses were pretty jank (I can make medicine taste better! ...Was that even an issue before?) and several of the DCs were weird too (DC 15 to start a fire? A toddler can do that...) so I'm hopeful that they lean more on the practical adventuring suggestion side than the weird corner case with prescribed DC side. 

Quote from Yurei1453 >> 

On topic: if all of this pans out, it's gonna be fantastic.  The improved tool rules and item crafting are especially keen, as is that T.H.I.C.C. feats list.  I am, frankly, even more hopeful the new DMG will live up to this level of improvement and actually be a resource I care about owning.  Let's just hope all the too-sour playtest feedback didn't completely wreck this bountiful wealth of new content to come.

 On the one hand, 75 feats sounds juicy! But then I remember they're doing things like turning individual fighting styles into feats, ASI itself into a feat, and Epic Boons were feats in the playtest too, so there may be less practical juice from the squeeze than the article implies.

Quote from Sillvva >>

This book is going to be massive.

 Oh right, that reminds me - the article actually covers this explicitly:

"Each of the three books - Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual - numbers 384 pages, and the amount of included art to ignite one's imagination is impressive."

5.5e will be fun to experiment with, but I'll probably still just play 5e mainly.