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From: <smaug@ereborbbs.duckdns.org>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: [Starburst Magazine] Next Edition of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Changes Everything
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2024 23:23:30 -0000 (UTC)
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Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:23:45 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>On 6/19/2024 11:22 AM, Kyonshi wrote:
>>> Source: 
>>> https://www.starburstmagazine.com/next-edition-of-dungeons-dragons-changes-everything/
>>> 
>>> Next Edition of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Changes Everything
>>> 
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>
>>spoilers: it did not actually change all that much
>>
>>mostly some new options and monsters from what I can see, a bit of 
>>clarification on the how to play.
>>
>>So much for the One DnD thing that included all other editions.
> 
> Everything I've read about the new books is that it's basically "AD&D
> 2nd Edition" for D&D 5th Edition.

That's a very apt description. I think DND right now is repeating the
lackluster 2nd edition.
 
> Which mathematically makes it D&D 7th Edition, not 6th. ;-)

Don't try to make sense out of DnD editions. If we were properly counting
it would be... I dunno, the 10th?
 
> Which, you know, being the rare /fan/ of 2nd Edition AD&D (I can
> calculate THAC0 in my head! ;-), sounds pretty cool to me. While not
> without its flaws, 2nd Edition made a /much/ better read -and
> introduction to the game- than the original books. Not quite up to the
> standard of the Mentzer books, certainly, but a much needed
> clarification and consolidation of the rules. It wouldn't be a
> terrible thing of these new books follow suit.

I think 2nd ed gets a bit of a cold shoulder from fans because it was,
yes, better written and much better structured, but also quite...
boring. 
ADnD 1st was this madcap diatribe of Gygax trying to write the 
ultimate statement of his way of roleplaying (and cut Arneson out 
of the profits), while ADnD 2nd was tame. Generic. And definitely
one of the most lackluster of editions.
That doesn't mean it was bad. I started playing ADnD with 2nd ed., 
but it never had that shine 3rd, 1st or 0 had. 

> Heck, I might even give it a try if they make it so armor class goes
> down as it gets better. ;-)

Yeah, I doubt that will ever come back. I don't know why people get so 
hung up about that though, by this point I can convert between ascending
and descending armor in my head. 
 
> I think the biggest thing working against the revision isn't the books
> themselves or even the WOTC developers/writers... but the marketing.
> It's been alternately hyped up as "the next edition", "not the next
> edition", "some sort of hybrid that works with all versions edition",
> and Gygax knows what else. I suspect Hasbro has gummed up the works
> trying to boost sales because all they know is "New Must Be Better!"
> ('cause it works with toys) without understanding why players might
> not feel the same way.

They are out of ideas because corporate took control. Previously the
positions in charge at WOTC had actual gamers at least somewhere 
close to them. But DnD was still a thing of passion, even if heavily
commercialized. But now that black sheep of the Hasbro family turns
out to be a golden goose, so corpo suits took over. 
And they don't have a clue what they are doing, and as we noticed
the last few months, they are doing stuff that doesn't fit the
tabletop rpg hobby. 
They want ALL THE MONEY and so they created the OGL debacle and 
the whole idea of One DnD that was supposed to unify all kinds
of editions (how would that even work?!). 
And this 6th edition is just that... the books are getting bigger 
and fatter, and I will bet you they will be absolutely unusable on
the table. In fact this will be an unwieldy mess of a system. 
48 classes? For what? Even more spells? Nobody will be able to learn
all of them. 
What DnD needs is getting slimmer not more bloated. The bloat always
shows up on it's own. The whole point of 5e back in the days was
that the game was slimmed down in comparison to the mess that was 
4e. But that's not what the suits and some of the more vocal fans
want. Or think they want. They are going for more complexity, and
that will alienate a lot of fans who already think 5e is too much
of an unwieldy mess to play straight.