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I'd have to say "D". Like many other folks, I'll probably be picking up the 4E core books (at least the Players Handbook). But my group is still in the midst of two 3.5E games (AoW and SGoSG), which will continue for quite a bit. Also, there are several 3.5E adventures I'd like to run (DD1 to DD3, Expedition to Ravenloft) and I refuse to convert them.
In discussing the whole situation my group has talked about looking over 4E and adopting any rules we like for incorporation into our current gameplay. I have seen one or two bits that I like, but a lot of other stuff has struck me as pointless.
Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
A) Convert! I am ready for a new D&D.
B) 3.5 or Bust! I'm sticking with the man what brought me.
C) We'll see. Need more information.
D) Other.
Please pick one. Feel free to elaborate, but please stick to one reply each for this thread. I'm not interested in fights or refutations of incorrect points or baiting or whatever.
I want to know how you, at this moment in time, feel about the idea of converting to a new edition of the game.
I expect that people's answers will change over time. This is not the last time I will ask this question, so we'll have a chance to gauge the issue as we go along.
So, given what you know so far, you plan to: _______________.
D. I am currently finishing up DM'ing Age of Worms (They just killed Dragotha!) and am going to take a 6 month break to hang out with the wife and kid more (planning to have a 2nd little rug rat). After that I am going to run Savage Tide, which will take somewhere between 1 1/2 - 2 years depending, and since from what things appear and conversions to 4e will be a large pain/undermine the whole point of easy AP play, I will most likely wait to dig into 4e until that point. But that depends on if 4e is good enough. I might just go on back and run that Werewolf the Apocalypse game I always wanted to try, or even give up GM'ing for a couple of years, as I have been on a 4 year run so far, and by the time Savage Tide is over, it will be 6 years straight of me being a Game Master.
But that does not rule out the highly possible situation that a friend starts a 4e game, and I become a player in it, and thus get sucked into the new edition in the exact same way I got sucked into 3e (I had been playing White Wolf before 3e came out, having not played D&D much since the 1980s).
So, D. I shall see.
I assume you folks at Paizo will make the shift quickly, as sales will probably suffer otherwise. I will be interested to see what path you blaze through these times of change.
C. I want to see the whole picture before I make a decision. There are elements that have surfaced that I'm not a fan of, but I don't think it's necessary to make a judgement now without all of the information in. After snatching up a lot of second hand 3.5 books on the cheap, I also want to see if I can get any more mileage out of them and see how well I can convert them to the new edition before actually trying to play it.
I'll stick with 3.5. Partially because I don't want to support WotC and partially because I've invested so much in 3.5 books. Tbat said, I'll probably look at the 4e books and steal whatever looks useful for addition to my heavily house ruled 3.5 game.
Contributor
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My answer is complex.
I will get the new rules as early as possible so that I can write for publishers who switch.
OTOH, my group has no interest in switching at all, and I have a crapload of 3.5 stuff that I still want to run/play and don't want to have to convert to a new system. Did I say they have no interest? In some cases it's proabbly better to say they are extremely resistant. Mind you, these are mostly the people who only own books that the rest of us bought for them as gifts. Not exactly your target demographic, the "I don't buy my own games" crowd.
I also see an opportunity coming up to buy all the 3.5 splat books I don't have for really cheap.
But, I am a rules mechanic junkie. I want to see what they will, do. Once I see, if i think it's better, I will probably try to convert my players or start a second group up.
Like many people, I have enough 3.5 material to play for the rest of my life, and I can make up my own stuff. One of my brothers has enough stuff for 3.5 to run for the rest of our lives as well, and none of it is the same as the stuff I have. And like I said, I bet a lot of the 3.5 stuff that we don't have will soon be drastically reduced in price. There is no need for me to switch.
But I also had enough stuff to run and play TORG for the rest of my life. And I've got (or have had) lots of other games that didn't stop me from buying 3.5. And hell, I just bought True20 and the new edition of RuneQuest, and I can hear Shadowrun calling my name (I'm two editions behind there). And I'm still buying more 3.5 adventures than I can ever run as we speak.
I'd really like to stick with 3.5, and my friends might essentially force me to, but I can see the writing on the wall. I will buy the core rules, and for a while I will hold out on buying much beyond that. If 4E takes off, my resolve will eventually crumble, and I will slide down the slippery slope of splat books. It's possinle that I will end up with hundreds of dollars worht of material for a game I don't actually play. It's happened before.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I have finally gotten to the point that some of the rules problems with 3.5 are starting to bother me in play. For a long time I refused to meddle with the system because it worked pretty well. But as we've used them more, and as more new material has been published, the weaknesses are becoming more evident. I do hope that 4E fixes these problems.
Director of Narrative
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So, given what you know so far, you plan to:Stick with the current edition for at least another 2 years or longer (however long it takes me to use all of the books I purchased for v.3.5 to justify the hard-earned $$$ I shelled out). I may skip 4th edition altogether and start playing 4.5 or whatever WotC is going to call it at that time (yes, there will be a 4.5. you better believe it.) That depends on whether the system even interests me.
Same answer. Our group didn't even switch from 2nd Ed until 3.5 was out, I'm patient. I will get a copy of the rules just to stay current as far as writing goes.
B)- They are introducing way too many changes in 4E for me to believe there isn't going to be some "tweaking" needed after everyone has bought and playtested it.
WOTC has not impressed me with getting things done right the first time, so no one can convince me that this new edition will last very long before corrections are needed.
I may buy 4.5 when it comes out, or 5.0. I'm not trying to be funny or a smarta** about it, this is how I really feel. I don't mind evolving/improving my game, I just don't want to pay to be a playtester for them.
I choose option A. I'm ready for new and improved rules. I just hope that they actually do make the game easier to run.
However, I have no plans to buy anything but the new core books. I'll purchase modules set in Greyhawk or I'll convert to the 4th edition Pathfinder, should there be one. If neither of those is an option, its likely that I'll just stop playing... Or possibly work on converting modules up to 4th.
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I wish I could be more elegant and elucidate relevant points, but it boils down to no (B).
I and my entire group have unquestionably decided to not convert to 4e in the foreseeable future.
It started out with extreme bitterness over the way WotC handled Dragon and Dungeon.
But now, everything they put/leak out confirms that they desire to take the game in a direction that I feel separates from the heart and soul of the game.
Some may say that elves with classes separates from the heart and soul of the original game. True, so realistically, years down the line 4e may start to creep into our campaigns. This is especially true if Paizo, Necromancer Games, and Goodman Games stop supporting 3.5 and move to 4e. You guys produce good stuff...which means my real answer is probably a D - someday.
So I can't say I will turn my back on Paizo if Pathfinder #3 is 4e but I can say that there are five 35+ year old well-to-do guys that will not be converting next Summer. We still have all three original Adventure Paths, Pathfinders galore, Rappan Athuk, Castle Whiterock, Ptolus, and a myriad of adventures to hold us over...
Back to the point, it is not that it appears there are no gnomes, or there is a new mageblade class, or eradicating Vancian spellcasting, or the wizards dependence on hardware, or no more bards, or counter attacks instead of AOO, or faster leveling, or the stupid "extras" based on an online subscription. It's all of it combined. It is the undeniable 180 degree left turn out of nowhere. Its this dumbing down and materialization of the game - what happen to pen and paper with a healthy dose of imagination?
I understand 3.5 is not perfect. So fix it, don't totally from the ground up start from scratch do it over. 4e is not an evolution of the game. It is a totally different game that they are calling DnD.
...and I understand that my not purchasing their books won't make the slightest difference. Maybe that's part of why I'm upset. I do not agree with they direction they are heading and I cannot do a flippin' thing about it.
Now I've said too much...
C) We'll see. Need more information.
Back when 3.0 came out, I resisted it but came to love it once I actually read it. I plan on giving 4e a fair shake, the first step of which will be to crack open the PHB at Barnes and Noble in May.
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A & D. I'm playing in a 3.5 campaign that will probably run into 2009, but my about to start campaign is probably going to be a relatively short and focused one, wrapping up around next May or June, at which time enough 4th Ed material will be out to start playing a 4E campaign. At the present moment, I'm planning on running 3.5 through about July of 2009 (primarily because I want to run Rise of the Runelords), after which I will probably convert entirely to 4th Edition.
D) I have the STAP to finish and probably follow that with either SCAP or RotRL AP so I'll be sticking with 3.5 for a long while. SUre I'll pick up the 4e books, but since it sounds like it will take too much work to convert from 3.5 to 4e I won't bother playing it for a while. Granted this is only for the games that I run. If the group I play with converts then I will be playing 4e sooner.
B
I have just way to much material, time, and money invested in 3.5 edition. I don't think I can aford to do it all over again, so unless 4th edition proves to be best think since slice bread, I'll be sticking with my 3.5 books.
Definitely B) Staying with 3.5e
I have a large inventory of unused 3.5 adventures and I enjoy the rules. Even if 4e is a better game I'll be sticking with 3.5 because it would be more work to convert all those 3.5e adventures to 4e than the time saving I would gain in preparation (assuming the 4e promise is fullfilled). I would rather continue to buy and use 3.5 adventures than upgrade and start over at this point. I don't have a problem with preparation time in 3.5 mainly because I use pre-made adventures from the best in the business - Paizo.
As for my feelings on 4e, I like a little of what I'm hearing on game mechanics changes, but I dislike some as well. Regarding the changes to flavor and background - just horrible.
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c.) Our 7 person group is playing in a long 3.5 campaign. We have talked about taking a look at the new 4e material to see if there are some good elements to bring into our 3.5 game. If it is too much of a change (impossible to mix with 3.5) we will likely stay in 3.5 for a while so the bugs can get worked out of 4e before we even try it. But since we don't know much about 4e yet, it is way too early to commit to a changeover at any specific date.
I would love to see 3.5 Pathfinder material continue for a transition period, maybe 12 months or so after the 3 core 4e books are released. Give 4e a little time to see how it plays out before Paizo thinks about switching the adventure path over to 4e. (Others will want Paizo to switch immediately - I don't know how you please both groups and still make a profit...?)
I think the GameMastery modules would be a better place for Paizo to experiment with 4e initially. Since they are one and done modules - I would be much more likely to try 4e early on with a module, than I would with an ongoing adventure path.
Learning a new system makes for some really awkward games for a while, but then you eventually get the hang of it and off you go.
Strong C
I am interested, yet nervous about 4.0. I can see faults in the current system, though not always the same as other people. (I still don't understand why people complain about grapple) One of my best friends is really excited and interested in the changes, and he was the best DM I've ever had, not the first, but definitely the best. So I feel better now than I first did. Im sure I will pick up the core books and check them out. I honestly run a very rules light version anyway and would welcome some better options for magic and combat.
I know some people who still to this day "wont never play that dang d20 3. 5 crud, gimme my AD&D!!" so I'm not surprised by the reactions some people have. I was kinda mad at first, assumed it was either a joke or just a money grab (could still be) but whatever. I'll just wait and see.
Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
A) Convert! I am ready for a new D&D.
B) 3.5 or Bust! I'm sticking with the man what brought me.
C) We'll see. Need more information.
D) Other.
Please pick one. Feel free to elaborate, but please stick to one reply each for this thread. I'm not interested in fights or refutations of incorrect points or baiting or whatever.
I want to know how you, at this moment in time, feel about the idea of converting to a new edition of the game.
I expect that people's answers will change over time. This is not the last time I will ask this question, so we'll have a chance to gauge the issue as we go along.
So, given what you know so far, you plan to: _______________.
I'm on C at the moment. Frankly, I'm not eager for a new edition and as I have stated elsewhere, for every preview WotC puts out that makes me think, "Hmm, that might be good..." they put out another that just makes me cringe.
However, I quite like Star Wars Saga Edition, so much so that I made my own sword-and-sorcery conversion campaign out of it (http://www.gneech.com/swordandsorcery). And it's for this ruleset that I expect to use "Gallery of Evil" et al.
My current prediction is that when the 4E SRD gets put up, I'll raid that for my S&S Saga ruleset, but as far as off-the-shelf D&D, I'm unlikely to change any time soon. I have no pressing need or desire to, with however-many-years' worth of 3.X Dungeon mags and a double-handful of modules from Goodman et al.
EDIT: I should also mention that at least one of my players is emphatically against the new edition right now, but I'm convinced will be just as emphatically FOR it once it's actually on the shelf. Go fig. The rest of my players will go with whatever is offered.
-The Gneech
Skimmed through the list and saw an awful lot of B: Sticking with 3.5.
I am falling into that group at the moment as I'm not keen on some of the 'Fluff' changes they are making. Succubus=Devil.... not in my game.
However, things are getting complex in my tabletop group with the scheduling difficulties that mean I am not getting enough role-playing done, so I may pick up a copy of the PHB so I can find a 'Virtual Tabletop' game to keep me busy.
Assuming the virtual tabletop software does not suck that is.
I guess that means I will have to subscribe to the D&D Insider (sorry Erik - but I'm hoping for more Demonomicon articles... hmm... will they do the Devilnomicon of Malcanthet for 4e? That would be sacrilege!)
A. Hooray for 4th Edition!
Anything that makes it easier for me to prep for the game session will be welcome, and although we haven't seen the proof yet, I believe them when they say that this will be a major improvement with 4th edition.
(I agree their marketing has been abysmal so far, but the actual nuggets of information sound promising. I'm not so generously emotive about the Digital Initiative, in fact I'm quite negative about it, based on the fact that navigation at their site has recently become more bizarre than ever before. How can they hawk their wonderful new online content at a site where it's completely non-intuitive how you're supposed to browse for recently added content?)
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So, given what you know so far, you plan to: _______________.
(C) We'll see. Need more information.
Right now I am intrigued by 4.0 but not enough to buy anything at this point. I am going to let the diehards do the "rules depreciation" for me. Once I have some concrete answers on 4.0 (I am not going to pay a dime to be an "insider"), I will make an evaluation then.
I know this isn't asked for, but if Paizo moves to 4.0, then I almost certainly will as well because I admire your products so much. If you stick with 3.5, it will be extremely difficult to move me off of 3.5 regardless of rules quality.
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Begrudgingly C. So far, not too impressed with either the information or the way it's being doled out to us. Thank the gods who haven't been killed yet for EN World. Finding information on the WOTC site is like having to choose the blue pill every day ("You have to be signed up for the DI to gain access to that information, Citizen." Ughh.)
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Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
A) Convert! I am ready for a new D&D.
B) 3.5 or Bust! I'm sticking with the man what brought me.
C) We'll see. Need more information.
D) Other.
Please pick one. Feel free to elaborate, but please stick to one reply each for this thread.
Given these choices -- C).
I will definitely take a look at it, but our group is currently fine with 3.5 and no one has been terribly frustrated with the rules enough to learn a new edition yet. Still, if after looking at 4e it turns out to be the 'bomb-diggity' then we will probably try and phase it in.
So, C).
I choose B, at least for now. I have so many 3.5 resources available that I can explore dozens of different possibilities and not get bored or trapped by the systems flaws. I fell like I have gotten to play so little of 3.5 and it's being yanked before I have "played it out".
That said, a lot will depend on any other gamers I find. I love DnD, and in fact, the switch to 3.0 happened almost two years after ot came out, simply because two people in the group bought the books and kept touting the differences. We tried it; we decided it was almost a completely different game, but we liked it. So we played. That may happen with 4e.
Of course, I may never find gamers (I'm looking at you, Winston Salem) to convert, or I may only find people interested in other games (ShadowRun, anyone? Any edition?). All I can say for now is I am not enthralled by the prospect of a completely new version of the granddaddy of RPGs. 4e will have to be phenomenal to make me a convert...
BBBBBBBB
Cheap, no no, thrifty, individual that I am. I would prefer to stick to 3.5. If Paizo went over to 4.0, I'd probably follow though.
Oh, don't forget angry. Wizards attitude through this has been so poor. Especially angers me that they expect me to pay for them to market to me. Kind of like a supper-crass NPR fund drive.
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I'm a C leadning towards A.
Admittedly, a lot of that depends on my group's willingness to move to a new system, and how much of my 3.5 material I've used up.
But I remember the swap from 2.0 to 3.0 with fondness, and I liked the 3.5 update. If I have to, I can keep a plotline from adventures, and rebuild them mechanically. Although it's a lot of work, I will have a few years worth of STAP and RotRL material to get through if my group drags its feet.
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C.
I have a whole shelf filled with 3.5 stuff, enough to keep me going for ages.
However I just got the Tome of Battle and Star Wars Saga edition as a kind of fact finding mission for 4.0, in case they represent the future. Haven't had a chance to read them much yet though.
IF 4.0 can improve the system, the way 3.0 did then I will transfer allegiance, but that is a big if when I look at that shelf...
Cheers
I think my answer is C.
I will very likely buy the three core books when they come out, and see how the system works.
I also may ultimately wind up cobbling together my own 3.5/4.0 crossbreed homebrew.
Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
C) We'll see. Need more information.
I played 1st edition, skipped 2nd, and started back up with 3rd. So, my tendency is to skip all even numbered editions (results may be skewed by small sample size). However, there may be elements of 4th that will appeal to our group - so I haven't excluded it.
C. Not nearly enough information yet.
C.
It's hard to get excited about a system that I (or anybody I know) have never even seen.
Shoot, with the way that WOTC's been less than honest with it's customers, I'm not even sure they're actually working on 4th edition.
I'll believe 4th edition actually exists when I'm holding the books in my hands. Then I'll decide whether or not I'll actually use it.
C When the hell are they gonna release some information other than Rick Bakers lame ass campaign notes about his Mr.Roboto character.
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A. Convert
I have enjoyed 3.5, but have also gotten to the point where I know the problems in the system all too well. There are so many sourcebooks out there that just combining options can make players too powerful for my taste (yes, I can and do limit sourcebooks, but when players have bought so many, I don't want to eliminate all of them.) High level combats are tedious for me, and so on.
To be fair, we'll finish whatever campaign we're running in 3.5 rules. And, if 4.0 turns out to be really bad, we'll switch back. But right now, we do intend to switch to 4.0.
Drew
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I'm currently at: "C) We'll see. Need more information."
I plan to buy the 4.0 books and familiarize myself with them, but it remains to be seen whether my players will switch. I may try to influence the decision one way or the other once I know more about the new edition, but I won't make my players switch if they decide against it.
However, a pivotal part of my decision on whether or not to recommend a switch to 4E will be based on what Paizo decides to do. If Paizo makes the switch to 4.0, I will try to follow suit. I suspect that many here will feel the same way.
Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
A) Convert! I am ready for a new D&D.
B) 3.5 or Bust! I'm sticking with the man what brought me.
C) We'll see. Need more information.
D) Other.
So, given what you know so far, you plan to: _______________.
D) Other.
I own & have played blue box D&D , AD&D1st, AD&D2nd (including skills & powers) and 3rd. I didn't buy any of the 3.5 core books and basically run a 3.0 game, but I borrow from the 3.5 SRD for some stuff (mostly spell changes), Arcana Evolved (the classes are all up for grabs, as are the magic item creation mods therin), and I use a few bits from Iron Heroes.
If my players WANT to play 4.0 I'll switch, but it's more likely I'll just crib bits & pieces.
:)
Rory Weston
rweston at uniserve dot com
A. Convert
I want to convert. I want a better game. I expect a better game. The little bits of info about 4e I've seen I like. I also realize that I can't REALLY say I will convert anymore than anyone can REALLY say they won't. So my answer is kinda C also. It all depends on if my friends want to convert, if the final product is to my/our liking. Nobody can see the future -- except maybe Sebastian ;)
Bottom line -- I really want 4e to be good, and I'm optimistic that it will be.
A....after slogging through skill points for monsters and the DMG EL chart, which I hate, I'm ready for a new system that makes creating encounters easier.
I'm on a C.
The game I play in will not convert (he hasn't "converted" to 3.5, so I doubt he'll go to 4.0) but the game I DM may convert based on how everything works.
I'm interested in the skills and a lot of other things, but haven't seen much yet in the way of numbers or behavior.
I'd also like an excuse to start everyone back at level one, just because I can.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Mostly "B", stick with 3.5
I'm certainly not going to go for the on-line part of 4th Edition (I have a dial-up modem; loading simple web pages takes a while, and I'm not going to watch my campaign grind to a halt every time a critter moves in the virtual battlespace.)
Given that, there's not a lot that 4th Ed offers me. I'll probably read the 4th Edition SRD to see if there are any simple rules tweaks I want to port over as house rules, but I'll otherwise continue with my current rules system.
Given what you know so far, are you planning to:
B) 3.5 or Bust!
It's definitely B (unless my players really want to convert sooo much as to buy me the all the new rulebooks!)
B. I'm sticking with 3.5/OGL. I may purchase the 4e PHB for the occasional PbP game, but there is no way I can justify the shift. My players only consider switching systems when I advocate for it. With increasing competition from Real Life, I can't justify switching and then re-buying the same topics/supplements in their 4e incarnation. My players would rather spend money that furthers their current campaigns and there are few concepts they can't play now.
At the end of the day, this is a hobby for all of us. In my group, I'm (by far) the most heavily invested in 3.5/OGL books. I can't think of a single time that my players didn't follow my lead as to the system. One of my players asked, "Why would we change? So we can get stuck in the 'waiting for the next sourcebook' cycle to cover rules we already have?" (We converted to 3.5/OGL only 3 years ago after a long stint with other RPGs.)
Having recently discovered Pathfinder and Gamemastery producsts, I'll be buying Paizo material for as long as 3.5/OGL is supported. If you opt to go with 4e, I wish you well, but I will then have to divert my gaming budget to 3.5 adventures, sourcebooks, or setting/fluff books devoid of 4e mechanics.
I greatly appreciate the importance Paizo places on its customers and the efforts you take to stay in tune with their interests. I fear I haven't been WotC's target audience for quite some time. (Which I still don't understand as I've never had more disposable income to spend on this hobby than I do now. I may get to play less, but I still buy.) I hope to be part of Paizo's target audience for years to come.
(I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the condescending manner in which 4e is being promoted at 3e's expense isn't exactly inspiring any confidence in the new edition either.)
D, our homebrew d20 system (classless, GURPS'ish magic)works . We might steal some ideas from 4.0 but convert...nah.
Or go Warhammer all the way - yay!