My question to you folks, and I am curious about the 4e-pros response to this (even they have to draw the line somewhere along WotC's rocky road), is this:
What if 5th Edition was announced or started working on 5 years from now? How would you feel about D&D and WotC then?
Personally, I will stake my life that either 4.5e or 5E will be released in just a few years, 5th Edition a couple years later than when I think 4.5e will be released.
I use 5 years because that was the lifespan of 3rd Edition.
"But hold it! 3E lasted 7 years, not 5!"
I shall explain.
In 2000, 3.0e was released. As it was released, they began working on 3.5e and released that in 2003. Three years was 3.0e's lifespan. Already a CCG trend waiting to happen. Thanks, WotC...
3.5e lasted only two years before they began working on 4th Edition in 2005. Where did the other two years of 3.5e go? There was none.
The explanation for that is the hard evidence you'll easily find made as statements by WotC many times. From 2005 to now, a lot of the books were "scoping grounds" for their 4th Edition material. The books were essentially "4th Edition Playtest Books". None of it was made for the glory and satisfaction with 3E. None of it was created for the purpose of enhancing and enriching the 3E system. It was made for the desire of selling yet another new edition in such a short period of time. (CCG D&D is already here...) You can try to convince me otherwise, but you'll need strong evidence to back your counterpoint since WotC already proved their intention from 2005 products and onward.
I believe a system ceases to be once a new system is in the works. You can try to convince me otherwise, but it won't work. If I was wrong, why didn't WotC announced 4e when they began working on it? Or 3.5e for that matter? Explain that, because I already know the answer to it.
12!
7!!!
...
Wait... what was the question?
I believe a system ceases to be once a new system is in the works. You can try to convince me otherwise, but it won't work. If I was wrong, why didn't WotC announced 4e when they began working on it? Or 3.5e for that matter? Explain that, because I already know the answer to it.
Although I am a "fence sitter" and I usually just goof around on the boards, this kinda got me. Razz, I understand your anger over 4e, and I can honestly say I was deeply angered by the initial salvo of cancelling Dragon and Dungeon, but look at the tone of your posting. You want to engender a discussion but you have already put yourself beyond any debate. When you state: 'You can try to convince me but it wont work' or 'explain that because I already know the answer to it.' it really leaves no room for debate.
For my two cents: Systems are usually being upgraded, one reason we now have Windows Vista. My Windows XP still does me fine, and I know many people howled when Vista came out (as they did for all other Windows incarnations). When I change my computer, I will most likely switch to Windows Vista. When I tire of 3.5 (or no one will play it with me) I will play 4e (hopefully when the inital bugs are identified). If you hate Windows Vista, and think Microsoft is just scamming money, there's always Linux. If you decide that 4e has ruined D&D, theres always Exalted from White Wolf. Why didn't they announce they were working on 4e? Probably because they thought having years, rather than months of acrimonious debate would be horrific to the game and the community. Look what the last few months have done to the community and stretch this back to 2005. Personally I wish they could have saved up 4e until it was ready to roll out and then sprung it out full blown (yes I know this was impossible, one can wish though)
Anyway, my thought is that 5e will be in the works as soon as 4e hits the stands. It may not be some full blown thing, but the developers will be amassing HUGE amounts of data and errata from the initial gamer responses once it hits the street. Is this good or bad? I really don't think it's either, it's just a fact of how systems evolve.
5 years would be fine. That's when I'd be ready for 4E, so 5E at that time would fit my schedule. :)
Well, given the kinks that I can already forsee in 4E, I'll bet money that 4.5 will be out to fix the holes in between 2&3 yrs, and 5.0 in about another 2 or 3 yrs after that. My guess is it will happen around the point when everyone who is going to by the core books has bought them.
How would I feel? I'm going to laugh my ass off. Cause it won't be me wasting my money on this pointless endevor.
I will be incredibly surprised if 4th edition isn't the last hurrah for WOTC pen and paper D & D.
That would be great. It would give them another chance to move the game in the direction I would like to see it go.
My question to you folks, and I am curious about the 4e-pros response to this (even they have to draw the line somewhere along WotC's rocky road), is this:
What if 5th Edition was announced or started working on 5 years from now? How would you feel about D&D and WotC then?
Personally, I will stake my life that either 4.5e or 5E will be released in just a few years, 5th Edition a couple years later than when I think 4.5e will be released.
I use 5 years because that was the lifespan of 3rd Edition.
"But hold it! 3E lasted 7 years, not 5!"
I shall explain.
In 2000, 3.0e was released. As it was released, they began working on 3.5e and released that in 2003. Three years was 3.0e's lifespan. Already a CCG trend waiting to happen. Thanks, WotC...
3.5e lasted only two years before they began working on 4th Edition in 2005. Where did the other two years of 3.5e go? There was none.
The explanation for that is the hard evidence you'll easily find made as statements by WotC many times. From 2005 to now, a lot of the books were "scoping grounds" for their 4th Edition material. The books were essentially "4th Edition Playtest Books". None of it was made for the glory and satisfaction with 3E. None of it was created for the purpose of enhancing and enriching the 3E system. It was made for the desire of selling yet another new edition in such a short period of time. (CCG D&D is already here...) You can try to convince me otherwise, but you'll need strong evidence to back your counterpoint since WotC already proved their intention from 2005 products and onward.
I believe a system ceases to be once a new system is in the works. You can try to convince me otherwise, but it won't work. If I was wrong, why didn't WotC announced 4e when they began working on it? Or 3.5e for that matter? Explain that, because I already know the answer to it.
So does that mean the lifespan of 4E started in 2005, not 2008? Creative math cuts both ways. I think a more reasonable view of the lifespan of 3/3.5 is eight years.
In answer to your question: 5E in five years? I think that depends on how good 4E is. Given the massive break with the past 4E represents, I'd be shocked if they got it *all* right the first time. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see a pretty quick rev of 4E (ala 3->3.5), followed by a five year or so cycle until 5E. Personally, as long as they keep moving the game in a direction I like, I'd be ok with that.
BUT I'm not sure if it is healthy for the hobby, and I don't buy much past the core (rules wise). So I don't as much "invested" as many others do. I basically have the core 3 + UA + compendiums. The rest is adventure and setting materials, to which I am addicted (which probably explains why I like the Paizo stuff as much as I do).
But a five year edition lifespan isn't inherently a deal-killer for me.
I've already begun moderating the 5E boards.
I've already begun moderating the 5E boards.
I've noticed that you've suppressed all the threads right off the bat.
That's either extremely wise, or extremely stupid. </Mystery Men voice>
I'm still holding out for 7e.
I've already begun moderating the 5E boards.
I'm sorry, but that was freakin hilarious.
It wouldn't surprise me at all. I do however remember when 3.0 came out and 3.5 came out to patch the systems problems. This is what will happen with 4E but......
I will be incredibly surprised if 4th edition isn't the last hurrah for WOTC pen and paper D & D.
This is the direction that WoTC seems to be going. 4.5 will be PDF only format.
I've already begun moderating the 5E boards.
I'm sorry, but that was freakin hilarious.
*takes a bow*
LMAO
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4E has not even launched. 3.5 is still alive and well. 3.5 did not end the first time two R&D guys at WotC sat down to figure out what to do next. 3.5 is the official edition until the last WotC 3.5 book is published.
The notion that a product's life ends when the next generation goes into planning has no real foundation in any form of market economics or product development model that I have ever seen.
Why should WotC announce 5E the minute they start to think about it? And why would the initiation of 5E make 4E a dead system?
I think it was really important that you came here and explained that to Razz, terminator boy.
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I'm guessing that the next edition will be in the works no later than 18 months post-4e release, if that long. I'm sure some play-testing has already started, which will be used in analysis toward a future revision. I don't have any problem with this. This is not a very good analogy, but I'll use it anyway--it's akin to technology. Be an early adopter, or wait for the upgrade, and realize that there will always be an upgrade until the product is irrelevant; then there will be a new product.
I'm still holding out for 7e.
That sounds magical...
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I'd expect it. I've been around since 1975, plus or minus a year, and i will continue to be around till the end--the end meaning, the end of my life. My brothers kids will be introduced to DnD in 2009 and we will be playing with them for the next 20+ years.
We all have our favorite edition/s and most, i'd guess, have taken the best of each edition and homebrewed their own unique versions. As with all editions, if there is something i dont like, then i homebrew it out or change it. No worries. So i say, bring on all new editions and... GAME ON!
All this being said, i wont spend another 1000+ dollars on any more editions. For now on, it's all about the core books and all the new modules. That's where my future earnings will go. No regrets, none at all. Love the game, always have and always will.
A special thanks goes out to PAIZO. You are appreciated.
Thoth-Amon
My question to you folks, and I am curious about the 4e-pros response to this (even they have to draw the line somewhere along WotC's rocky road), is this:
What if 5th Edition was announced or started working on 5 years from now? How would you feel about D&D and WotC then?
Personally, I will stake my life that either 4.5e or 5E will be released in just a few years, 5th Edition a couple years later than when I think 4.5e will be released.
Razz,
You don't have to explain with me. Honestly, this whole five year thing is kinda freakish for me because thats' EXACTLY what I told my DM a month before I joined up on Paizo's boards... I told him... D&D 5th edition... 5 years... He said "No, I think it would take a little longer considering the past releases of..." and I said "No, I say five years?". The DM, then taking into consideration that I'm in print, multiple times, as a writer of 3rd/3.5 products (3rd party company), said, "You think so? Why?"... and I went into a long detail of commercial problems with 4th edition and WotC, if it is still WotC, making an attempt to swing the product back towards 3.x, which revived D&D as a table top game... and in my opinion, along with Harry Potter and the Lord Of The Rings movies, restored a healthy mass market interest in fantasy in general.I'm with you on the 5 years thing.... its the EXACT same thing I predicted before I knew others felt the same thing.
I don't really so much see a 4.5 thing... if we are lucky... I see WotC silently continuing the make the odd additional print of core 3.5 books (silently, mind you, silently) as been suggested to me before as 4th edition books falter and eventually crash.
Oh, around the release of 4th edition I plan to buy a fresh set of 3.5 books from a major distributor to enforce the idea that 3.5 still sells... that and I need new copies anyways...
Who else is with me on this market ploy?
I heard that 7E has replaced magic with synchronized yodeling.I'm still holding out for 7e.That sounds magical...
Where do I pre-order it?!?!?
I heard that 7E has replaced magic with synchronized yodeling.I'm still holding out for 7e.That sounds magical...
That, of course, my dear friend, is only if you pick up the BARD'S EDITION of the core 3 books for 7E. My predictions is that 7e will take after that one desperate album of Michael Jackson that was released in multiple colors (please, buy it in at least 3 to 5 shades... aka I'm broke), only there will be very slight rules variants... aka little more than text tweaking... the Cleric's Edition will be dedicated chanting over magic, the Barbarian's version will feature Howling, the fighter's version will feature colorful crass cursing, and the Monk's edition will dedicate all such powers as being channeled through 1 to 2 syllable cries... such as "Ki!!!!" and "Yah!" and "Hiyahhh!" and "Itsu!"
5 years would be fine. That's when I'd be ready for 4E, so 5E at that time would fit my schedule. :)
LOL!
That's about my plan as well.I'm getting ready to order a fresh set of 3.5 core books for myself, and a nearly new copy of the PHB for a new player coming in... 3.5 on that too of course.
(already have 2 of the 3 3rd edition core books I recently ordered on the way)
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I am just curious how long an edition is SUPPOSED to stick around?
D&D was released in January 1974. A revised edition was released in 1977 with Basic D&D. In 1981 a new edition was released with the Expert Set. A revised Basic and Expert set was released in 1983. In 1984 we had the addition of the D&D Companion and in 1986 Masters and Immortals Sets. In 1991 a new version of the Basic Set was released with a board and playing pieces. Eventually all of this was compiled into the Cyclopedia book.
AD&D was released in the late 1970s. In 1985 Oriental Adventures was released and two years later, 1987, Second Edition AD&D was released. 1990 saw the release of the Player's Handbook Reference Books and over five years 15 books were released.
1991 saw the release of the Black box edition, also known as "FIFTH EDITION."
Then along comes 2000 and the release of 3rd Edition D&D, followed by 3.5 in 2003.
Now, in 2008 is the release of 4E D&D.
Now, please explain to me why you are upset that 3.x has not been around long enough. Please explain to me why 4E is released too soon. By my count, during the 26 years between 1974 and 2000, 13 versions of D&D were released for an average of 2 years per version. So you are are telling me that an edition that has lasted 4 times the average is too short? How do you figure this?
Let me tell you how... you started playing D&D with 3.x and have no idea what-so-ever of what you are talking about. You have not bought 10 versions of D&D and their accompanying books and accessories and adventures. You actually think that 3E is the best there can be, and since you have spent some money on it you are ENTITLED to keep it around forever and ever.
All I have left to say is grow up (maybe hit puberty sometime soon), get a job and have a family, and join the real world...
Now I want to apologize to everyone. I hate when users reply with rude snide remarks, even when an OP has it coming. But this is a topic that has gone on far too long and been tolerated by far too many. While everyone is entitled to their opinions, an ill-informed, self-righteous, selfish opinion needs to be educated. Had the OP simply backed up his argument with some sort of facts I could have let this go. But such a childish, blanket, self-righteous, ignorant statement cannot be tolerated.
Again I apologize.
I believe a system ceases to be once a new system is in the works. You can try to convince me otherwise, but it won't work. If I was wrong, why didn't WotC announced 4e when they began working on it? Or 3.5e for that matter? Explain that, because I already know the answer to it.
If they announce 5E in five years, I'll chalk up another mark on the progress chart. I'd see it as the developers doing their job. I don't think it'll be quite that short a time span, though. More like the seven or so years we have now.
You never stop development. I am sure that once the ball is rolling on 4E, they'll start some sort of water-cooler development of 5E. I am sure that on someone's PC there's a little doodle of 6E, even :) This is just the way things work, and have always worked, for every game system. You always, always think about how to do things better, especially once you start seeing the results of unintentional mistakes or synergys you didn't realize existed. This is how things progress and get better.
Using modular systems to gauge interest is damn smart thinking. If I've been working on ideas for a web page or database, I run up a prototype or I incorporate part of what I want in Future System X in Today's Build of System Y. I get feedback. If it's negative feedback, I know I should not go down that pathway and I start from scratch to develop something else. It's not a money grab or anything sinister; it's just one way of developing things. A pretty darn smart way, too, since it prevents you from wasting a lot of time developing something that no-one will like.
I'm sure that when Gary sat back after doing the DMG, he thought of a dozen better ways he could have done X, Y or Z. And we saw some of those things in Unearthed Arcana, in Dragon articles, etc. Mention has been made of how he wished he'd never done certain things (such as weapon adjustments vs raw AC). I'm sure that if things had gone as things normally go, we'd have seen a second edition of D&D around about 1986 or so that cleared up ambiguous rules, added new monsters, changed the way certain spells worked, etc etc.
Ready to move on to 5 edition D&D.
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The DM, then taking into consideration that I'm in print, multiple times, as a writer of 3rd/3.5 products (3rd party company), said, "You think so? Why?"... and I went into a long detail of commercial problems with 4th edition and WotC...
So I assume that at GenCon 2007 you fully expected the announcement of 4E. I was so absolutely positive it was to be announced that I made my first trip to GenCon last year just to hear the announcement.
I remember being shocked when they asked for applause from those who had expected the announcement that only a smattering of people did in fact applaud. And yes I was one of them. How could so many people be caught so blindly when so many signs were pointing to it?
What is my prediction of 4E? It will be a success, but not as much as WizCo hopes for. There will be a shuffling in the industry as major 3rd party publishers adapt to and some abandon 4E. D&D will not suffer as badly as it did under 2nd Edition, but it will not thrive as much as it has under 3.x
However, the industry will respond to this lack luster showing and once again release some stellar material. New mechanics systems will be released. Publishers will go out of business and new publishers will appear. Some publishers will merge.
Eventually, the industry will feel the need for a new version of D&D. Not right away. But I think it likely that in five years there will be talks about the necessity of a new edition. WizCo, or whoever owns D&D at that time, will spend more time developing 5E, and do a better job communicating with the public. Then within 7-10 years there will be 5E.
It's hard to say exactly how I'd feel about 5th edition before I've played and have a good feel for 4th edition, but broadly speaking I imagine I'd be somewhere between intrigued and excited.
I'm always really baffled whenever people are shocked or surprised at the release of a new edition of a game. It's like being surprised at a new version of Windows or a new Nintendo console or something.
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It's hard to say exactly how I'd feel about 5th edition before I've played and have a good feel for 4th edition, but broadly speaking I imagine I'd be somewhere between intrigued and excited.
I'm always really baffled whenever people are shocked or surprised at the release of a new edition of a game. It's like being surprised at a new version of Windows or a new Nintendo console or something.
Me, too. I'm almost always excited to hear of a new edition.
I heard that 7E has replaced magic with synchronized yodeling.I'm still holding out for 7e.That sounds magical...
Three words: Vancian synchronized yodeling.
Seriously, everyone, hold out for 7e.
I think it was really important that you came here and explained that to Razz, terminator boy.Come with me if you want to ... kill monsters by rolling little multi-sided plastic doohickies.
lol
Me, too. I'm almost always excited to hear of a new edition.It's hard to say exactly how I'd feel about 5th edition before I've played and have a good feel for 4th edition, but broadly speaking I imagine I'd be somewhere between intrigued and excited.
I'm always really baffled whenever people are shocked or surprised at the release of a new edition of a game. It's like being surprised at a new version of Windows or a new Nintendo console or something.
With or without Bobby Brown?
With or without Bobby Brown?
Oh... definitely WITH Bobby Brown... and this time with Whitney doing female backup vocals (why not, what else is she doing these days!?!).... possibly with Menudo as an opening act.
Bear in mind that AD&D, 2nd, and 3.x systems were never that dissimilar. They've been a steady evolution from their origins.
Granted, 3.x was the biggest jump. I won't argue that. Nevertheless, the same basic core operating system has been there with modifications and additions. Feats were a beloved add-on. (I think combat took the biggest change, but it's been 15 years since I read AD&D rules)
4th Edition is the first radically new animal we've seen in this brand from it's humble beginnings.
So when we say 3.5 left us too soon (and I might not disagree with that!), let us remember, it was an extrapolation of earlier work.
I don't fear 4th Edition, but a testament to it's integrity will be how long it lasts without need of serious revision. I hope it does well, and if so it will have Star Wars Saga to thank I think.
I am just curious how long an edition is SUPPOSED to stick around?
As long as possible before money dries up. Which wasn't happening with WotC. They wanted a new, quick influx of income probably because pappa Hasbro stepped in and wasn't satisfied.
If I ran D&D, I would release editions every 15 years, about. It can be done, despite the contrary. But, that's because I love the game, would only hire people that loved the game, care about the fans and would only hire people that cared about the fans. And I would never sell my company to a mega-corporation.
Bad bad move.
D&D was released in January 1974. A revised edition was released in 1977 with Basic D&D. In 1981 a new edition was released with the Expert Set. A revised Basic and Expert set was released in 1983. In 1984 we had the addition of the D&D Companion and in 1986 Masters and Immortals Sets. In 1991 a new version of the Basic Set was released with a board and playing pieces. Eventually all of this was compiled into the Cyclopedia book.
These weren't new editions entirely, per say, but UPGRADES. I don't mind upgrades. That never bothered me with new editions. What does bother is altering the entire system and its 30+ year history into something unrecognizable and so unlike the original. 3rd Edition was better rules, but it kept the soul and spirit it had from earlier editions. In other words, it was "3E rules but had a 1E feel to it".
AD&D was released in the late 1970s. In 1985 Oriental Adventures was released and two years later, 1987, Second Edition AD&D was released. 1990 saw the release of the Player's Handbook Reference Books and over five years 15 books were released.
1991 saw the release of the Black box edition, also known as "FIFTH EDITION."
Now you're just making "editions" up. What exactly is an edition to you?
Then along comes 2000 and the release of 3rd Edition D&D, followed by 3.5 in 2003.
Now, in 2008 is the release of 4E D&D.
Now, please explain to me why you are upset that 3.x has not been around long enough. Please explain to me why 4E is released too soon. By my count, during the 26 years between 1974 and 2000, 13 versions of D&D were released for an average of 2 years per version. So you are are telling me that an edition that has lasted 4 times the average is too short? How do you figure this?
I am upset because of all the lies and manipulation with the community involved to get 4th Edition to where it's at. I am angry because it's not just a rules upgrade, like 2E to 3E was, it's an utter abomination of MMORPG-styled gameplay and destruction of the way things have always been in D&D being destroyed. Alignment, cosmology, classes, races, the lore and "fluff", Vancian magic, the destruction of the Forgotten Realms setting because it has to be force fed the new edition rules, and (worst of all) the complete incompatibility of 4th Edition to earlier editions. I can still use 1E in 2E stuff, and those two I can still use in my 3E games with some tweaking and updating. Try converting all of that into 4E.
Let me tell you how... you started playing D&D with 3.x and have no idea what-so-ever of what you are talking about. You have not bought 10 versions of D&D and their accompanying books and accessories and adventures. You actually think that 3E is the best there can be, and since you have spent some money on it you are ENTITLED to keep it around forever and ever.
All I have left to say is grow up (maybe hit puberty sometime soon), get a job and have a family, and join the real world...
Now I want to apologize to everyone. I hate when users reply with rude snide remarks, even when an OP has it coming. But this is a topic that has gone on far too long and been tolerated...
See, this is where a Paizo member should come in and edit your post for you, because that was really rude and snide and ignorant of you. Did I attack you? No. Should I? Yes, I have all sorts of names to call you right now but I won't because I am an adult (as you claim I am not) and can be rational and intelligent in my discussions, unlike you it seems.
By the way, I started in 2E back in the summer of 1997. I spent over $2500, both my cash and my friends cash that chipped in, on 2E material. We were both exicted and upset about 3E, but when we played it we learned it still had a 2nd Edition feel to it, just better rules and a ton more options. It still kept many, I mean many, of the older editions lore very sacred. 4E abolished and slaughtered many sacred cows, and it's no longer D&D to me. To tell me otherwise is ludicrous. No one has yet to explain to me that 4E D&D is still D&D. It's just a new game under a new name. Same with the Forgotten Realms. (good luck trying to win them over).
I go to a hobby shop with dozens of people that are (unfortunately for the hobby shop owner, and I know him too) not getting 4th Edition because of the destruction of so many years of history, the MMORPG-style of play, and the greed of WotC. It sucks and I feel a little bad that he's going to have a bookshelf with 4E stuff and it's not going to get bought. Had WotC done the right thing and not split the fanbase so straight down the middle (and many other mistakes they have made), things wouldn't be this bad.
All I have left to say is grow up (maybe hit puberty sometime soon), get a job and have a family, and join the real world...
QFT
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5 years would be fine. That's when I'd be ready for 4E, so 5E at that time would fit my schedule. :)LOL!
That's about my plan as well.I'm getting ready to order a fresh set of 3.5 core books for myself, and a nearly new copy of the PHB for a new player coming in... 3.5 on that too of course.
(already have 2 of the 3 3rd edition core books I recently ordered on the way)
I don't need to order any new 3.5 books, but I will probably stick with it for at least another year or so, depending on the rest of my group.
IN RESPONSE TO THE OP:
If WotC released 5e in 5 years that would be fine with me, because we (my gaming group and I) would not have to play it. Just like we don't have to give 4e a try.
But we are giving 4e a try. We have played many, many, many campaigns of 3.x and are ready for something new -- we hope 4e can be that game for us.
Essentially, what I am saying is that it does not matter to me if WoTC puts out something new in 5 years, because
a) if 4e is the game for my group and I, we will stick with it (like we may do with 3.5 if we find 4e wanting)
b) or we may discover that neither 4e or 3.5 offers my group what it wants in a gaming session and eagerly look forward to 5e
The bottom line is that I am not going to be personally offended that a new edition is coming out even if I love 4e, because nothing is stopping me from playing whatever version of my favorite game, D&D,that I want.
Can I ask, in all seriousness, why more anti-4e people don't take this approach and just let topic die? They are updating to a new issue, there is little point in railing against the machine, but on the bright side 3.5 is forever, it is here, and noone is taking that away from you.
Heck, if 4e doesn't pan out for my group and I, we can rest assured we still have 3.5 . . . nothing WoTC does can take that away.
I think you are forgetting SAGA system. Though not technically D&D it was a radically different fantasy role playing game that used Dragonlance as its setting.
True, though I did acknowledge the Saga System in my post, specifically Star Wars? (Watch how fast I edit this post if I'm wrong).
But you're right. And, I did mean specifically for the DnD franchise. Though I didn't exactly forget those games, I just didn't know about them. I was with the diceless and the experimental games for a good many years.
Paizo brought me back to playing these kinds of RPGS
Let me tell you how... you started playing D&D with 3.x and have no idea what-so-ever of what you are talking about. You have not bought 10 versions of D&D and their accompanying books and accessories and adventures. You actually think that 3E is the best there can be, and since you have spent some money on it you are ENTITLED to keep it around forever and ever.
I do find Krome's comment here interesting.
I have always agreed that if you have a thousand dollars invested in a game system, it might not seem worthwhile to purchase another. The house needs fixing up and you have to worry about the children's college fund. That money could be spent on something else. That is completely reasonable. Utterly understandable.
However those that make those statements often use it as a basis to say:
"Therefore that edition should not be written."
"Therefore that edition should not be supported by 3rd Parties."
The needs of the individual (not to spend more money) have little to do with the needs of every one else, or the publisher. The individual can impose some self-discipline upon themselves. That's why they call them "individual". I stop short of saying something cavalier as "don't buy it then", and yet there is a small grain of truth to that. Too much money spent on 3.5 is a great argument against the individual buying 4th Edition. But beyond the individual....?
I also hear the statement, "I have enough material to run 3.5 for years." So why get so vehement? Why the vitrol?
***********************
EDIT: Entitlement. I wrote that whole post trying to think of the word entitlement and it comes to me after the fact. Ironic since the root word was right in the passage I quoted.
Just for the record, I do believe I'm agreeing with Krome, not disagreeing with him.
I have an early-adopter mindset.
I started playing with 3.0. It was recently out, and I was in high school. When 3.5 came out, I saw a bunch of people crying 'money grab', because all their splat-books now required (minimal) conversion. I picked up a 3.5 PHB and DMG, and was ESTATIC to see some of the 'bug fixes'. DR made more sense (and was more fair). Bards could actually wear the armor they were proficient with. A druid was no longer obligated to discard their animal companion every level. Shapeshifter as a type was fixed. The rules for monks were cleaned up. Dwarves could actually use Waraxes. Monster spell-like abilities were cleaned up. Pit fiends were powered up to where they should be.
Most importantly, though, it still felt like D&D.
My understanding is that 2ed to 3e was similar: Thaco was turned upside down and a LOT of rules were changed, but a Vrock was still a Vrock, and you didn't want to mess with the Tarrasque. The game, and its setting, was basically the same.
Time will tell if 4e will 'feel like' D&D. If 5e promises to feel like D&D, then I would be quite happy to see it.