Have you heard this yet? I'd suggest you check it out, even if you don't have too strong of an interest in the next iteration of D&D. I listened to this recording today, and I have to admit I was encouraged by what I heard. I found myself believing the claims that WotC is attempting to honor all the editions of D&D, especially when the speakers went into examples of just how they were making that attempt.
Now, I say this as a person who signed up for the D&D Next playtest but didn't keep up with the playtest packets. Why? Mostly because I'm busy with life as well as spending my spare time running RPG sessions with game systems that aren't in development (in fact, I had a similar situation when I was offered a chance to playtest an OSR game while it was in development, i.e. I had to pass due to lack of time). If I was in a position to actually playtest D&D Next, I might have kept up with the process, answered their surveys, etc. Looking back, I wish I had tried to at least find some time to run, say, some one-off playtest sessions, or whatever (same with that OSR game I mentioned). Oh well.
Anyway, yes, I definitely like what I heard while listening to this seminar. So much so that I'm looking forward to eventually seeing the final form of D&D Next. How about you?
I was in the same boat with the playtest packets. I skimmed them when I got them, but only that...a surface skimming at best. I answered what I could on the survey, but not in a much informed way.
ReplyDeleteI went to Gen Con and played some of the D&D Next playtests and had a really good time with them. A couple of mechanics threw me a little bit, but overall I liked it.
I do see some of the influences, mostly reflected through simplicity of play for the "earlier edition" versions, with added complexity to mirror later versions.