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I grew up playing 2nd Edition AD&D, and it was incredible fun. Samus the barbarian and Aerial Teshlin the wild mage were two characters from that era who still hold places in my dark little heart. Aerial, for that matter, maintains a prominent role in my own fantasy setting. THAC0 and negative AC values still bring me fond chuckles, and I even ran a 2nd Edition game recently for two people who never got to experience it.
Yet when 3rd Edition D&D came, I was excited and I embraced it. My excitement was not misplaced, as the new edition was versatile, intricate, and just as fun as any of the games I'd had in the old days. The staggering changes were readily apparent; reversal of AC values, change from THAC0 to Base Attack Bonus, the addition of feats, and the creation of a skill system are easy and readily apparent changes. These were so significant that, while translatable to 2nd Edition, their inclusion rendered the new books into a truly new edition. It was fun, and I embraced it whole-heartedly by devouring as many books as I could get my hands on.
Later, there came this strange 3.5 thing. At first, I admit to a little confusion. Was this a new edition? Was it a simply reprinting to include errata? After a brief perusal at my local game shop, I quickly came to realize that this new publication was exactly what it advertised to be; 3rd Edition plus. The changes were fundamental and significant, but not staggering. The alteration of class features were a change to the way the game played, the inclusion of weapon damages by the size of the wielder altered the way many characters worked, the functionality of damage reduction changed the face of combat. These changes and more meant that the game now functioned in a different way...yet all the rules were in every sense compatible with the previous 3rd Edition publications. One could (and we often did) lift something from 3rd Edition and plunk it down in our 3.5 games with only the most minimal effort. I was happy, and I embraced the change by devouring every book I possibly could.
Then, came the latest change in the form of 4th Edition D&D. I watched the development of the newest edition as closely as I could (being an industry outsider), and I grew more excited with every morsel of information. Once the books were finally released, my excitement was palpable and it was not without cause. The new edition is amazing, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Heroes are heroes from the get-go, everyone has something to do in a fight at all times (magic users don't end up standing there with nothing to do), non-magic users have interesting things to do (they don't get outshone by magic users anymore), and in general everyone can have fun through the whole of an adventure. My gaming group dove into the new edition, and barring social and geographical shifting since then we've been playing steadily ever since.
Coming down the pipeline, something that is causing as much consternation among the D&D fanbase as any of the previous bits I listed, are the D&D Essentials books. I will admit that I am not entirely happy about this. The mere mention of the Essentials line actually makes my stomach twinge just a little. My roommate constantly shouts the praises of Essentials from the mountaintops, and I am occasionally forced to ask him to be quiet about it just to give myself a break of peace. That being said, I have no problems with Essentials. My problem is that WOTC won't just admit the truth.
Essentials is D&D 4.5.
It is! You can't deny it! Fundamental and significant changes, but not staggering changes. This will still be 4th Edition, but it will be as different from 4E as 3.5 was from 3rd Edition. Fundamental changes to the way the core classes work, alterations to some of the most basic feats, new inclusions to the way magic items are categorized; all of these represent changes that push the edition forward without changing it. There is nothing wrong with it! I am excited for the changes! The new rules for classifying magic items in particular sound fun to me and seem to make sense. I am really excited about the return of the schools of magic (wizard has been and always will be my favorite class). I am glad the core classes will be getting upgrades to the current standards of class design. Every single bit of Essentials--thus far--sounds good to me.
I just wish WOTC would admit it.
On one hand I genuinely do understand that they kind of painted themselves into a corner when they released 4th Edition. I seem to remember there being many very clear, loud, repeated declarations that "there will never be a 4.5." I didn't entirely buy that at the time, in fact many people didn't, yet now WOTC has a problem on their hands. If they come out and admit that Essentials is 4.5, they'll have a wave of fans descend upon the forums calling them liars and frauds, bitching and complaining about how "all the books I bought are worthless now," and other such ridiculousness as was spouted upon the release of 4E itself.
The problem is, those people will always be there. Perhaps not those specific individuals, but there would be other people filling the role of "angry dissenters." There will always be angry dissenters. I'm sure that somewhere out there can be found a mathematical formula to determine the percentage of a fanbase that will be put off by a change to the medium of which they are fans, and I'd love to find it. If you change too many things, you'll piss off some of your fans. If you change nothing, you'll piss off some of your fans. I just find myself annoyed that WOTC chose to listen to the specific group of fans that subsequently frightened them into saying "there will never be a 4.5." Because now look where we are.
"Hey look, here's the Essentials line! It's as significant and fundamental a change to the game as 3.5 was, but it isn't 4.5, we swear! It's just...a significant and fundamental change. That's all."
I'm going to buy the books. I'm going to support my beloved hobby. I just wish WOTC would admit it.
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