D&D General How Long Does It Take to get Sick of an Edition?

[Zardnaar]

Well Pathfinder 2 is about to land. They had a good run of 10 years. Old D&D tended to last over a decade in print and 3.X had active support for 19 years a D&D record although on paper Basic also lasted 19 years but was more like 17 with several reboots.

My personal record is BECMI 2 years, 2E 5 years, 3.X/Pathfinder 12 years, 2 years OSR, 5 years of 5E. 12 years of 3.X but it was also 3 takes on it to keep it fresh. Early Pathfinder was more 3.5 errata. We played a bit of 1E and 4E but they didn't stick as I don't DM 1E and 4E didn't stick.

Anyway I kind of feel done with 3.X, haven't played it for 5 years, no real desire or nostalgia. 12 years though. The big one is 2E, never really felt done and I fell for the 3E marketing I suppose. In 2000 I was still happy with 2E and played it until 3E landed. 3E was new and shiny though but by 2002 early nostalgia was setting in. 2E art looked better IMHO and the fighter players missed their 2E equivalents. And we figured out haste was busted.

When 4E landed I still wanted 3.5 as I had a heap of books but barely used most of them. 4E arrived to soon, 3.5 was only 5 years old, same age as 5E now.

Getting sick of parts of 5E, can be mitigated by playing more vs DMing. I suspect in 5 years I'll be ready for 6E and are getting to the point I'll play something else on occasion but I think I'll be good for another 3 years at least.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think it's better to change game system and genre for a while if you start to tire of something, rather than wish for an new edition. I find after a while you are ready to go back for some more.

Every system has it's issues, and new editions never fix anything without introducing more problems. They are just an excuse for publishers to fleece customers.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

Our gameplay evolves entirely on the roleplay, so the mechanics that we use in the background to resolve challenges (e.g. combat) don't matter too much. Personally I don't think that I'll ever get tired of 5E.

 

[Oofta]

The rules of the game are just a framework to tell a story and to express my character. With 5E (unlike previous edition which will go unmentioned) the rules get out of my way enough that it doesn't interfere with that story. I might switch at some point to play a sci-fi game for example, but haven't run out of stories to tell or characters to play in 5E yet and don't see any end any time soon.

 

[jasper]

One session to your death. Length with vary by individual and people they play with.

 

[Morrus]

How long does it take to get tired of steak? If I had it every night, pretty quick. Just play a few different games, and the problem goes away like magic!

 

[jgsugden]

How long should your relationship last? If it is a good one, forever. I still have dozens of character types to explore in this edtion, and could run dozens of campaigns within and have fun.

To me, the question is whether they have substantial mechanical changes they need to make to improve the game. If not, I'd prefer they do something like 5.5E, where they tweak a few elements that are either out of balance or frustrating to some players, but the core of the game remains the same. Heck. I think they could release a 5.5 book that changes a small handfull of rules and then continue to release products that are both 5E and 5.5 compatible so that groups can decide to play under either version.

They clearly had the idea of making this edition last a long time. They were slow to introduce more books. They've paced the development. They're still making a lot of money on the game. They have invested partners (D&D Beyond, for example) that would oppose an edition shift.

All in all, I don't believe we'll see a new edition in 5 years. Or maybe even 10. I think this is going to be a long edition.

 

[Zardnaar]

Just after personal opinions Morris, it's basically how long is a piece of string.

Steak I only eat once every month or two. Not a fan of cooking it, so it's a restaurant thing.

 

[Stormonu]

I tired myself out of 2E and 3/3.5/Pathfinder over years of play. Picking up a different genre/system helps with system burnout, you don’t have to play D&D without end. For example, when 2E was getting long in the tooth, I picked up Vampire: The Masquerade for a while. During the 4E edition wars, we played a lot of Savage Worlds instead. And I always enjoyed playing (West End) Star Wars from time to time just because it was fun.

A couple years back during the 4E era, I pulled out my 2E books and we had a lovely one-shot (in Ravenloft) - that was impressive to me because at one time I had been so burnt out on 2E I had swore I would never go back it. However, I and my players found that one-shot very enlightening, and I wouldn’t mind going back and playing 2E for a bit

 

[Umbran]

How long does it take to get tired of steak? If I had it every night, pretty quick. Just play a few different games, and the problem goes away like magic!

Agreed. My campaigns tend to last 3+ years, but I don't run the same genre, much less the same system, twice in a row. And while running a campaign, I'm typically playing or running other short subjects.