Quote from: 1989;682098Well, you know that's got to be good, then.

2e victorious!

Wow! That happens to be my edition of choice!

Do we still have the stupid 2d20 system advantage/disadvantage crap and the fighter action dice or whatever?

Quote from: 1989;682103Do we still have the stupid 2d20 system advantage/disadvantage crap and the fighter action dice or whatever?

Advantage/Disadvantage is still there, though it seems to come up less now.

Action dice are gone, though one choice for Fighter has something somewhat similar (but much more focused).

Quote from: Mistwell;682110Advantage/Disadvantage is still there, though it seems to come up less now.

Action dice are gone, though one choice for Fighter has something somewhat similar (but much more focused).

Sounds like I could play this. It's a compromise, but what were we expecting, really?

That some have compared it to 2e reassures me.

We've got the grid combat out of the picture, so as long as they don't force-feed us a bunch of dissociated mechanics, and dungeonpunk artwork, we should be good to roll, eh?

Quote from: 1989;682163Sounds like I could play this. It's a compromise, but what were we expecting, really?

That some have compared it to 2e reassures me.

We've got the grid combat out of the picture, so as long as they don't force-feed us a bunch of dissociated mechanics, and dungeonpunk artwork, we should be good to roll, eh?

Some have complained about dissociated mechanics in the most recent playtest. I forget the specifics.

Quote from: thecasualoblivion;682169Some have complained about dissociated mechanics in the most recent playtest. I forget the specifics.

Sigh.

Quote from: 1989;682173Sigh.

Before reacting, you should ask him what they are.

Quote from: Skywalker;681859Public playtest that is. I expect there may still be an iteration or two of playtesting given how much of the system is still unrevealed.

Mearls said they are several packets ahead of whatever snippets are given in the public stuff. Besides all this means is that all playtesting will be completely internal. Not that most the stuff they released publicly will even be in the game most likely.

That was more for public relations and just to engage the playerbase while they were working on the nuts and bolts of the published version. Whatever we see next year will likely be something very different than what they have shown publicly.

Quote from: 1989;682026So, can anyone give a quick synopsis about what is certain about 5e from this point?

It is certain that at least 50% of players who love Edition X will not play 5e.

Quote from: Marleycat;682182Mearls said they are several packets ahead of whatever snippets are given in the public stuff.

Do you have a link to that? That's kinda horrifying if Mearls is saying that the playtest is just a jackoff.

Quote from: Spinachcat;682194Do you have a link to that? That's kinda horrifying if Mearls is saying that the playtest is just a jackoff.

Doesn't mean it's a waste, just that they continue iterating even while us grubby peons paw over it.

Most of the data is still probably useful, as the design won't have dramatically veered off *that* quickly.  It's only a waste if it's radically different.

It's funny, everyone I've spoken to in person compares 5e to a different edition.

I'm not sure what those 'dissociated mechanics' are. There aren't any major issues that haven't been issues since Gary rolled his first d20.

Quote from: Marleycat;682182Mearls said they are several packets ahead of whatever snippets are given in the public stuff. Besides all this means is that all playtesting will be completely internal. Not that most the stuff they released publicly will even be in the game most likely.

That was more for public relations and just to engage the playerbase while they were working on the nuts and bolts of the published version. Whatever we see next year will likely be something very different than what they have shown publicly.

I suspect they did want to get some feedback on borderline mechanics, and I would be very unhappy if they did not use the playtest to pick up the worst mistakes.

It's weird that people think that a public playtest would basically be in the format of - "Here's the complete rules as they lie, see how it works for you." If I were designing a massive playtest, I'd do it fairly similarly to how WotC has done it: you are not updating each iteration of the rules based on customer feedback, but instead you are releasing numerous variants and seeing what works and what doesn't, and getting feedback on each of those parts. For instance, the release without skills might be to see how the game runs without them for module design, rather than reflecting a design decision at that time. Take the feedback, see what people like/dislike, figure out a package that hits the most positives and the least negatives, do a real playtest internally, polish and produce it.

Quote from: JonWake;682220It's funny, everyone I've spoken to in person compares 5e to a different edition.

I'm not sure what those 'dissociated mechanics' are. There aren't any major issues that haven't been issues since Gary rolled his first d20.

Same here.  I figure that if everyone thinks it's a different edition, then it in fact is mission accomplished in regards to pulling stuff from each edition.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;682226Same here.  I figure that if everyone thinks it's a different edition, then it in fact is mission accomplished in regards to pulling stuff from each edition.

And it makes all the right people crazy.  I just read an illuminating post where one of the great anti-5e trumpeters revealed that the playtest was a conspiracy on the scale of the Moon landing hoax.