Anyone see that it looks like 3rd edition D&D is about to become OOP.  I have heard rumblings about it on a couple of sites that I frequent. It also appears that D&D 4.0 is moving away from the FRPG that everyone is used to.  Post courtesy of very own James Mishler over at ENworld(its 6 posts from the top):

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p ... ost2992120

Granted he claims that he is only "speculating", but this is pretty much the same rumor that I have been hearing.  Thoughts?

(Edit: the post below has some more concrete information)

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If we're talking about an announcement at this GenCon (which seems to be the case), then I'm hugely skeptical for three reasons:

1. I've got like nine RSS feeds coming in from reliable gaming sites that are on-site and I've yet to even hear a whisper of such a development;

2. Wizards/Hasbro has sunk a massive amount of time, money, and effort into the Dreamblade CMG, which is getting its first public outing at GenCon. A D&D 4.0 announcement would totally overshadow Dreamblade ... and I don't see the suits at Hasbro being that stupid.

3. In the PR world, most big announcements come on the first day of major conventions ... and the first day has come and gone.

(Of course, none of the above will stop a D&D 4.0 announcement coming out about 45 minutes after I post this ...)

Nothing against James, but even he admits in his post that he is writing "pure speculation." And I loved books like Centennial and Hawaii, so I'm going to give him a break.

What are your other sources, BC, if you're willing to share them? I think my grain of salt would get smaller if I could start getting some details from multiple sources.

Xaxaxe wrote:2. An entirely new graphic treatment. The whole line, beginning with the first Player's Handbook in August of 2000, has used a graphic treatment that sucks blue mud. Everything looks the same .... brown covers, fake "bindings," lots of encrusted gems and jewels. They are supposed to look like "tomes" or something: we get it already. (And note Goodman's success with its classic "retro" graphics).

Indeed!  I have to admit never really giving 3rd edition more than a cursory examination because I find the look of the books to be extremely off-putting.  Regardless of authorship, I wouldn't have bought Kutz's Cairn of the Skeleton king if had the look of most of the current crop of modules, the retro look was one of the major reasons I bought a few.

Xaxaxe wrote:What are your other sources, BC, if you're willing to share them? I think my grain of salt would get smaller if I could start getting some details from multiple sources.

I don't have anything specific, like I said though I have heard whispers about the possibilty for the last couple weeks.  TBH 100% I can't say exactly where, because I don't remember specifically which sites it was.

An old April Fools day announcement for 4th edition and the d30 system:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp? ... x20010401a

Deadlord39 wrote:I can't wait for 4.0. Ultra Triple Lindy Power Attack of Destruction at level 3? How can you beat that?

ufff...
...simply with a Mighty Over Enhanced Bullrush with Penetrating Spells... easy, don't you think so?  

From the D&D seminar at GenCon today:

Q: Asked about the rumors surrounding a coming 4th edition?
A: We find them very Funny.... WotC does like to hear about what fans want in a new edition as some of the items that are coming out this year are from what fans talked about online a few years ago. When WotC decides to announce the release of a 4th edition we will give trade partners and fans ample time to prepare."

So I'm still guessing mid-2008. Although I also think B-Clark is mostly right in his original post ... I believe WotC is working on 4.0 right now — as we speak — but I also think they are giving it a loooooooong development cycle.

Reading James' post:

I am struck by the idea that what he says about 4.0 coming out as a miniatures based scenario game is unlikely.

Such games already exist and have for a long time.  

Why use the D&D logo and the idea of a "4th edition" on them?

Mark