Still won't be as good as BASH Fantasy no matter what they do
PS- Many years ago, at different times, I met both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (actually got to play with Dave). Dave was a class-act, and Gary...not so much.
Oh my goodness, they're back to trying to offer a virtual tabletop? If they can get it right I think it'll be awesome, but since they started promising one since 3.0, I'm not holding my breath.
If I had to guess, they're going to return to something similar to 3.5, killing Pathfinder in the process.
I doubt that.
They aren't offering an open play-test like Paizo did. Meaning most of the people who sign up to do the playtest are going to be the fans of 4e.
I fully expect that this will be a clear successor to 4e.
What I find interesting is that they have clearly learned from Paizo and are starting this out with a massive playtest in the first place.
It wouldn't kill Pathfinder any way because PF has it's own fan base. Even if WOTC goes back to a similar product to PF it wouldn't pull people away unless it was an actual significant improvement over it, and change that significant would jeopardize the 4e fan base.
From what I've read, they are going for a stripped down basic game for broader appeal, then providing modular plug-ins to expand crunchier options. I'm optimistic. But I also fear that this will hurt lines like C&C, S&W, or Labrynth Lord.
Kinda weird that they're moving psionics into the core (at least that's the way they're leaning). Maybe that's just my bias, psionics was always a bone of contention in our games growing up.
(Just came back to the forums after being away for about 6 months).
I'm not at all excited about the new D&D. I'm a huge fan of 4e and, honestly, playing it and having an absolute blast with it is one of the reasons I haven't had time to fool with BASH!
