Is a 5th Edition coming soon? [Answer: NO, it isn't!]

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Basic algebra is just odd cyphering.

and that is not on the level of algebraic equations.

[Lord Carnifex]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

No it's a noticeable trend in a lot of people. At the lower grade basic cyphering like the multiplication tables more relies on rote memorization, those of us with the quirk simply can't answer quickly in the drill like the majority of the class as we have to stop and think the answer though were the rest of the class is bring up the answer from memorized values.

Exactly so in my case.

[Alacrity Fitzhugh]

This thread seems to have spiraled* out of control.

* a Fibonacci spiral, of course.

[D10]

I would be interested in a 5th edition for the same reason people playing D&D 3.X are interested in their 5th.

I still play the 3rd edition of gurps and would kind of feel better entering a new system knowing everyone is doing the same and we are all united (not that this isnt true for the 4th).

OTOH, 3rd edition is so good with a moderate ammount of house rules, I dont know if I will ever change

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by D10

I still play the 3rd edition of gurps and would kind of feel better entering a new system knowing everyone is doing the same and we are all united (not that this isnt true for the 4th).

That is, unfortunately, a perpetually unrealizable goal. There's no reason to believe that those who didn't switch from 1st to 2nd, 1st and 2nd to 3rd, or 1st through 3rd to 4th would jump from 1st through 4th to 5th. People who like an edition tend to stick with it, and as long as they accept "no new support" as a condition of doing so, that's cool. And newcomers might want their new edition, but keeping up with that is literally an impossible task.

What motivates a 5th edition is unlikely to be any kind of failing (real or perceived) in the 4th – or the 1st through 3rd – nor is it likely to be fan pressure. Most likely, if it happens, it will be tied to moving to new media. Rules may very well remain entirely unchanged, but simply be better-integrated and more easily found thanks to technology. We'll see (or not) . . .

[DeDiceManCometh]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Most likely, if it happens, it will be tied to moving to new media. Rules may very well remain entirely unchanged, but simply be better-integrated and more easily found thanks to technology. We'll see (or not) . . .

Finally, all my carping about immediating the RPG in an online Content Management System has done some good. I wouldn't have guessed it from all the pushback I got everytime I piped up about it.

[TorgSmith]

Originally Posted by DeDiceManCometh

Finally, all my carping about immediating the RPG in an online Content Management System has done some good. I wouldn't have guessed it from all the pushback I got everytime I piped up about it.

I don’t think Kromm is yelling “Incoming!!!” They have done it with the PDFs already by putting errata in for people to download again with the update.

One thing I worry about with new technologies is the concept of limited life. With the sheer volume of PDFs out there I feel somewhat confident that a PDF reader will be available during my life time (I am over half way through it already). I think PnP RPGs don’t have a limited life. While you may not want to play an older game, they are a wealth of ideas. The thought of not being able to go back and reread something for ideas is badong (Kung Pow! Bad and Wrong:).

[dbm]

People need to be careful what they wish for. We often talk about how the game company can't come into your home and either:

• Tell you that you're doing it wrong
• Take your books away

With online content this is exactly what they can do. I speak from experience with DnD 4e. I used to subscribe to the DDi which gave you the Character Generator web tool, and used it to generate all my characters given the amount of accumulated stuff which goes with a DnD 4e character. We didn't bother keeping up with errata, but we did start to notice that some of the power cards changed the next time we printed them out - they had been errata'ed and those changes implemented whether we wanted them or not. And it makes implementing house rules much more difficult when you are dependent on an electronic tool to make your characters.

Finally, lots of DnD players were bragging on-line that they had stopped buying the books as they got all the rules 'for free' in the DDi. What they had failed to grasp was that, Wizards will choose to turn that service off at some point (probably when 5e comes along soon) and at that point they will have nothing. DnD 3.x players can still use their books to play the game if they wish; the 4e crowd will be left with nothing in many cases.

So moving to a wholly (or even predominantly) on-line solution for delivering rules seems like nirvana, but it could be hell.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by dbm

People need to be careful what they wish for. We often talk about how the game company can't come into your home and either:

• Tell you that you're doing it wrong
• Take your books away

With online content this is exactly what they can do. ...

There's a difference between "online content" and "new media" - the former is a delivery mechanism, the latter is a format or a group of formats. You don't need to use one to use the other.

[Whome?]

I like 4th because the production values are current and on par with DnD 4e, Pathfinder, etc. The rules for me are a push. All my Gurps 3rd material is with my garage with my MegaTraveller, Dark Conspiracy and Cyberpunk 2020, etc. - classic and well liked RPGs.

An on-line or electronic version of Gurps does not have to be a 5th edition, just 4th Edition in a revised format.

The third edition paperbacks towards the end of the game were costing up to 28.95 each, so the full color hardbound books of Gurps 4th edition at $34.95 I saw as a real bargain. I would liked to have seen Black Ops, Cliff Hangers, Old West, etc. get the 4th edition full color hardbound treatment - but the current support is very good. Some new 3rd edition material got released in recent years and keeping the classic Gurps material in print on e23 is a real plus. Also - there is plenty of 4th edition Gurps material out there now so you can just play 4th edition - and thanks to e23 its always in print.

The price of Gurps material on e23 - average price of around $7.99 is a real plus and having Pyramid come out monthly as a Gurps supplement is as good support for an RPG as I want.

So - with Gurps 4th well supported with lots of material and considered to be a solid set of rules - the business case for the cost of creating a Gurps 5th edition right now is not there - 3rd went for 15 years and 4th will go at least that long, hopefully much longer.