I know i could just subscribe to DDI and get every thing, but I like the books and want to collect them. I just do not want o collect a lot of books and then they become obsolete.
Thanks in advance!
This fact does not only hold for RPG-Books (yes every one of them) but also other books.
You can still play 3rd Edition, 3.5, 4th Original/Essentials without a problem for years and decades to come!
Just because a new Edition WILL come out (in one way or another) does not mean that your book becomes 'obsolete' in the sense you might be having.
Don't do it.
There are better RPG's out there... much better ones... and a little cheaper too....
*shrug*
But do what you want. I have nothing flattering to say about 4e.
There are better RPGs out there (at least, in my opinion), and many of them are cheaper, yes. That does not make D&D a bad game. It has its advantages and disadvantages, and frankly, what it's meant to do it does really well.
That said, don't think of buying the books as an "investment," OP. Any such notion is doomed to disappoint you. Buying gaming books is just like buying any other game. You buy it to have fun for a while. Eventually, you're likely to get bored with it and move on to something else for a while. What you have to decide is how much fun you think you'll get out of it before that happens, and how much money that's worth to you.
RPG books almost never appreciate in value, so it's really not wise to think of them as an investment.
I'd recomed you download the starter adventure for 4e. Play that, and do the same for 3.5 off the SRD. Check both out, if you like one, buy that editions books. If you like neither, there is lots of 5e speculation, and if you an wait a year or two it might be worth the gamble. No official announcement, and for all we know it wont happen for 8 more years. Either way, don't buy books for an edition you don't like.
d20srd.org - 3.5 basic rules
www.wizards.com/DnD/TryDnD.aspx - 4e quickstart rules and free adventures.
Don't do it.
There are better RPG's out there... much better ones... and a little cheaper too....
*shrug*
But do what you want. I have nothing flattering to say about 4e.
I guess we have to give him credit for at least being an HONEST h4ter? lol.
Like Pluisjen says, there's absolutely no actual evidence that 4e is going anywhere. One would presume that at some point in the nebulous future WotC will decide they need to sell more and make yet another edition. Considering this one is only 3 years old and 3.x lasted almost 8 years you can probably extrapolate from there and figure that 4e will be around for 3-5 more years at least.
In any case it is a really solid and fun game. I've run D&D games for over 30 years and I have plenty of fun with this one. Even if it were replaced in a couple years it will remain a perfectly playable game with a good following and there's no reason you'd have wasted your money. If you like it, buy the books and play/run it. If you're not sure, go play at an Encounters session or buy a copy of HotFL (which is a fairly cheap book) and get into a game and see how it goes.
I know of several people who still play the 1974 edition of D&D with the little brown books.
Considering this one is only 3 years old and 3.x lasted almost 8 years you can probably extrapolate from there and figure that 4e will be around for 3-5 more years at least.
Well 2nd Ed ran for 11 years, 3rd Ed lasted for 8, so I see 5th Ed coming out in the next 2 years (5 years is a decent run for an edition).
Like Pluisjen says, there's absolutely no actual evidence that 4e is going anywhere. One would presume that at some point in the nebulous future WotC will decide they need to sell more and make yet another edition. Considering this one is only 3 years old and 3.x lasted almost 8 years you can probably extrapolate from there and figure that 4e will be around for 3-5 more years at least.
According to some popular rumors, 3.0 was supposed to run for 5 years, but was replaced by 3.5, which did run 5 years. So 2013 is a definite possibility. [And WOTC was denying 4e right up to the start of Gen-Con.] However, that is a minimum of 18 months of playing, possibly 30. Since we buy 1-several books a year anyway, you can still cost out your basic investment in the game fairly easily. This may be a little late in the product cycle to buy an entire library, and this Summer, you might not want to buy much before Gen-Con, but you can get all you need to play and not suffer any noticeable loss.
Like Pluisjen says, there's absolutely no actual evidence that 4e is going anywhere. One would presume that at some point in the nebulous future WotC will decide they need to sell more and make yet another edition. Considering this one is only 3 years old and 3.x lasted almost 8 years you can probably extrapolate from there and figure that 4e will be around for 3-5 more years at least.
According to some popular rumors, 3.0 was supposed to run for 5 years, but was replaced by 3.5, which did run 5 years. So 2013 is a definite possibility. [And WOTC was denying 4e right up to the start of Gen-Con.] However, that is a minimum of 18 months of playing, possibly 30. Since we buy 1-several books a year anyway, you can still cost out your basic investment in the game fairly easily. This may be a little late in the product cycle to buy an entire library, and this Summer, you might not want to buy much before Gen-Con, but you can get all you need to play and not suffer any noticeable loss.
Sure, anything is possible, though my understanding is that WotC never denied there was going to be a 4e at any point after they commited to it. I guess there were some posts to that effect by VCLs? Maybe I'm incorrect as I wasn't really playing much or hanging around any of the boards in that time period myself. I'd find it odd that they would KNOW for certain they were doing an edition roll and flat out BS people about it. In terms of a '5e' they've said it isn't on any schedule currently, though AFAIK that statement was made almost a year ago now.
In any case, 3.5 was obviously less than a complete edition roll, and in a lot of ways not much more significant than say UA was for 1e or the later options books were for 2e, so it is fair to say that "most editions get some level of refresh at some point in their lifecycle" but no full edition has been retired in anything close to as short as 4 years, and more justifiably 8. That doesn't guarantee anything in the future, but I'd observe that 4e is tied into a bunch of things, 3 computer games, DDI, etc. Seems like it is getting more expensive and more of a big deal to just roll versions as time goes on vs some far more incremental and backwards compatible kind of refresh.
Based on that, I'm betting on 5 more years of 4e compatible products with maybe some sort of significant refresh in the next year or two. Fits with both history and available evidence better than anything else IMHO. Not to mention it is pretty clear that a lot of players would have rathered have seen a more incremental update in 2008. Kinda makes one think WotC might be less eager to make more radical changes in the near term, assuming they learn from the past, which is a reasonable bet.
Sure, anything is possible, though my understanding is that WotC never denied there was going to be a 4e at any point after they commited to it. I guess there were some posts to that effect by VCLs?
There was one statement by a WizO (we call them ORCs now) that he was unaware of development of a new edition. Of course, WizOs aren't in R&D.
And one developer made some vague statement that he intended to mean there wasn't a new edition on the upcoming release schedule, but had been widely interpreted to mean that he wasn't working on a new edition (which turned out to be false). He later said, he couldn't clarify the statement without violating his NDA not to disclose the new edition, so he had to let the statement sit there. And this is the basis for a lot of people claiming Wizards lied about 4e. (And one person swears up and down that at PAX 2007, Wizards swore there were no plans to release 4e, but I've never heard anybody else corroborate that.)
My guess is still an announcement at 2014 Gencon for a Xmas release. Which would make it a seven-year run. If 4e gets another "refresh" like Essentials, then tack on another two years.
Sure, anything is possible, though my understanding is that WotC never denied there was going to be a 4e at any point after they commited to it. I guess there were some posts to that effect by VCLs?
There was one statement by a WizO (we call them ORCs now) that he was unaware of development of a new edition. Of course, WizOs aren't in R&D.
And one developer made some vague statement that he intended to mean there wasn't a new edition on the upcoming release schedule, but had been widely interpreted to mean that he wasn't working on a new edition (which turned out to be false). He later said, he couldn't clarify the statement without violating his NDA not to disclose the new edition, so he had to let the statement sit there. And this is the basis for a lot of people claiming Wizards lied about 4e. (And one person swears up and down that at PAX 2007, Wizards swore there were no plans to release 4e, but I've never heard anybody else corroborate that.)
My guess is still an announcement at 2014 Gencon for a Xmas release. Which would make it a seven-year run. If 4e gets another "refresh" like Essentials, then tack on another two years.
Yeah, I can't believe the whole PAX 2007 thing either because not only was 4e clearly under development quite a while before that (I'm pretty sure if you can dig it up you'll find a while back someone put out a timeline of 4e development, they were finalizing the basic design in mid-07). The preview books were released at the beginning of '08 as well, and even given an extra-short cycle for those they couldn't possibly have said something like that at PAX with a straight face. Clearly WotC often says nothing when they could say something, but lies? No such thing has ever happened in reality.
I could almost see 2014 being a reasonable timeframe for a version roll. I am not sure I'd really like to have one that soon, but at least it enters the realm of the non-fantastic.