The times I played 5E, I had fun until level six, and then I got bored. There was never much to keep me past that, and characters got so complex and invincible that the game felt too easy. I even upped the challenge level, and there was always an answer for most encounters, and the too-generous resting mechanics, and lack of a survival game, meant no hard choices were made. Exploration and social were all "make it up as you go," and the inspiration mechanic became a game of how hard you could abuse the system.
The game was expensive, too; all the books you had to buy and keep up on were a huge drain. I have had players take one look at a reasonably well-filled-out character designer on Roll20 and quit before the group got started. They did not want to play this. It made me sorry I did not start them with Shadowdark; at least I would have had a game instead of the nightmare that 5E is for new players.
And the Open 5E clones never lasted as long. They are better, by far, but every time I tried to restart my 5E hobby, each one failed in its own way, and I felt my interest in the whole system dragging down my interest in tabletop gaming.
GURPS became my holdout game.
These days, I see employees at Wizards running the ship and desperately trying to be popular online. It does not feel like anyone in the company is delivering the adventures and books I like to play and read. Nothing touches the classic adventures, and remixing them with AI will not replace talent.
All of D&D feels like it has lost its credibility. The game feels like a hobby in search of an audience.
I liked the character builds, but if I am building Wizards-style D&D characters, 3.5E is the better choice. If you absolutely need D&D on the cover, play 3.5E or Rules Cyclopedia.
And we are seeing a string of bleh releases and services from Wizards closing down, and the entire edition feels like it is being closed out in its final few years of support. The features they developed for 2024 D&D never caught on, and now people are sticking with 2014 D&D since none of the new stuff appeals to them, and many are finding other hobbies.
And none of these new games, other than Shadowdark and Dragonbane, will likely be around or supported that well in a few years. Only a select few will endure, and anything released recently will have a tougher time than those that were released during peak OGL anger.
We are likely 3 years away from D&D 6E at this point. It will be another "Hail Mary" release and a plea for the old-school players to return. Again.
At this point, do premium, error-free, faux-leather, premium paper editions of the AD&D first and second edition books, and put them on a release schedule. You will clear a few million per Kickstarter if you do it right and keep divisive politics out of it. Celebrate the old-school. Hire Goodman Games again if you need to, and have them run it all. Open up the licensing for those versions, too, while you are at it.
They have so many versions of the same game, they don't need another.
I still have 5E and may still play, like many others, since I am used to it and I have the books. Right now, I feel sad at the end of this edition, and watching it being so mismanaged and trying to stay relevant is troubling. Even the D&D YouTubers have this "deck of the Titanic" sort of feeling to them, as if they're trying to keep people interested and hopes afloat. I can't watch many of them anymore, and that sort of desperate plea to keep watching, and them repeating, "Things are not so bad."
When we know how bad they are.
And I feel like I am going through the stages of grief with 5E right now.
Past anger.
Past bargaining.
And on to acceptance.
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