Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

Why keep tweaking what was good.

The only way is still to keep hitting until it stops moving.

Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

Because they need your money...

Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

They need to bring in a new version every few years for financial reasons.
Bring in a dumb new version 4, then they need to issue a version 5 to bring the game back to version 3 sanity.

Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

I totally agree with this. I'm one of the 30% you mention. Once the Spellplague hit I just lost touch with it all. I didn't recognise the world, the characters, any of it. I stopped reading the novels, when prior to that I tried to read every single one. Whoever came up with that Spellplague destroyed Forgotten Realms for me.

Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

I like the team working on the new game. Definitely seems more like a party of D&D lovers, rather than a bunch of grinchly wotc suits. The more or less open approach to development suits me fine as well.

I love the tactical depth of 4e, but we have had way too many 5-7 hour long combat encounters. It's seems with 5e we maybe able to shift from a faster, simpler "theater of the mind" style to an indepth tactical miniatures game virtually on the fly. I like that.

Re: WotC FIFTH edition D&D
 

It has been hinted in a WOTC article here that Ed Greenwood is spearheading whatever they are doing with Forgotten Realms regarding 5e. \

A while back it was rumored that 5e Forgotten Realms was going to be free from timeline constraints. I do hope so.