D&D Next, as the previous editions, has many of the "classic" wizard spells which are extremely powerful in non-combat situations. The differences between the editions aren't limited to the combat part. It would be hard to design an adventure in which this wouldn't matter one way or another.
But anybody who ran some of the D&D Next playtest material has seen that D&D Next tends towards a series of small encounters, while 4th edition tends towards a much smaller number of encounters, which are more tactical and more epic. Of course that is just an example, and the fundamental differences don't stop there. You can't just change the stat blocks and pretend this will give the same result regardless what edition is being run. Thus if you have an encounter which is an ambush and starts with level 1 archers attacking a level 1 group, the encounter would be extremely deadly in 1st edition, and much less so in 4th edition. In first edition AD&D a single arrow can kill a level 1 wizard, in 4E you need at least 4 arrows, and in D&D Next the number is in between. The reason why this question is so revealing is that the answer to it is so different in the different editions. My favorite explanation what the difference between D&D editions is in a question: "How many arrows does it take to kill a level 1 wizard?". Would an adventure that works in 4E and Next even be possible? Personally I have my doubts, as I have in the past tried to adjust D&D adventure modules from previous editions to 4E and found that there are some compatibility problems. Greywulf thinks the next official D&D adventure Storm over Baldur's Gate might be dual format, having stat blocks for both 4th edition and D&D Next. posted by Tobold 1:49 PM Permanent Link (14) comments Rewarding those who pay most makes business sense, even if it angers some entitlement kids.
But then again, the old MMORPG model also revolved about a design for just 2% of the players, and those weren't even the best customers. There must be virtual items in the game that are highly desirable and either not attainable by playing at all, or demands a very long grind to achieve, if you want to sell these items for big bucks. Whales have consequences for game design.
I'm not likely to buy a $500 collaborator pack for City of Steam, if I find out I like that game. Personally I tend to spread my money around, but I don't have a problem to pay up to $20 in a Free2Play game in which I am having fun. Because only around 2% of players of a Free2Play game actually pay, the average monthly revenue per user is just around $1. More significant is the number of people who are considered "whales" by the Free2Play game industry, although the average monthly revenue per paying user ( ARPPU) is more likely to be around $50. Nevertheless the number of people spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a video game is very small. In the end a $5,000 video game purchase isn't any stranger than a $5,000 set of golf clubs. A good number of gamers is now middle-aged, and in today's economy, which is characterized by its inequality, some of these middle-aged gamers are rich enough to spend rather large sums on their favorite game. Video games aren't just for kids any more. In a way these sums are probably a sign of the maturity of the hobby. And it appears these whales now exist also in video games. In casino parlance the people spending far more than the average person are known as "whales". Many gamers spend less than $500 per year on games, and only very few spend $5,000 or more per year on games. Who spends $500 or $5,000 on a video game? If you would take the same money and spend it on Steam or a selection of MMORPGs, you would get quite a nice library of quality games which probably would entertain you for much longer than one single game. And the $5,000 pack is marked as "sold out", having been bought by 5 people. Even higher, the Kickstarter page for Elite: Dangerous offers advantages for backers up to $5,000. And what I found notable was that there were packs for up to $500 on offer. And while looking through their website I stumbled upon the page offering collaborator packs, selling both beta keys and various advantages like virtual currency for the final game. I received a closed beta key for City of Steam, in time for the beta session starting today.