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[Aberzanzorax]

Originally Posted by Wicht

I think this is true of a segment of the community. I have noticed that those who are truly invested in the hobby tend to feel this way. More casual gamers I am not so sure of.

I agree, BUT here is anecdotal evidence such that it is worth:

In my group, I am clearly the most invested in the hobby. My library is easily three or four times the size of the next person, and at least 10 times the next person after that.

I frequent enworld, wizards, necromancer, sinister, and other gaming messageboards. I only have one player who goes to any boards, and that WAS monte Cook's boards before Malhavoc more or less stopped producing new stuff.


Guess who DM's the most? Guess who informs the others about the state of the industry, including news on 4e and whether or not our group might like it or not? Me.


I guess what I'm saying here, is that the most invested will be the one that the others in the group get their info from. If I'm all up in arms about WotC, the rest of my group will find out, and likely either check it out for themselves (the more invested of my group) or just believe me.

If, as a result, I suggest boycotting WotC (or somesuch), they might agree or disagree, and that is fine. They're welcome to do what they like. But if I'm the most invested, and they look to me for information, there is a solid chance that they'll see the picture through my eyes...which will certainly influence them to lesser and greater degrees.


More likely than suggesting that they boycott WotC (I haven't suggested that) I'll simply be boycotting WotC myself. Since I DM most often, I'll run games from slightly different systems...right now I'm running a Midnight Campaign (fantasy flight games) in 3e. None of my current group has even bought a single 4e book. They all have the Midnight 2nd edition core book, which costs about $40, and at least one supplement each.

I'll bet you that if I had been all gung-ho for 4e, we'd be playing that game instead.


Separately:

Someone above me said WotC is far bigger than D&D. I'd also say that D&D is now far bigger than WotC...and that it is slipping away from them. It's fractured, and needs healing, (and this is not 3e vs 4e, this is the entire market's worth of publishers, settings, etc). WotC might be the biggest kid in the schoolyard, but they're not longer running it.

D&D is more than edition. It's more than setting. It's hard to say exactly what it is...that's for the collective consumer opinion to determine. For me, playing in Green Ronin's True 20 Freeport feels more like D&D than playing in 4e forgotten realms. To others, the opposite is true.