Gary, do you have any thoughts on Steve Jackson Games and GURPS? I ask this, because one of the items of contention you have, according to the recent extensive interview done with you, is that d20 was intended as "one system to rule them all." Yet SJG, while producing many games, has relied almost exclusively for something like two decades on its GURPS system for its roleplaying games products. Although GURPS has never achieved the same success as D&D or, now, d20, it has been proven as a steady seller, and SJG has been one of the few game companies to survive as long as it has. Whether it handles all genres adequately is another matter. What it has done is prove that such a universal system has desirability amongst gamers and the capability of longevity. Does d20 rate special rancor (and I don't mean specifically your rancor; I mean in general) simply because of its success, or because it is D&D, or because so many companies have decided to go the d20 route?
Along these lines, isn't the contraction that is perceived by some simply due to all the bandwagon-jumpers finally jumping off the bandwagon, rather than due to some inherent flaw in the d20 system or the way it was produced/distributed?