As proof of that lack of interest in creating such a community please look at the WotC site and try to find anything geared towards 3E, AD&D or even older edition players.
But you did show me something on the WotC site that wasn't entirely 4E, and I clearly made a mistake saying otherwise.
So, they have the entire 8 year archive of 3.x articles still on their website and that only counts as "something that wasn't entirely 4E?" What do you expect them to do? Create new material for old editions? You do realize that creating such material costs money, right? And the stuff that doesn't is fan-created and can be found in the Previous Editions section of their Community Boards. I think your expectations of what WotC should deliver to fans of older editions are a bit too high.
Anything geared towards them under the RPGA umbrella?
Nope. But this is what happens when an originization that was previously run by fans (organized fans, but still fans) becomes an arm funded by the company. RPGA used to run events for games produced by other companies too.
What about the DDI? What about E-Drag or E-Dun, anything there?
Again, creating the content or code would require resources that any sane company would not want to spend. Your expectations are to high.
Does WotC even allow 20+ year OOP products to be sold via pdf?
No. Nor do they allow the sale of new PDF's. This isn't older edition-hate on their part, it's PDF piracy hate. The fact that the majority of us don't agree with their decision does not make this issue one of edition.
Has WotC done anything in the last few years to support or promote any D&D but 4E?
Support Directly? No, for the reasons above. Indirectly? Yes, through the allotted fan space on
their servers to discuss older editions. Promote? Yes. The recent highlights of fan bloggers does not disriminate based on edition. They have showcased DMs who play any edition.
WotC is running a business, and promoting their latest edition is the right thing to do. But providing any kind of support for players of earlier editions has never been part of their marketing plans, and to say otherwise would seem to fly in the face of their own actions.
So you understand that an RPG company is not going to support older editions of their game. But that is
not the same as not having a goal of uniting players of all editions of your game.
Now if what we are seeing from this Gen Con announcement, is the start of a new plan to bring players of older editions "back into the D&D fold" I am all for it. I think if managed right this could help defuse the current schism between 4E and 3E players, and it might end up increasing the number of 4E players. ICE operates that way, providing support for all editions of Rolemaster and it works fine.
Well them why take it negatively. They're reaching out and you bite their hand. Does ICE actually
support the older editions by producing new material? Has Rolemaster changed enough between editions that a new supplement would be useless for older edition games?
I still stand by my subjective opinion that WotC has shown that they are not interested in promoting any earlier editions or supporting any of the players that enjoy them.
And many of us have shown that they have extended support (you have no inherent
right to post older edition material on their messageboards) and promoted older editions (through article spotlights).
