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<blockquote data-quote="Azgulor" data-source="post: 5427354" data-attributes="member: 14291">Did the Mayan calendar conclude early for 4e?&nbsp; Back in the summer, a mere 6-7 months ago, I asked why so many edition war threads were still flying around given the apparent result that all sides had won -- i.e. almost all fans of D&amp;D style fantasy role-playing could find an actively supported edition: 4e, Pathfinder, retro-clones, OGL games, etc.&nbsp; The crux of the majority of those Edition War threads?&nbsp; 4e was hugely successful; no one could touch it; Essentials rocked and wasn't 4.5, Pathfinder's great success was insignificant comnpared to the value of the D&amp;D revenues, not to mention the value of &quot;the brand&quot;.So here we are at the beginning of 2011 and we've got about a half-dozen or so active threads decrying the current plans/actions or lack thereof from WotC.&nbsp; Plus what seems to be a fairly large # of threads discussing or speculating on 5e.&nbsp; 5e, really?&nbsp; How does 4e go from &quot;top dog, no one can touch it&quot; to &quot;the sky is falling, hope 5e comes soon&quot; in 6 months?I don't play 4e, so other than reading some threads on Essentials out of curiosity, I haven't been following 4e or WotC save for the &quot;will there be Christmas layoff&quot; speculation.&nbsp; Why the sudden spike in disaster speculation?&nbsp; Is there truly merit to it?From a purely selfish viewpoint, I hope for the following regarding 4e &amp; the D&amp;D brand for the next several years:1. 4e is profitable and viable for WotC. Let the 2 main &quot;sides&quot; of the Edition Wars each have their victories.&nbsp; I don't want to see 4e fail or D&amp;D be killed off/sold off/morphed into a non-RPG -- primarily b/c I never want to see 4e design influences make any significant inroads into Pathfinder.&nbsp; I fear if 4e fails, the very vocal 4e fanbase will turn to Pathfinder -- and immediately start trying to change it.2. If D&amp;D is sold off, it's sold off to someone other than Paizo.&nbsp; Personally, I think if Pathfinder continues it's track record, the Pathfinder brand will be closing in on D&amp;D in terms of value and could one day eclipse it.&nbsp; I don't need to see a D&amp;D game published by Paizo -- ever.&nbsp; Let Green Ronin, Fantasy Flight Games, Mongoose or some other enitity grab it (if WotC truly no longer wanted it).3. That RPG fans of all sorts get better at separating the business realities of designing, publishing, and selling a game from liking or playing a game. Game designers may be cool people, fellow gamers, and all around great guys &amp; gals, but they're working in this business professionally -- ant that means business decisions have to be made with an eye towards profitability &amp; sustainability.&nbsp; The evil Hasbro megacorp isn't manipulating those poor, downtrodden WotC puppets.4.&nbsp; That 5e is a long way off.&nbsp; While I don't play the current edition, I still own my 1e &amp; 3.x edition books.&nbsp; I like having a link to the game that got me started in RPGs.&nbsp; I also think that, at least for today, an in-print &amp; actively supported D&amp;D game is good for the hobby.&nbsp; If 5e is announced &amp; released soon, I think it will severely damage the game &amp; brand - perhaps even killing it for good.&nbsp; While this wouldn't impact my gaming, I can't help but think the industry will feel the impact (to what degree I have no idea).Here's hoping the majority of the sky-is-falling stuff is just Internet-based conspiracy theory...Anyhow, happy gaming to all in 2011.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Azgulor, post: 5427354, member: 14291"] Did the Mayan calendar conclude early for 4e? Back in the summer, a mere 6-7 months ago, I asked why so many edition war threads were still flying around given the apparent result that all sides had won -- i.e. almost all fans of D&D style fantasy role-playing could find an actively supported edition: 4e, Pathfinder, retro-clones, OGL games, etc. The crux of the majority of those Edition War threads? 4e was hugely successful; no one could touch it; Essentials rocked and wasn't 4.5, Pathfinder's great success was insignificant comnpared to the value of the D&D revenues, not to mention the value of "the brand". So here we are at the beginning of 2011 and we've got about a half-dozen or so active threads decrying the current plans/actions or lack thereof from WotC. Plus what seems to be a fairly large # of threads discussing or speculating on 5e. 5e, really? How does 4e go from "top dog, no one can touch it" to "the sky is falling, hope 5e comes soon" in 6 months? I don't play 4e, so other than reading some threads on Essentials out of curiosity, I haven't been following 4e or WotC save for the "will there be Christmas layoff" speculation. Why the sudden spike in disaster speculation? Is there truly merit to it? From a purely selfish viewpoint, I hope for the following regarding 4e & the D&D brand for the next several years: [B]1. 4e is profitable and viable for WotC. [/B] Let the 2 main "sides" of the Edition Wars each have their victories. I don't want to see 4e fail or D&D be killed off/sold off/morphed into a non-RPG -- primarily b/c I never want to see 4e design influences make any significant inroads into Pathfinder. I fear if 4e fails, the very vocal 4e fanbase will turn to Pathfinder -- and immediately start trying to change it. [B]2. If D&D is sold off, it's sold off to someone other than Paizo.[/B] Personally, I think if Pathfinder continues it's track record, the Pathfinder brand will be closing in on D&D in terms of value and could one day eclipse it. I don't need to see a D&D game published by Paizo -- ever. Let Green Ronin, Fantasy Flight Games, Mongoose or some other enitity grab it (if WotC truly no longer wanted it). [B]3. That RPG fans of all sorts get better at separating the business realities of designing, publishing, and selling a game from liking or playing a game. [/B] Game designers may be cool people, fellow gamers, and all around great guys & gals, but they're working in this business professionally -- ant that means business decisions have to be made with an eye towards profitability & sustainability. The evil Hasbro megacorp isn't manipulating those poor, downtrodden WotC puppets. [B]4. That 5e is a long way off.[/B] While I don't play the current edition, I still own my 1e & 3.x edition books. I like having a link to the game that got me started in RPGs. I also think that, at least for today, an in-print & actively supported D&D game is good for the hobby. If 5e is announced & released soon, I think it will severely damage the game & brand - perhaps even killing it for good. While this wouldn't impact my gaming, I can't help but think the industry will feel the impact (to what degree I have no idea). Here's hoping the majority of the sky-is-falling stuff is just Internet-based conspiracy theory... Anyhow, happy gaming to all in 2011. [/QUOTE]

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