D&D 5E 5E: A Danger of Fragmentation?

[WizarDru]

WOTC looked at 75% of their market base* and said "go away".

I think the real question is how much money was that market base actually spending? I don't know. My expectation, though, is that it wasn't economically worth WotC/Hasbro's time to support two editions. WotC is a company that lays off people pretty much annually, now, so I suspect they look purely at the numbers and decide how to make the most money for the least amount of manpower. I'm not arguing if they're right or wrong, just pointing out what their institutional thought process might be. I think they make bad choices all along the line, usually fostered by Hasbro. I think you're right that the PDFs are a revenue stream, but I think we diverge on whether it's significant enough for them to consider bothering.

I also think your analogy about cars and Led Zeppelin miss the mark. A better analogy might be the band Genesis. Fans of Peter Gabriel's version of Genesis enjoyed their Progressive rock sound and ethereal lyrics and music. But when he left, Genesis changed over successive albums to have a much more pop music sound under Phil Collins. People became fans of that incarnation of Genesis who had no interest in the previous version and vice-versa. [Those who wish to make a case that 4E is like the Ray Wilson-led version of the band are welcome to do so. ]

Old D&D is EXACTLY like that El Camino. You can still buy those old D&D books and you can even get custom 3rd party replacement parts (hello, OSRIC). You just can't get 'official' new releases...any more than Chevrolet is planning on producing more 1971 models on the factory. But you can't buy them at a Chevrolet lot any longer.

If all you're saying is 'WotC was openly dismissive of users of previous editions before and now they're not'? OK, I get that. I'm not sure that I ever interpreted their previous statements and actions with the malice some folks clearly did. I think they could have done a much better job and actively harmed the brand more than once with poor marketing. I think you're spot-on on that point.

It just has sounded to me like many folks expected WotC to actively support the old editions into perpetuity...something I don't think is realistic and never was. If WotC was smart, however, they would do stuff like release old versions of the game into the OGL, not unlike how id Software released the source code of Doom and Quake 3 into the public domain. I think they need to change the way they generate profit...but I think Hasbro is too behind the curve on IP and technology to understand that.

And WotC has fired every person who might have ever helped them do that. Maybe the fact that they've hired back some of the architects of 3E will reverse that trend.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

The D&D fanbase is hugely fragmented. 5e is only going to fragment the fanbase further. Also, since it will be a modular game, practically nobody is going to play the same version of 5e which then fragments the 5e fans from day one.

The only thing that can unite D&Ders is a truly awesome and heavily marketed VTT.

I have not read the rest of the thrad yet but I want ot coment on this. While i agree that D&D is hugely fragmented and not really convinced that 5e can achieve its aims a VTT is not a panacea.

In my opinion many people that play MMOs would be willing to play D&D online as long as the barriers to entry was a low as an MMO but D&D requires a DM. A VTT does not solve the DM problem. This is and has always been the limiting factor in the spread of ttrpgs.

 

[howandwhy99]

D&D is not a language, and so...

Actually, yes. I think D&D is a language. And for me it's very much a philosophy-like language game. But to stay on point, there are no required material elements for many game players. What is it exactly that makes us think "Those people are playing D&D". It isn't the gestures. It isn't minis or a grid. I'll give you most people use dice, but some don't even use those. It's the language. And retaining that language is important as you said. How this new game defines our game's words will change both play and the culture of our community. (Maybe they'll include a nice glossary again in the core books? Who knows?)