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<blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 5777075" data-attributes="member: 151">From WotC/Hasbro's perspective, they're right.&nbsp; To WotC: OD&amp;D, OSRIC, BD&amp;D, 1E, 2E, 3E, and 3.5E players all have one thing in common:&nbsp; they don't contribute to WotC's continued survival as a company financially in a significant way.&nbsp; It was a poor PR move to stop selling PDFs, but I'd wager it made them very little money (if much at all, after factoring hosting costs, etc.).&nbsp; If you buy TSR products at a convention, that money isn't going to the original authors or WotC or anyone else but that retailer.&nbsp; D&amp;D simply won't survive from that market.&nbsp; WotC has a vested interest in stating the 4E is 'THE' D&amp;D, because their financial well-being depends on it being that way.Now, I'm not arguing that they've made a lot of PR mistakes.&nbsp; They certainly have.&nbsp; There have been numerous failures on their part.&nbsp; But from a commercial standpoint, they have to convince you to go to 4E...and now 5E.&nbsp; Because that's the product they're selling.&nbsp; I have no idea if DDI is sustaining itself.&nbsp; Perhaps if they could find a way to make licensed, official tools for previous editions, that would monetize an otherwise dead market for those products.&nbsp; But otherwise, WotC will need to sell 5E the same way they sold 4E...and indeed did for 3E.&nbsp; It must slay the previous edition, to some extent, to be successful.I don't think anyone thinks 5E will appeal to everyone.&nbsp; 3E, arguably the most successful RPG release since AD&amp;D, still had many detractors and folks who didn't cotton to it.&nbsp; But if they convince enough people to buy it, then by all means, do it.The real trick will be to sell to people like me and my group.&nbsp; We reformed for 3E and rolled into 3.5 with aplomb.&nbsp; 4E....has not set the house on fire.&nbsp; It's good, but hasn't instilled the same passion.&nbsp; And coming so soon on the heels of an edition we feel like we still haven't gotten into (our main game is only now reaching Paragon tier), 5E will have to be VERY compelling to get us to bother spending money on it ALL OVER AGAIN.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WizarDru, post: 5777075, member: 151"] From WotC/Hasbro's perspective, they're right. To WotC: OD&D, OSRIC, BD&D, 1E, 2E, 3E, and 3.5E players all have one thing in common: they don't contribute to WotC's continued survival as a company financially in a significant way. It was a poor PR move to stop selling PDFs, but I'd wager it made them very little money (if much at all, after factoring hosting costs, etc.). If you buy TSR products at a convention, that money isn't going to the original authors or WotC or anyone else but that retailer. D&D simply won't survive from that market. WotC has a vested interest in stating the 4E is 'THE' D&D, because their financial well-being [i]depends[/i] on it being that way. Now, I'm not arguing that they've made a lot of PR mistakes. They certainly have. There have been numerous failures on their part. But from a commercial standpoint, they have to convince you to go to 4E...and now 5E. Because that's the product they're selling. I have no idea if DDI is sustaining itself. Perhaps if they could find a way to make licensed, official tools for previous editions, that would monetize an otherwise dead market for those products. But otherwise, WotC will need to sell 5E the same way they sold 4E...and indeed did for 3E. It must slay the previous edition, to some extent, to be successful. I don't think anyone thinks 5E will appeal to everyone. 3E, arguably the most successful RPG release since AD&D, still had many detractors and folks who didn't cotton to it. But if they convince enough people to buy it, then by all means, do it. The real trick will be to sell to people like me and my group. We reformed for 3E and rolled into 3.5 with aplomb. 4E....has not set the house on fire. It's good, but hasn't instilled the same passion. And coming so soon on the heels of an edition we feel like we still haven't gotten into (our main game is only now reaching Paragon tier), 5E will have to be VERY compelling to get us to bother spending money on it ALL OVER AGAIN. [/QUOTE]

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