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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 7664846" data-attributes="member: 59082">I meant the latter, so I guess we'll leave it at that. But why would you think I meant the former? ??? Again, I think you are defining a very narrow parameter for conversation - continually coming back to sales and profits. I mean, clearly the financial reason behind 5E was because 4E was no longer as profitable as WotC/Hasbro wanted it to be and they wanted the cash-cow that a new edition cycle brings. But this doesn't touch upon the "human" elements - psychological, creative, community, etc. Obviously that stuff is harder to define, but it is what pushes the more definable stuff like sales.I hear and somewhat agree with you here, Umbran, but this only works with regards to "edition warring" as an internet phenomena and to what degree it brings awareness to disgruntlement. Clearly edition warring was more prevalent with 4E simply because the internet was more established in 2008 than in 2000, or at least social media platforms like EN World, etc. But if we extend "edition warring" to the underlying causative factors, and the degree to which the D&D community embraces a new edition, then I don't think the internet is a sufficient explanation - it only tells us that the "battle field" was there, but it doesn't tell us if the underlying "hostilities" were more or less than in previous edition cycles.I personally think that the D&D community embraced 3E far more fully than it did 4E, and all signs so far seem to point to a fuller embrace of 5E. Now why that was the case (assuming it was the case) is a matter of debate and, at the least, a very complex issue. I certainly think the online social media environment had a large role to play, if only for providing the "breeding grounds" for hostility, but I do think there are other factors - some of which have to do with the game itself and how it differed from previous editions. I'm not making a judgement call here or saying anything pejorative about 4E, mind you.</blockquote>

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