innerdude
Legend
Yes, but...
Soccer is Football! (association football)
American Football is Football!
Rugby is Football! (union football)
Arena Football is Football!
Canadian Football is Football!
Australian Football is Football!
Gaelic Football is Football!
...the point being that just because it has the same name, doesn't mean that it's the same game, or that it's equivalent or interchangeable. Just because there's a common ancestor doesn't mean that it's all the same.
The reason we have so much D&D market fragmentation is that the "editions" of D&D have effectively split into different games. They may have the same name, they may have a common ancestor, but they're not the same game anymore.
Which is exactly the whole point of my OP. OD&D, B/X, BECMI, 1e, 2e, 3e, and 4e are not the same game, and they don't need to be, and 5e doesn't NEED TO BE ANY OF THEM.
I think the biggest trouble we as a D&D community are having with 5e is that we WANT to point to one of them and go, "Oh, yeah, it's most like Edition X. I get it." We've convinced ourselves somehow that being able to pinpoint 5e's "common ancestor" means we're more likely to like the game when it's done, and to a point this may or may not be true. 4e players have a particular vested interest in "the metaphorical essence of D&D" working more like their preferred edition than any of the other "common ancestors."
But it doesn't change the fact that ultimately Next is going to be its own game. In reading much of the preview material for 4e, it's the same mindset WotC expected the greater community to take regarding 4e--"This is its own game; accept it as such."
I think what I'm getting at, is if you/me/we as players aren't willing to accept D&D Next for what it is on its own, then it's probably going to be a failure no matter what, because in the end, it will never be the thing we're comparing it to. If D&D Next is only allowed to be compared to 3e, or 4e, or 1e, then it's never going be it's own thing.
And I really, really want D&D Next to be its own thing, and be successful at it, and if it just happens to fall in line with most of what I hope to get out of a "D&D experience," great.