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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6597964" data-attributes="member: 37579">I'm almost certain this thread is going to descend into an edition war or playstyle skirmish, if it already hasn't. But I can't stay away from speculation like this. It's my kryptonite. Or chocolate. Chocolate kryptonite? Would 4e have done better without the D&D name? That's a big question.Well, the D&D name didn't help 4e by generating the edition wars and detractors. There was all the fuss that "it wasn't D&D" or "didn't feel like D&D". Which makes sense as D&D is such a big tent game with lots of ideas and styles. I didn't like 4e. I don't like 4e. But it wasn't a bad game per se; It had its warts and flaws but nothing egregious. And I played and ran it enough to know it was more robust and flexible than some people gave it credit for. I just didn't like it. It wasn't for me. I was initially crazy negative about the game at launch, but this owes as much to my disappointment with the product as the product itself, and I wish I could have slapped past-JesterCanuck upside the head for being such a douche. But even after some hands-on with the game showed me some of my initial thoughts were less valid, my dislike never truly went awayBut, in some theoretical-hypothetical world where 4e was released under a different name or by another company or in a world where there was no D&D, I don't think it would have done better. The D&D name brought new people to the game that wouldn't have looked otherwise. I for one would not have bought the game under a different name. And I'm not alone: initial sales of 4e were huge. Massive. Better than sales of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook to date. But they didn't last.And that's the catch... WotC didn't (and doesn't) care if current D&D feels like D&D or if the grognards are happy. The D&D team might (and likely does) but the management only cares about numbers on a spreadsheet, about the bottom line: sales. Had 4e had enough sales, it would have continued. I'm sure the drop in sales didn't help, but if sales were still strong enough they'd have kept producing material. In an extra-hypothetical world where 4e was released by a different company without the needlessly high expectations of WotC and under a different name? Well, it's hard to tell for sure given the amount of hypo in that thetical. It's easier to theorize about a world where the Nazis won and we've all been wearing red armbands for 70 years.Other RPG companies do have lower goals in terms of sales and revenue, with many operating as a hobby more than a full-time job. In this world 4e likely would have lasted longer, had it found an audience. However, a smaller company would not have had the resources for DDI. And they would have released books at a much slower pace, so while the game would have lasted longer the final content released would have been less.</blockquote>

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