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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Echohawk" data-source="post: 5637893" data-attributes="member: 9849">While I think it is pretty clear that WotC will never be able to please everyone, I do think that there are some things they could do to please more current D&D players (by which I mean people who are playing all editions of the game, including Pathfinder).1. Bring back some form of distribution channel for out-of-print products from older editions. Making electronic versions of BECMI/1e/2e/3e products available in some fashion would please a number of people, and perhaps more importantly, would win them back some positive sentiment. I think that the market for electronic publishing has matured enough now that the piracy issues should no longer be a major concern for WotC, and I'll be surprised if we don't see some developments along these lines during the next year or so.2. Release more edition-neutral products, like Dungeon Tiles and the upcoming Map Packs. We're already seeing a shift towards more physical components -- boxed sets with counters and maps -- but at the moment, those are still being marketed as accessories for 4th edition. I suspect that some clever marketing could easily broaden the market of such products, perhaps by explicitly labeling them as "Edition Neutral".3a. Include more support for older editions in the online content and perhaps even in some printed releases. We saw this for the first time on DDI last month, when conversion notes for 1e and 2e were included with an article. Doing more of this might result in some warm fuzzy feeling from folks who don't play 4e. This support needn't be more than some conversion notes included as an appendix to be useful.3b. Actively market the Virtual Table Top as supporting older editions of the game. It already explicitly includes older versions of the game as options for sessions, but they aren't really supported from a crunch point of view yet. I think that a big chunk of the target market for the VTT is gamers who played previous editions, but who have drifted away from their gaming groups, so targeting those folks makes sense to me.4. Release a line of "D&D classic reprints", which would be reprints of out-of-print material, possibly bundled with 4e updates. We've already seen a number of classic updated to 4e (Village of Hommlet, Tomb of Horrors and the upcoming Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan). Bundle those with reprints of the originals and maybe a nice map or two that will be useful for either version of the adventure, and they'll be snapped up by collectors and fans of older editions alike. Even if these are limited edition releases, they will still create the impression that WotC cares about older editions.</blockquote>

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