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Difference From 10 Years Ago?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6174819" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>I think there's always been the disenfranchised players who stuck with BECMI, 1e, or 2e that just kept their head down and were quiet under the onslaught of the very popular 3e. It was a little harder to criticise 3e in its heyday when fans were at their most supportive. </p><p>Once 4e came along and the big split arose between 3e and 4e I think it became a little easier for grognards to voice their thoughts. The audience was split, it was not just them versus everyone.</p><p></p><p>The OSR movement helped. There have been retroclones for years but none are really published in stores. If you didn't go looking for them you might never find them. The grognard/OSR movement has been slowly building as the retroclones gained attention and word of mouth spread. With a community behind them, the grognards have an easier time speaking up. </p><p></p><p>I really think the 3e/4e split was bad. Arguably the worst of edition wars. </p><p>While the 1e/2e split was huge at the time, the relative compatibility of the two made it less egregious. And there was a lull in books after the core reprints and following expansions. In many ways, 2e was just adding already published optional rules into the core.</p><p>The edition wars after 3e were bad but I think the timing made it a little more acceptable, coming after 2e, which was a very well supported edition. There had been so much content, 2e felt done. Especially with three years between the final rulebooks and 3e.</p><p>4e came very shortly after 3.5e and when 3e books were still selling. There was still life in the edition. </p><p></p><p></p><p>A bit of both.</p><p>3e really killed the competition. Many small publishers just opted to release 3rd Party Products and people who were thinking of getting their start in publishing decided to just start a 3PP rather than make their own game.</p><p>With the ending of 3e and greater difficulty in writing content for 4e we've seen more and more publishers doing their own games. People who would have been 3PP just starting their own product lines. We're really seeing the return of competition.</p><p></p><p>Although, I don't think it was ever this bad. There's a LOT of name RPGs out there. </p><p></p><p>Some of this is the people who built reputations as 3PP during 3e. Green Ronin and MWP. </p><p>Some of this is the result of WotC shedding staff. There are a number of people who don't want to work at WotC because of their policies or were let go. Especially because of the long playtest and public knowledge of the impending edition. WotC is producing far fewer books and needs less staff, so there were layoffs and they are no longer hiring the same number of freelancers. And now they're writing their own material.</p><p>Kickstarter has also made this renaissance of alternative game systems possible. Its far, far less of a financial risk for publishers as they can get the money first. And fans feel like they can directly support industry creative types.</p><p></p><p>So the total number of D&D players is potentially shrinking as they move to other games. And those that still play D&D are somewhat fragmented by edition of choice. </p><p></p><p>Although, really, most players have an edition they <em>prefer</em> to play. But they'll still play other games. I really dig Pathfinder but I have been involved in three 4th Edition campaigns because that's what the people I wanted to play with were playing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 6174819, member: 37579"] I think there's always been the disenfranchised players who stuck with BECMI, 1e, or 2e that just kept their head down and were quiet under the onslaught of the very popular 3e. It was a little harder to criticise 3e in its heyday when fans were at their most supportive. Once 4e came along and the big split arose between 3e and 4e I think it became a little easier for grognards to voice their thoughts. The audience was split, it was not just them versus everyone. The OSR movement helped. There have been retroclones for years but none are really published in stores. If you didn't go looking for them you might never find them. The grognard/OSR movement has been slowly building as the retroclones gained attention and word of mouth spread. With a community behind them, the grognards have an easier time speaking up. I really think the 3e/4e split was bad. Arguably the worst of edition wars. While the 1e/2e split was huge at the time, the relative compatibility of the two made it less egregious. And there was a lull in books after the core reprints and following expansions. In many ways, 2e was just adding already published optional rules into the core. The edition wars after 3e were bad but I think the timing made it a little more acceptable, coming after 2e, which was a very well supported edition. There had been so much content, 2e felt done. Especially with three years between the final rulebooks and 3e. 4e came very shortly after 3.5e and when 3e books were still selling. There was still life in the edition. A bit of both. 3e really killed the competition. Many small publishers just opted to release 3rd Party Products and people who were thinking of getting their start in publishing decided to just start a 3PP rather than make their own game. With the ending of 3e and greater difficulty in writing content for 4e we've seen more and more publishers doing their own games. People who would have been 3PP just starting their own product lines. We're really seeing the return of competition. Although, I don't think it was ever this bad. There's a LOT of name RPGs out there. Some of this is the people who built reputations as 3PP during 3e. Green Ronin and MWP. Some of this is the result of WotC shedding staff. There are a number of people who don't want to work at WotC because of their policies or were let go. Especially because of the long playtest and public knowledge of the impending edition. WotC is producing far fewer books and needs less staff, so there were layoffs and they are no longer hiring the same number of freelancers. And now they're writing their own material. Kickstarter has also made this renaissance of alternative game systems possible. Its far, far less of a financial risk for publishers as they can get the money first. And fans feel like they can directly support industry creative types. So the total number of D&D players is potentially shrinking as they move to other games. And those that still play D&D are somewhat fragmented by edition of choice. Although, really, most players have an edition they [I]prefer[/I] to play. But they'll still play other games. I really dig Pathfinder but I have been involved in three 4th Edition campaigns because that's what the people I wanted to play with were playing. [/QUOTE]
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