Edition War Across the Net or Where Have You Been?

[Invisible Stalker]

Mention anything with more than one "edition" on the internet and the nukes are launched.

D&D, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr. Who, comic books, etc. etc.


I have been lectured to at B&N while perusing a 4E product. I've had 3e/4e edition wars cross over with comic book arguments, i.e. ..."You like 4E, of course you like Dan Didio's vision for DC." I should try to see if I can start a D&D edition war on a golf forum I frequent, just so it isn't left out.

 

[tmatk]

...

WOTC did not help the edition wars much by stating right off the bat that 3rd edition was flawed and 4e was going to fix everything. If you were still playing 3rd you were playing the wrong game.

...

That's marketing. "Our new product is better then our old one, please buy it". When there's a new edition of Pathfinder, they'll do the same thing.

 

[MrGrenadine]

That's marketing. "Our new product is better then our old one, please buy it". When there's a new edition of Pathfinder, they'll do the same thing.

When improvement to a product can be quantified, the reason to stop selling a previous version, (like a detergent, for instance), is justifiable. But as we've seen in some cases (New Coke, I'm lookin' at ye!), the consumer base will reject the improvement altogether.

In this case, "improvements" to a set of game rules are extremely difficult to quantify, and are in most cases purely subjective, so the same tactic is probably going to fail.

In other words, a set of game rules isn't something that needs to be retired when a new version appears, as long as it works for the consumer. Did people stop playing 5 card draw when Texas Hold 'em was invented? Hardly.

What puzzles me is why, knowing how big a reset 4e was going to be, WotC didn't decide to be inclusive and support ALL versions.

 

[jdrakeh]

What puzzles me is why, knowing how big a reset 4e was going to be, WotC didn't decide to be inclusive and support ALL versions.

Because they can't make money like that. Shockingly, publishing games costs money. If you have a finite amount of money for publishing and your available choices are to spread it across several product lines that currently produce diminishing returns or start a new product line (an almost guaranteed way to boost profit), which do you choose? Hint: Option one will probably bankrupt you.

 

[Herschel]

Geez, I read some of the 4vengers posts and they are as bad as 2E fanboys hating 3E when it launched.

"I AM RIGHT! YOU ARE WRONG!"

When everyone who knows anything knows there are two sides to every debate: My side and the wrong one.

Yeah, it's pretty much everywhere, even on the minis sites.

 

[tmatk]

When improvement to a product can be quantified, the reason to stop selling a previous version, (like a detergent, for instance), is justifiable. But as we've seen in some cases (New Coke, I'm lookin' at ye!), the consumer base will reject the improvement altogether.

In this case, "improvements" to a set of game rules are extremely difficult to quantify, and are in most cases purely subjective, so the same tactic is probably going to fail.

In other words, a set of game rules isn't something that needs to be retired when a new version appears, as long as it works for the consumer. Did people stop playing 5 card draw when Texas Hold 'em was invented? Hardly.

What puzzles me is why, knowing how big a reset 4e was going to be, WotC didn't decide to be inclusive and support ALL versions.

I imagine it is more cost effective to kill off the old product and start selling the new one. The idea is to get 3e players to switch to 4e, and buy an entirely new line of books. If they continued to support the old edition, it would cannibalize sales of the new one. They obviously also wanted to get away from the OGL.

 

[jbear]

My 2 cents for what its worth.

People here at enworld seemed to have cooled the tempers a lot from what I was perceiving some months back. What seemed like a war seems to have matured into a respectful difference of opinion.

At least that is my perception.

 

[Nymrohd]

This is until WotC does a new blunder whether it is an actual blunder or just a communication one. But yes EnWorld had decent enough moderation that it will take a lot of hard trolling for either side to manage to send the place to the dogs (and by then mods will start swinging the banhammer left and right so it won't happen). Loose moderation begets hostile environments. Honestly the most absurd forums I'm regularly around are the WoW forums.

 

[MrGrenadine]

Because they can't make money like that. Shockingly, publishing games costs money. If you have a finite amount of money for publishing and your available choices are to spread it across several product lines that currently produce diminishing returns or start a new product line (an almost guaranteed way to boost profit), which do you choose? Hint: Option one will probably bankrupt you.

No need to be condescending. I understand how the business works. And I disagree that there is no way to make it work. Writers and musicians can release new products over time without telling people not to purchase the back catalog. And this should be especially true for a company that made over 300 million dollars PROFIT in 2008.

I imagine it is more cost effective to kill off the old product and start selling the new one. The idea is to get 3e players to switch to 4e, and buy an entirely new line of books. If they continued to support the old edition, it would cannibalize sales of the new one. They obviously also wanted to get away from the OGL.

Getting away from the OGL is a good point, and goes hand in hand with why the new edition was such a reboot. But money from the sales of all editions goes into the same coffers, so why not divert just enough money into the pockets of a few freelance writers, who could write a Dragon article a month for each previous edition?

Might seem tough, but I don't think its impossible for a company to innovate and try to keep the largest fan base happy.

 

[Oni]

I got lectured by a complete stranger at my local game store. Seriously. It was a little odd.

Should of poked him with your hook hand, that would of learned him.




Anyway, maybe there should be Edition War Correspondents

"Dirk Steakface here live at the scene of the latest battle. The flames are still lighting the pre-dawn sky. In these early morning hours we've seen the guerrilla grognards attempt to retake the main forum, however the 4tards are still heavily entrenched. The fighting has been bitter. The destruction here is beyond comprehension. We can only guess at the true cost of this conflict at the point, but all signs point to it being staggering. Still there is no end in sight. Back to you, Katy."