Steely_Dan
First Post
Does anyone really believe 4e is the most succesful edition at this point? I can't prove it isn't because i dont have any of the sales figures, but everything we have seen really puts the weight on it being a flop that lost half the D&D customers.
I think D&D's heyday has come and gone quite a while ago (early/mid-80s), there was a cartoon, video games (Intellivision), toys (I still have my Warduke, Elkhorn, the Barbarian and titan), that dreadful movie with Tom Hanks (Mazes & Monsters).
So I would say 1st Ed was the most popular (would be interesting to see actual sales figures et).
As for different editions, what constitutes a different edition etc, I do not count Essentials as a new edition, just an option for 4th Ed; I also don't really think 3.5 justifies an entirely new edition, I played in a campaign with a 3.0 rogue and a 3.5 monk just fine; even 1st and 2nd Ed, you could toss a 1st Ed Ranger or Monk in a 2nd Ed campaign just fine.
You could even juggle some 3rd Ed and 1st/2nd Ed stuff (some even without conversions); but 4th Ed really is the most drastically new edition to date, some of it good (I dig 4th Ed monsters, the conditions, bursts, blasts), and some I'm not so keen on (powers, pre-Essentials classes, healing surges).
The one thing I would most like to see embraced in the next edition is non-mini/gird reliance.