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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesM" data-source="post: 3985564" data-attributes="member: 2762">Would that this were possible, but so far as I can gather there are two very serious problems with this. Even assuming such a plan was of interest to a lot of D&D fans -- and I'm not convinced that it is -- WotC has neither the interest nor the institutional wherewithal to do this. They struggled as it was to update the 3E-derived SRD. I cannot begin to imagine the logistical nightmare of their trying to extract OGC from 1e or 2e. Furthermore, the novelist analogy isn't quite right or rather it's not right from WotC's perspective. Whereas a novelist's sales are increased, both backwards and forwards, by having his entire oeuvre available for sale, I'm sure WotC would see vintage editions of D&D as a threat to 4e's bottom line. One of "truths" that seems to have been retained from WotC's early days is its (partially mistaken IMO) analysis of TSR's fall, according to which TSR failed because it "competed against itself" with too many campaign settings and too many variant rules sets. WotC still espouses this, whether out of conviction or convenience I don't know, but it nevertheless informs their corporate culture powerfully. I simply can't see their endorsement of such a plan.None of this is to say I don't think the idea has merit -- far from it! But the reality is that WotC will likely never go down this road or, if they do, it's more evidence that the current edition of D&D (whatever it happens to be) is faring poorly sales-wise and they're willing to try anything to shore up "the brand." We're not yet at that point and my guess is we never will be. More's the pity.</blockquote>

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