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How would you redo 4e?
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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8970208" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>I'm pretty skeptical that the demise of some of the more fanciful software stuff had much to do with one guy going bonkers, but yeah, there were some pretty boneheaded things that happened when 4e was coming out, and some just poor overall timing. I feel like the GSL, coupled with WotC not really understanding the whole online thing very well, plus the weird way half the dev team seemed to be actively going against the other half was most of it. Pathfinder only existed because Paiso existed, which existed because WotC CREATED IT, and gave it access to all their customers! (by handing Dragon publication to them). </p><p></p><p>I think they DID publicize the game plenty, and it actually sold really well for a while. Then they flooded the market with books, people got burned out, there was a bad economy, and they published a lot of crap adventures. 5e has a less problematic online business model, a better license, good PR, and yeah, it was just at the right time in the up/down cycle of RPGs. The PR was pretty key though, they were able to spin it very well, and as you say jump into the new social media space in a way that 4e kind of just barely missed (not quite, but it sure is bigger now). For anyone who's been around RPGs long enough these kind of things are familiar. White Wolf pulled off the early '90s version of the same thing. Heck, Tunnels & Trolls pulled off the '70s version too, that game was a huge craze, almost bigger than D&D, for a while.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8970208, member: 82106"] I'm pretty skeptical that the demise of some of the more fanciful software stuff had much to do with one guy going bonkers, but yeah, there were some pretty boneheaded things that happened when 4e was coming out, and some just poor overall timing. I feel like the GSL, coupled with WotC not really understanding the whole online thing very well, plus the weird way half the dev team seemed to be actively going against the other half was most of it. Pathfinder only existed because Paiso existed, which existed because WotC CREATED IT, and gave it access to all their customers! (by handing Dragon publication to them). I think they DID publicize the game plenty, and it actually sold really well for a while. Then they flooded the market with books, people got burned out, there was a bad economy, and they published a lot of crap adventures. 5e has a less problematic online business model, a better license, good PR, and yeah, it was just at the right time in the up/down cycle of RPGs. The PR was pretty key though, they were able to spin it very well, and as you say jump into the new social media space in a way that 4e kind of just barely missed (not quite, but it sure is bigger now). For anyone who's been around RPGs long enough these kind of things are familiar. White Wolf pulled off the early '90s version of the same thing. Heck, Tunnels & Trolls pulled off the '70s version too, that game was a huge craze, almost bigger than D&D, for a while. [/QUOTE]
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How would you redo 4e?
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