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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GregoryOatmeal" data-source="post: 5695887" data-attributes="member: 6667661">First we should stay away from words like "demand" because they put an ugly tone on this conversation that isn't productive. But anyway - I never claimed the edition treadmill was unprofitable, and I never claimed D&D could sell like Monopoly. I think I already said it wouldn't in another reply to a person claiming "D&D will never break Monopoly's record of selling 2million copies a year!". The original post never even touched the financial viability of a "Classic" brand. But I still believe it's possible to pull in new demographics. The edition treadmill doesn't work for everyone and they should address that with a separate product line.That's a good point. But maybe they don't buy books because they feel like the game's going to change after they buy them and they'll have to buy them again? I know it's primarily laziness and cheapness.So this is probably the most realistic implication of this model. It would put the most gamer demographics under the WOTC umbrella- Print a 5E, 6E, and 7E every couple years for the 4E demographic that is tolerant of keeping up with radical changes. Clearly some people tolerate this and others won't.- Rebrand 3.5 "classic D&D" that is clearly different from the 4E/5E/6E logo and murder Pathfinder. This would consolidate all of the casual gamers that learned 3.0 and 3.5 as well as the gamers that stuck with 3.5 and potentially the separate but similar demographic that went to Pathfinder. WOTC has a powerful infrastructure, brand identity, and iconic worlds and adventures and monsters that Paizo lacks. WOTC could have Paizo in a position where Paizo is printing supplements for 3.5, not their own game.I know 3.5 isn't everyone's favorite edition (if I were dictator I'd make it C&C) but Pathfinder demonstrates 3.5 is the most profitable edition to retroclone. WOTC could profit off of this market by:1. Publishing adventure paths with a subscription like Paizo does2. Publishing derivative games like D20 past, modern and future3. Publishing more support for 3.5 like "the Complete Fey" and other new ideas (Seriously they won't run out of ideas ever)4. Publishing more support for WOTC brands like Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Eberron, etc.5. Incorporating existing 3.5 assets and character creation into D&D insider. This increases the value of D&D insider and encourages people to buy both editions!6. Republishing deluxe editions of more popular 3.5 content like this Tome of Horrors trilogy that just came out. For example combine MM 2 and 3 and update all monsters for 3.5Paizo is unable to do 4, 5, and 6 from the list aboveI know not everyone agrees that 3.5 is "classic D&D" but the very existence of a Pathfinder is a powerful indication that a large block of people consider 3.x their definitive D&D. They are a profitable demographic that doesn't care much for change or the edition treadmill. WOTC gave up on profitting from them and supporting them with new products and they shouldn't have.</blockquote>

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