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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 5767868" data-attributes="member: 59411">I think the model is changing, slowly but certainly, and it's becoming more inclusive from a technological standpoint and more willing to experiment from a rules standpoint. Content, fluff, is as accessible as an individual wants it to be. It's an exciting time. I mean we're in the 4era, and those who despised the change have left, and those who enjoy it are still here. They've run head-first into the frigid ocean and now they've gotten used to the water. The question becomes what do they do now, and I think they're making the moves: pleasing current fans with better content, improving their digital offerings which could be designed to appeal to both, and developing ways to utilize the ttrpg-side of the IP for the enjoyment of all.I think they can do more than hope the 4e market grows in the meantime, I think they can actively cultivate it over the course of the next few years. That doesn't mean everything going into that cultivation is edition specific. WotC has the asset that is the D&D name, and oh how rich it is. Beyond that name recognition feeding into the current edition over years, universal offerings like VTT, minis, tiles, and PDFs of older edition material can draw the attention of certain non-4thers. I think their other strength is corporate backing, not so much a brutal paymaster, but a rich uncle whose going to put 4e through college. Video games, cartoons, toys, stuff marketed well beyond your average gamer and point them toward 4e.However it's going to take some intelligent and exciting moves, and a commitment of time (years) toward active support. I wouldn't underestimate either contributor, to say the D&D name or Hasbro, though. You'll only get non-gamers to begin gaming if you go out and hook them- that, I think, is more Hasbro's responsibility than the RPG team, or even WotC.That's tricky. On the one hand, were Hasbro in it solely for the ttrpg, then it wouldn't place such crazy expectations on D&D, thus it would be more of a perceived success and thus would survive as being contender, maybe even top dog, in the industry. However, because Hasbro's interest in D&D is more brand than any one cog in what they hope will become an IP engine of destruction, the ttrpg is almost incidental- or should I say just an idea pool- and thus couldn't really be judged on not performing by itself like a fully-supported IP would. Should 4e be doing better because it is D&D? I mean it's already in that top 1-2 tier of the hobby. No longer 800lb., as so many point out, but still successful. Could it be doing better with corporate support? Yeah, I think it could. More over, I think it will... (or they reevaluate, make 5e, and try again).Hehe, of that I am acutely aware- though, I'm going to call it 'focusing on a different percentage of the gamer base'. I was a fan whom they turned their face toward with 4e, having felt somewhat unloved and frustrated with 3e. However, unlike current 3e fans and Pathfinder, I have nowhere else to turn should they shift their design focus again. I find that a strong incentive to maintain the 4e player base, or continue to support it in at least a utility/tools capacity when 5e surfaces (and they should make it VERY clear they are not abandoning those people with veritable PR back flips). If they've learned anything from the current 4era, it's the power of presentation and the importance of keeping promises and, subsequently, deadlines.That said, if Hasbro really has lowered the target number or given Mearls more of a free reign than was given the original crew, anything could happen come DDXP. 5e could be on the slate, or any number of divergent or surprising evolutions of 4e. I can't see Hasbro just pulling the plug and throwing away an asset- only because their interest in D&D must lie well outside the tiny ttrpg market, largely unaffected by however good or bad 4e did. They know it's not going to meet the original pitch numbers now, so the next step in utilizing the brand is to look outside of ttrpg. If Hasbro is only interested in the IP, which I think we can safely say  they are, and the initial promises of an early 4e have fallen  through, I'm inclined to say that Hasbro will turn its focus to other  avenues for the brand outside the ttrpg. My hope is that that means  Mearls and company are more or less free to explore as they will, less  pressed to meet any exorbitant figure, as that now shifts onto  D&D products (toys, games, apparel, whatever)- which requires a certain hook: video game, cartoon,  movie, all entirely possible with a corporate backer like Hasbro. If the RPG team can make enough to justify its existence and generate material which can be used in future products (also adding or interpreting the older material for any number of venues) then anything could happen, continued 4e, 5e, support for all editions, really anything.</blockquote>

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