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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BryonD" data-source="post: 5767890" data-attributes="member: 957">I agree they can do a lot of other things with THE BRAND.  But 4E is not the brand, it is a very specific product.   Twice now you have said they can improve that specific product and then offered a list of things that have to do with the brand but very specifically avoid the actual product in question.That is what they said four years ago.  It failed then and is on weaker footing now.Heh, I think *D&D* should, can, and has done much better.I think 4E as a system is exceeding itself because of the massive support the name brand carries.  Again, that isn't to be critical of anyone who is a HUGE fan of 4E.  I was a HUGE fan of GURPS in the late 80s and early 90s.  4E is vastly more popular now (VASTLY!!!!) than GURPS was then.  There is no element of rightness associated with popularity.  If the GURPS system had obtained the support of the D&D brand identity it would have been far more popular than it was.  That would not have made my personal enjoyment of GURPS be the slightest bit more or less valid.  But there is is distinction between any person's enjoyment and marketplace capability.  I still think GURPS is a really good game.   But I don't think it has the market appeal of 3E.  I also don't think 4E has the market appeal of 3E.  But brand is important.  Very roughly:4E market - D&D Brand = GURPS marketWhen you put a game with big market appeal in combination with a brand like D&D, that is when you get a golden age.To be clear, if they thought they could go back to their old fan base, they would dump you to the curb in a heartbeat.  The good news for you is, they can not do that and they know it.  The only real danger is if their sense of entitlement exceeds their ability to think rationally.I don't think they will pull the plug.  But, for your sake, I think you should hope they DON'T focus to much on other things.  Not only will that have the small impact of directing resources away from the RPG, but it will also have the larger impact of motivating them to change the RPG into something with a larger anticipated fanbase.  If they wanted to sell a ton of action figures as their real revenue stream then going back to D20SRD and the OGL and making a point of being compatible with all that Pathfinder stuff would be a great way to kickstart their market base.  (Again, that would HARM their direct RPG market but we are talking about selling toys now)At the end of the day 4E's problem is the 4E core game system.  And to me this conversation is about the ttrpg.  I can agree it may make sense to sell action figures instead.  But the ttrpg conversation still exists.</blockquote>

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