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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lutecius" data-source="post: 6214404" data-attributes="member: 60332">care to give some examples? because I'm really not seeing it.I see people converting characters, monsters and adventures from other editions or even other systems and some stat blocks may even be used 'as is' without causing too many balance issues, but many others simply don't make sense because, as Li-Shenron said, they refer to mechanics that don't apply in other editions.Maybe you mean that WotC shouldn't try to create new mechanics and only adapt what has already been published? But at the end of the day they're going to have to make choices as to which mechanic or numbers they keep and break compatibility with other editions.Or do you mean all the new material should have stats and guidelines for various editions? There may be a market for that and it could probably work for adventures but I think most players will find that confusing and consider it a waste of space.The thing is, the rpg market is shrinking, many players are now set in their habits and expectations and every new system (even one that only builds on past editions) has a high chance of failure and further fragmenting the base. There was even a split over Essentials in 4e and you might argue that Pathfinder split the 3e base. And those were fully backward compatible. The only safe option is not to publish anything new. Sure, 5e's stated goal is to appeal to the broadest segment possible but being actually compatible with previous editions just isn't a realistic expectation and I don't think it ever was WotC's plan (didn't they actually clarify that?) And again, I'm not sure why those who really want to play an older version of the game would need books that are "somewhat" compatible, with all the discrepancies and balance issues that may occur, when they could just play their edition of choice.Trying to keep the aspects people liked, even as optional rules, is important but if it hopes to sell, a new edition has to bring something new at some point. Of course that is no guarantee of success, but imo just trying to replicate what has already been done (and works well for some) is a sure way to fail.</blockquote>

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