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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 5319674" data-attributes="member: 66434">Any company can publish/revise whatever it thinks will be in it's best interests without being "evil" in any way. There are pitfalls for doing too much too soon that need to be accounted for.  Every edition, revision, and re-introduction of a popular game fragments the fan base to a greater or lesser degree. Supporting only the latest incarnation of the product means dealing with an ever shrinking active support base unless support for the product type as a whole grows dramatically. Rpgs start out as a niche industry already. Frequent fragmentation of such a limited consumer group can easily become a slide into financial seppuku. Trying to support a bunch of editions can lead to the same place though.  The fine line between pushing new ideas and tolerance of the consumer base is a dangerous one. Every revision/edition is a potential stop along the route that some consumers will invaiably use to exit. The trick is in getting more new riders to jump on than are leaving.  That is a universal marketing issue but the particular problems it poses for rpg gamers is somewhat unique. Moreso than almost any other product type, games are marketed to potential players by existing gamers. Every passenger who gets off that train might convince an entire cabin full of potential passengers to remain at a particular stop with them. With so much competition for such a select group of  passengers (gamers) the train gets tougher to keep full the farther along it goes. Harder still is getting fresh new passengers who are not already inclined to get on board.  Combine those challenges which are everpresent, with an economic downturn in which a niche group of consumers are watching every gaming dollar more closely and the risks of consumer intolerance skyrocket. Tack on any perception of quality decline and things start to look fairly grim.</blockquote>

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