Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8928814" data-attributes="member: 7023840">I think that there is often a fundamental misunderstanding when it comes to these conversations.I will reiterate one thing that I have said repeatedly- the people that I have seen that have been most vocal about stirring up things on this forum are those that are not currently playing 5e. It is interesting to see the people that have been most loudly proclaiming that they have moved to other systems prior to this debacle (or that never played 5e) now saying that they are just unable to morally support WoTC.That doesn't minimize the very real feelings that some people are having- I noticed that some other people, like darjr, really are looking for fresh alternatives. That's a true loss for D&D to the extent that it isn't temporary.But getting to the question of the overall ecology, I think that a lot of people are simply wishcasting. We live in a weird time- and some of us remember the last truly weird time (the early 80s). Right now ... we live in a golden era for 3PPs. For all publishers. For kickstarters. And why is this? It's because of the amazing (and, honestly, unforeseen) success of 5e. A lot of people are making a strange assumption- that there is some overall "TTRPG" (RPG) market, and that it will keep on at the current trajectory, and that there will just be a fight over marketshare.In other words, the assumption is that this is an increasing pie, and that any part of the pie that D&D doesn't have will just go to 3PPs and other games.That might be correct. But it probably isn't, just based on history and the market. We have had tons of competing games throughout history. Tons. With the exception of a very (VERY) brief blip in the 90s with WoD, none of them has even come close to D&D. Not a one. Instead, we are looking at a market of D&D (current editions, prior editions) and D&D clones, with a few other games sprinkled in. And when the "D&D" market declines, all the other games decline too. After all, one reason for the success of all those 3PPs with 5e is that Hasbro hasn't had a very aggressive release schedule ... even today! There's plenty of room for tweaks, modules, APs, campaign settings, and even "Advanced" versions of the game- because the market itself is so large.Based on history, when D&D catches a cold, the rest of the industry, especially the 3PPs that depend on scale, catch pneumonia. Maybe this time will be different- maybe we just needed the big bad witch to die for everyone to start playing FiTD, and Fate, and PF2e will soon be growing the market and we will see articles about how there is a need for PF2e DMs that are paid and there are corporate retreats with people playing it!Maybe. This is certainly possible! But this feels a lot more like 1984 than it does 2014.</blockquote>

Verification