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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 7781903" data-attributes="member: 32740">3.5, certainly at the time of its release, did NOT make everybody happy.  What Monte wrote about the backlash some time after 3.5 was that, yes, an update/revision to the 3E rules was always part of the plan, but not nearly that soon.  However, the bean counters jumped the gun on it when 3E profits began to slip somewhat and said, "Get new versions of everything we've done with 3E so far, and get them out there ASAP, whether anyone is actually asking for them or not, and damn the original schedule along with the torpedoes.  Moar Profitts ahead!"  Most people will probably admit that most of the changes for 3.5 were ultimately for the better, but at the time - if you went along with it - it meant replacing a lot of books and material that was only 3 years old at most.  Many reacted to 3.5 as if it were a callous, bumbling, naked cash-grab (which due to the completely disregarded planned schedule for it, it was), even though it was then an improved set of rules from 3E.I particularly remember, whether accurately or not, that one of the selling points of 2E at the time was that 1E had become bloated.  And it's true that 1E WAS bloated.  I had... was it NINE hardcover rule books for 1E?  PH, DMG, MM, UA, MMII, FF, WSG, DSG, DDG... and OA would actually make it TEN.  So, buy 2E and streamline your game rules!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Truly ironic to me that 2E then became truly renowned for its uncontrolled bloat of rules supplements.I'd say it shook the hobby into a corner.  It did seem to become a situation where if it wasn't d20 it wasn't viable; that there was simply no room for ANY game, for any IP, if it wasn't based on d20.  As you say, rival systems and companies just faded away as the juggernaut plowed through. Really, I don't think that was the best thing for the hobby even if it needed shaking up, and I'm not so sure it did.  Competition is what drives improvements, not one-size-fits-all.  A better system to lead not only D&D but the general hobby out of TSR's demise?  Sure.  But not to end up sweeping all non-conforming alternatives aside with its OVER-dominance for so long the way it did.</blockquote>

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