Yeah, I can see it, and I say that's a purely good thing. Women feel empowered with such imagery, which is why this edition is going to attract more women. It says "look, we like it when women kick butt." I for one would prefer to sit at a table diverse with men and women instead of at a table with a bunch of over weight smelly guys playing in one of their mothers' basements.You can see the rebranding, right? "It's not about gnomes dressed like medieval peasants and their stupid familiars, it's about badazz goth devil chicks in hurtmewear shooting death rays at people." Tieflings, dragonborn, feywild, shadowfell, GSL clauses, etc.: it all has to do with forging a unique brand identity. That's my guess, anyway.
And yes, it is brand identity. When you look around at all the D&D clones out there, you can see that it's time for D&D to break away from the pack in order to succeed.
With one vital difference: Lorraine Williams was an idiot. She didn't know her friends from her enemies and she pushed her own familial ties on TSR (such as her connection to the Buck Rogers franchise). For those who don't know, that's a no-no in the business world that is sure to sink any company.Design decisions driven by business decisions, rather than the other way around. That's the "Lorraine Williams Scenario". That's all I'm saying.