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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5485192" data-attributes="member: 59082">Dungeondelver, a quick aside: I'm not quoting your post because I find  the font to be difficult to read; a nice font, but it is kind of  distracting in this format. Just a bit of unsolicited feedback!That said, interesting post. I can agree with many of the points you  make but to be honest I question a lot of it, the tone in particular. I  think it well exemplifies that this meta-issue isn't exactly what it  seems to be, that people are still upset about things that aren't  necessarily what is being talked about. I would take it that you don't disagree with what Mearls says in his  article, taken at face value? I mean, it is a nice sentiment, right?  What is there to disagree with, really? We're all playing D&D,  D&D is sitting down with your friends, it doesn't matter what  version you're playing, make it your own, yada yada yada...I completely agree that WotC should sell PDFs of older material. But I  find this complaint to be a tad disingenuous when you say something like  WotC is "not giving folks an avenue to play the D&D they like." I  am sorry, dungeondelver, but that's a bit suspect. First of all, as you  yourself said, there are tons of old and used material available. For  3.x, more than a lifetime's worth. Secondly, and probably more importantly, the vast majority of people who  want to play an older edition of D&D likely already have tons of  gaming material, so their "avenue to play the D&D they like" was  never shut down. WotC can't shut it down - it is your avenue. As  some have commented, there is a kind of shared illusion in the gaming  industry that customers (gamers) need the companies that produce gaming  material. They don't. All we need are our imaginations, pencils, paper,  dice, maybe a rule book or two - and maybe not even that. You also mention WotC's supposed slandering of older versions of  D&D. I might be missing something, but all I remember are a couple  tongue-in-cheek comments and/or advertising back in 2008 that said  something to the effect that 4E was the newer, better version of D&D  and you shouldn't be left out in the cold playing "something else." Are  people really upset about that sort of thing? Really? No one  seems upset about Paizo's (again, tongue-in-cheek) "3.5E  survives/thrives" advertising - nor should they, imo. I think this is a  case of overly thin skins.So what I really hear you saying is that you're pissed that WotC doesn't  sell their PDFs, although probably mainly as a matter of principle, and  possibly actually because you're unhappy with 4E and wish they  had stuck with 3.5. I also hear you saying that your feelings are/were  hurt with some of their initial advertising comments.To this I can only say: get over it. It is done. Let it go. Bygones be  bygones. Compost the sour grapes. Rejoin the larger D&D  community--and that means accepting that 4E is the current, in-print,  and presumably most popular version of D&D--and play the D&D that you want. I can tell you with all honesty and full confidence that if WotC  announces 5E at GenCon this year and starts in with some "Stop playing  that WoW-clone version of D&D and go back to your roots with 5E" and  then they stop publishing all things 4E, I'll say "Cool, a new edition,  let's check it out and if I don't like it I'll stick with 4E or, better  yet, create the hybrid I've always wanted to make." You are, of course, free to continue letting these things bother you,  even if they are, well, water under the bridge. Again, I agree that not  making PDFs available for donwload is not only a bad PR move, but a poor  business decision (as Gary himself explains in your signature). But in  the end, 4E is the current version of D&D and WotC is still not  making older PDFs available, but at the same time Paizo is supporting  3.5 possibly better than WotC ever did in the form of Pathfinder, and  there are tons of retro-clones available, with the internet flooded with  used material from all editions of the game. It is a good time to be a  D&D player!</blockquote>

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