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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mort" data-source="post: 5468757" data-attributes="member: 762">If the product is sufficiently different sure, but having coke and new coke on the market at the same time - didn't go so well. While the systems may be different - WoTC would be competing with itself for marketshare of the fantasy setting.I've always seen the various whitewolf products as different supplements and facets of the same world - while not fully compatible (until, in theory, recently) they play off each other and use the same system. I think this actually argues against your point - If Whitewold had released totally different systems for each facet it would have been worse.I guess I just don't see 4e as "different enough" from a fantasy perspective - it would be like releasing cars that look way too similar or soft drinks that taste barely different (maybe the ingrediants are different but if they combine similarly, who cares?) The question becomes what would they differentiate 4e to, they would have to completely rejiger the system to a very different bend or again, compete with themselves? Being unfocused here would cost them a ton of money.The rollout was a disaster even with the full force of D&D behind it, I can't help but think it would be infinetely worse if they did not have the D&D backing. I suppose you can say it was disaster because they were so busy running from 3e, but really that was just part of it, they needed a better marketing strategy from day one. And again, I think it would have been that much worse if they couldn't attach D&D to it (saying "from the makers of D&D" can also attach unwanted baggage "I already have D&D for fantasy, why do I need a foreign system?")just some thoughts.</blockquote>

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