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<blockquote data-quote="Dungeoneer" data-source="post: 5468932" data-attributes="member: 91777">There's a reason that Hollywood churns out endless sequels, every fantasy book is &quot;the first in a seventeen part series!&quot; and we're up to XIII in the Final Fantasy games: brand recognition sells.&nbsp; For better or worse sequels generally outperform the originals.&nbsp; Building a recognizable new property is hard.&nbsp; Even when the first outing is a breakout success, you typically still don't do the numbers of an established franchise.&nbsp; Establishing a new franchise or IP is tricky in any media, but tabletop RPGs aren't exactly setting the world on fire in 2010.&nbsp; Since 1974, there's really only one name in TRPGs that had made headlines, topped bestseller lists, and penetrated our cultural consciousness: Dungeons &amp; Dragons.&nbsp; The launch of Fourth Edition was a media event.&nbsp; It got covered in newspapers.&nbsp; Like, real newspapers.&nbsp; There was a lot of buzz.&nbsp; People recognize the brand like no other in the industry.&nbsp; Even at their best, Wizards of the Coast is never going to get that with a new property.&nbsp; And no, 'From the makers of D&amp;D...' isn't going to cut it.&nbsp; WotC has made other RPGs before now.&nbsp; They haven't exactly set the world on fire, though.&nbsp; Their CCGs have done well, but arguably those are different games entirely.D&amp;D was and remains the flagship of TRPGs.&nbsp; That's unlikely to change any time soon.&nbsp; The fact is that WotC's major efforts within our hobby going forward are always going to be billed as The Newest Update To Dungeons &amp; Dragons.4e is a good game, even if it's not your game.&nbsp; They could have slapped the D&amp;D name on a vastly inferior game, raked in piles of cash, and called it a day.&nbsp; They didn't.&nbsp; I think they deserve some credit for that.But the name D&amp;D is big, and 4e by any other name would not have smelled as sweet.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dungeoneer, post: 5468932, member: 91777"] There's a reason that Hollywood churns out endless sequels, every fantasy book is "the first in a seventeen part series!" and we're up to XIII in the Final Fantasy games: brand recognition sells. For better or worse sequels generally outperform the originals. Building a recognizable new property is [I]hard[/I]. Even when the first outing is a breakout success, you typically still don't do the numbers of an established franchise. Establishing a new franchise or IP is tricky in any media, but tabletop RPGs aren't exactly setting the world on fire in 2010. Since 1974, there's really only one name in TRPGs that had made headlines, topped bestseller lists, and penetrated our cultural consciousness: [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I]. The launch of Fourth Edition was a [I]media event[/I]. It got covered in newspapers. Like, real newspapers. There was a lot of buzz. People recognize the brand like no other in the industry. Even at their best, Wizards of the Coast is never going to get that with a new property. And no, 'From the makers of D&D...' isn't going to cut it. WotC has made other RPGs before now. They haven't exactly set the world on fire, though. Their CCGs have done well, but arguably those are different games entirely. D&D was and remains the flagship of TRPGs. That's unlikely to change any time soon. The fact is that WotC's major efforts within our hobby going forward are always going to be billed as The Newest Update To Dungeons & Dragons. 4e is a good game, even if it's not [I]your[/I] game. They could have slapped the D&D name on a vastly inferior game, raked in piles of cash, and called it a day. They didn't. I think they deserve some credit for that. But the name D&D is big, and 4e by any other name would not have smelled as sweet. [/QUOTE]

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