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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 4922244" data-attributes="member: 59506">I draw the following conclusions from the poll at this time (and even though it shouldn't need to be stated, these are entirely my opinion):<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The number one thing that would bring people back as customers (not as fans of 4E, but as paying customers, which is all that WotC should really care about) is return to selling pdf's of WotC's products (or at the very least, pdf's of older edtion products). I don't know how many people have stopped being WotC customers over this one issue (since the poll is just a small sample), but it seems to me that it's substantiave enough that WotC could expect to see a noticable increase in book sales and DDI subscriptions if they did this one thing. It still seems to me that the pdf decision was an absolute lose-lose for WotC and WotC's customers. The only people it didn't hurt were pdf pirates. I'd bet that if this was the only thing addressed and pdf sales resumed, and the rest completely ignored, most of the people that stopped buying new products, even if they didn't "play" 4E, would come back.  (Test of this <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/264697-former-wizards-coast-customers-would-resuming-pdf-sales-bring-you-back.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Those that say "Nothing can bring you back", are the second largest group/factor. But, since there's nothing that can be done about it, it would seem to be futile to expend effort or resources on this. Unfortunately, at least according to their statements, this door has been shut forever.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /></li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The third largest factor, only slightly behind the pdf issue, is "Apologize and atone for their sins". (I just love the way that was worded, sounds so grievous and formal.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />) As I said earlier, I'm betting that as important as this is to many (me included), if WotC started selling pdf's again, and never made a public apology or statement, most would start buying WotC products again (at least I would<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/blush.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":blush:" title="Blush    :blush:" data-shortname=":blush:" />). However, the longer it takes to start offering electronic versions of older edition material (and to a slightly lesser extent, current edition material), the less likely people will be to "come back". It's just human nature. Do without something for long enough, and you start wondering why you ever wanted it in the first place. Apathy in your target, even the fringe of your target group, is probably not a good thing.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The fourth factor, also fairly close in numbers to the first three, is "Release 5E (assuming you like the changes)". Of course, this makes the assumption that one likes the changes, which for WotC would probably just be the same as when they released 4E. Some are going to like it, some aren't. Quite honestly, I think WotC would probably lose as many 4E fans as they would pick up fans of older editions - or possibly lose more than they pick up. I wonder if numbers would show a steady decline in overall customers whith each new edition or not - or just random popularity? Anyways, for as many people as want this, this probably holds no real benefit for WotC (at least until, or if, 4E runs it's course). The above reasons, and the type of model WotC is using for product development and sales, probably precludes a 4.5E also</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Fifth factor is, "Go OGL". Although I know WotC will never do this, and I understand why they made the GSL (I just don't agree with the reasons), it's a real shame they didn't maintain the "Open" culture that was adopted with 3E. The RPG world really expanded and became so much more interesting and diverse because of the OGL. Hopefully that never goes away. But I think an incredible opportunity to expand that even more was lost with the GSL.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The sixth leading factor is, "Publish more older edition material in parallel with 4E". Although I didn't select this, and didn't say anything about it in my post about my choices, I truly wonder why this isn't done? Dungeon magazine used to contain adventures from many different systems and editions, even up into the early days of 3E. I remember issues that had adventures for AD&D, 3E, and Alternity, all side-by-side - living in harmony within Dungeon's pages. When and Why did this change? Dragon used to have articles for multiple systems and editions also. I really loved the versatility and diversity both magazines had. It does seem as though something was lost when this changed. (I know that, technically, any material is adaptable to any edition, but not everyone is capable of doing this - I am, but many aren't.)</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The rest of the factors, although not unimportant, seem to be of a low enough percentage that they are probably not as prominent in peoples thinking, and probably don't have enough benefit-to-cost ratio to be worthwhile to WotC. And some, such as "Publish a setting, class, or rule subset you feel is missing", or "Publish 4E-compatible variants (Unearthed Arcana style)", may just take care of themselves in time. The former by WotC as they put out new material, the latter by 3pp's (maybe).</li> </ul>If I had to draw just one conlusion, or choose one thing WotC could do to increase their customer base and sales, it would be to bring back pdf's (or some electronic format) ASAP. Seems to be a no brainer.<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/erm.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":erm:" title="Erm    :erm:" data-shortname=":erm:" /></blockquote>

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