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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Banshee16" data-source="post: 3289402" data-attributes="member: 7883">Maybe I didn't quite phrase my opinion on the matter clearly....I'm not saying that something like a 3.75, with collated rules, more core classes from some of the post 3.5 launch supplements etc. being included wouldn't be successful.  You may be right.  And given that I skipped paying for the 3.5 core books, by using the SRD instead, I might actually be tempted to buy copies of those 3.75 hard covers.  I might not agree with all the changes that 3.5 instituted....but I can admit that there were some good things, and more, at this point my original 3.0 launch core books are starting to get a little beaten anyways....so replacing them would not be a bad idea.I'm saying that a wholesale edition change...a 4.0 that changes everything again, and requires that not only do many gamers have to retrofit/convert 2nd Ed. stuff, but also now 3.0 and 3.5, and then are marketed 4.0 versions of books they just bought in 3.5, may not generate the success they anticipate.How old is the average player?  I seem to remember that it's more like 30 than 14.  If that's the case, that means that we've got an aging customer base in the industry.  It also might mean that the industry hasn't grown through the creation of new players, so much as it has through the "reawakening" of older players who might have stopped playing years ago.  I'm not going to make a prediction...I just think it's food for thought.  Because if it's generally the same group of players now that it was 20 years ago, with some new blood, then there's probably more players than they think, that are in their 30's, and have several editions worth of books....and probably have little desire to feel like they're being sold the same thing over and over, in decreasing time intervals.I've got two copies of Drow of the Underdark (2nd Ed.) and will likely buy the new one in 2007.  Plus I have Plot and Poison.  I know P&P and DotU 2E are both great books.  Who knows about the new one?  But at some point, I'm going to have to ask myself if I really *need* the newest one.  And the addition of 4E would only complicate matters.You've been knee-deep in the inner workings of the industry, whereas I obviously haven't.  So I see this as a debate, more than saying "Ryan Dancey is wrong".  That's not what I'm trying to say.  But I've been a pretty avid consumer for a good 16-17 years.  And despite some conventional wisdom which would say that as a kid, I bought more than I would as an adult, I think I've bought more 3E product in my 20's and early 30's than I ever did of 2nd Ed. because I've had far more disposable income.If there *is* a sizable proportion of the player base who are like me, I'm just not how sure how often they can continue to tap the player base for the same books.  Once every 10 years is one thing....once every 4 years is something very different.I wouldn't mind some clarified, errata'd, and expanded rules, integrating some of the best stuff created since 3.5 was launched.  But a new edition that invalidates everything else I've purchased, I'm not so sure of.Banshee</blockquote>

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