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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Glade Riven" data-source="post: 5428826" data-attributes="member: 86468">Like many companies, WotC is in the middle of a transition as the digital age is undermining business models that worked 5, 10, 20, even 40+ years when it comes to communications (print, TV, movies, etc). They have to find a way to expand a rather niche industry to increase profitability at the same time. These are untested, uncharted waters and chances are that WotC is going to have to pioneer this new business model in ways that are different than smaller companies. What has worked for Paizo would not work for WotC. Paizo is smaller, and smaller companies (theoretically) have an advantage in that it's easier to move a molehill than a mountain. So it isn't as easy for WotC to adapt quickly. WotC had a lot of lofty goals when 4e came out, when they restructured Dragon and Dungeon, and came up with DDI. Some of it has succeeded, some of it has not, leading to decent but not stellar results. In the end, the company fell short of the goals. Some of the reasons we know from observations. Some of the reasons we will never know because no company (rightly so) shows off their inner workings. Suffice to say, they've still made money, but the brand and the market doesn't seem to have really expanded in the way they wanted to. So the company is making adjustments. For right now, what appears to be happening is that WotC is focusing less on printed books that people keep complaining about buying and has started focusing on adding DDI content, through the use of weekly columns instead of just monthly updates. They're probably pulling copywriters and game designers from book production and shifting them to DDI because it is cheaper than hiring new people. What I predict is that WotC is going to continue to support 4e in this manner, while releasing more peripheral products under the brand (board games, for instance). This will continue as they work out a strategy and start executing a plan for "5e." We probably won't start seeing the results of that plan until 2-3 years down the line, because product development takes time. While I would prefer that "5e" be something more akin to SW:Saga in mechanics, the current trend for the company suggest that "5e" will be a hybrid between a board game and what we know as an RPG. The system will probably be significantly simplified compared to 3.5 & 4e, yet have additional modular systems for optional new mechanics. Instead of picking up a $30-$50 book, you'd be picking up a $30-$50 box sets, with some lower-end add-ons (probably with several price points under $20). Want to play a monk, but the class is not in core box? Pick up a booster pack with all the monk class rules, cards, tokens, etc - maybe even a collectable mini - for $7.95 or some such thing. Would I play it? Probably - I'd at least pick up the first box set to see how it works. Would it be D&D? Not as we know it. Could it make a profit? If done right, then yes - it can.</blockquote>

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