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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7176462" data-attributes="member: 29398">I'd hazard a guess that every non-CCG game out there that has been around since the 2e era has a smaller fraction of the market now than it did then.This also makes sense: the gamists had 4e, thus would be less likely to jumpt to a less-gamist 5e.  The rest of us, however, kinda sat out the 4e era...or diverted to Pathfinder.As for comparing with 3e and 3.5e (and I'm intentionally splitting those out), a repeat of the boom that happened when 3e came out was never likely for 5e.  3e, for all its flaws, just happened to be the right thing at the right time as D&D came out of a dark ages period called the late 2e era.  3.5e was more of a follow-on.Either way, when WotC even takes the most casual look and sees this:3e - successfulPF - successful4e - much less successfulOSR - successful (relative to anyone's expectations)It's not a big leap of logic to see where 5e is going to go.5e, as with any e, will probably suffer a long slow descent - which may or may not lead to its death - regardless; though I congratulate WotC on taking steps to give it legs (e.g. keeping bloat to a minimum, giving a sense of ownership to DMs by intentionally making it kitbashable, etc.).The only way I can refute that is by offering my own equally-unconvincing evidence, making this one a washout.Convention attendance overall seems to be doing just fine these days, and the RPG sections within them never seem to have much room at the table. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />This one's a red herring.  What matters is home play - those people who get together week after week or month after month and keep this train going.  And beyond anecdotal evidence and maybe sales figures, this one's hard to measure - and made even harder by there being enough 5e material (legally) online to play a basic game without buying anything at all.I batched these two together as they are related.  WotC have with 5e very intentionally taken a course of having fewer releases, but making each one significant.  Gone - thankfully! - are the days of endless splats and bookshelves full of niche products and side products (and, let's face it, junk that the FLGS has to almost give away just to get rid of it)...which of course means that less bookshelf space will be required for it in the store.  In fact, other than adventure modules and maybe a setting or two, what more releases does 5e even need?  Maybe an equivalent to 1e's Unearthed Arcana at some point, to scoop up all the rulings and errata and tweaks into one place?  Other than that... >shrug<Not sure if new blood in the forums is much of a measure, given as many people seem to be doing all their discussing on twitter and facebook and the like.  Online buzz in general, I can't really speak to.Lan-"role over, Beethoven"-efan</blockquote>

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