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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6694917" data-attributes="member: 59082">Thanks for the reply. 3E seemed to have two crests, one in 2000-02 when the OGL was flourishing, and then one a bit later when 3.5 was at its peak (2004-05?) but before the bloat got out of hand (2006-07). Appelcline speaks highly of that earlier period because it was before 3.5 came out and the 3PP market crashed.But your comment also reminds me that for a lot of folks, 3.5 wasn't in decline when 4E was announced - which is one of the reasons people were so upset. It wasn't like in the late 80s when 1E desperately needed a make-over, or in the late 90s when D&D needed a re-do. But the reason for 4E seemed entirely financial - WotC was running on fumes from splat sales and needed an edition re-boot, at least to please Hasbro.I would love to see that - a 5E Unearthed Arcana or "Unchained" product that brought in all kinds of modular options. I personally wouldn't use much of them, but it would nice to see the possibilities of the 5E game explored and expanded further. I do think we will see this kind of product, but not for a couple years and it will probably be one or two books, well-considered and going for quality over quantity.I wouldn't say "less intriguing" but perhaps less marketable and consumable to a large audience. The translation of novel/movie fantasy and D&D fantasy has always been a bit iffy (like D&D nerds bagging on Gandalf for only being able to cast 1st and 2nd level spells).  And I think the kitchen sink aspect of D&D, while making for fun gaming, doesn't quite work for a fantasy movie (which is why a D&D fantasy movie might work better in a strongly thematic setting like Dark Sun or Eberron or even Krynn, rather than the Forgotten Realms, but I digress).Well what they seem to be doing differently this time around, at least so far, is slowing down the inevitable decline by expanding the game at a much slower rate. Which is one of the reasons I started this thread - it is hard to envision how 5E will peak and then fall. Dialing back to 2008-09, we could have had this conversation about 4E and even putting the Edition Wars aside, we could have predicted that the line would burn out. Now 4E fans would probably say that they didn't explore the edition as fully as they could have, but the point is that the torrential rate of book publication during those first few years of 4E--which was similar to the 3.5 out-put--can only be sustained for so long.We don't know what 2016 will bring, but I suspect we'll see a bit of an increase in product over 2015, which only saw two story arcs and one upcoming setting/player's guide. Let's say 2016 includes two story arcs, one setting book and one splat. If that becomes a standard yearly out-put, or even if it goes up to 2 story arcs and 2-4 other books a year, it will still stretch out the edition cycle quite a bit from 4E and 3.5...if WotC is more moderate in expectations for sales of the D&D line, which it seems that they are due to their much reduced staff and focus on the brand as a whole.In other words, one big difference from all previous editions is that D&D the RPG is no longer the main focus of money-making for D&D the brand. They seem to be looking at it as the heart and soul of the brand, but not relying on it to carry the income.</blockquote>

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