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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 3000376" data-attributes="member: 1457">I think anyone seeking an answer to this question should play in an RPGA game.They're basically 3-5 combat scenarios loosely connected by encounters determined by skill tests.For example:Encounter 1: guy approaches party and says "Take X to point Y". Test Sense Motive and Knowledge: Whatever to glean a couple bullet points of info about the upcoming fights.Encounter 2: While on the way to Y, encounter villains A. Regardless of how the players decide to get to Y, or how they react to the appearance of A, this encounter results in combat*.Encounter 3: See encounter 2.Encounter 4: Arrive at Y and deliver X. Encounter 5: Get ambushed/double crossed, and fight one more time.The end.This is *every* RPGA game, as it's explicitly designed to be run. Players yawn or fiddle with dice during boxed-text readings, waiting for the next time they can roll initiative and smash monsters with their super powers. The DMs--oops, wait, in the RPGA they are called "judges"--get blank stares from players if they try to roleplay. I've seen some players literally scream at a DM if he goes "off script" and improvises an NPC response other than what's specifically described in the adventure text.That's what DM-less D&D would become. Many thousands of people play it today, and many thousands of people enjoy it today--the people who WotC can count on to buy all the new minis and supplements. In other words, their most important customers.The guys who buy the three cores and no minis? Understandably, these guys just are not as important. It's debatable whether they're even playing the same game. The logical choice, the right choice for WotC is to cater to the RPGA crowd. The vast-but-non-revenue-generating horde of "three-corers" won't pay the bills.Unless, of course, WotC does something like move away from products and focus on services, such as a worldwide subscription-based online character storage/generator system. Then they'd be able to monetize even the three-corers indefinitely.-z* Sometimes you're given an either/or choice. For example, "do you go by boat? If so, you're attacked by sea elves. Or do you go by forest road? If so, you get attacked by wood elves."</blockquote>

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