Mourn said:
About as negative as they were on 2E, and as negative as TSR was on 1E and OD&D.
Yeah, the big thing now is that there's more to loose. I don't know for certain, but I'd wager pesos on the fact that 3e is doing better than 2e and 1e and OD&D did. When convincing the 2e folks that 3e was better, it didn't take much convincing: those who swore that it wasn't D&D anymore because, I dunno, they got rid of THAC0, were such an extremity that they didn't impact the reception of 3e that much.
Now, they face the challenge of increasing on a success. I'm willing to believe 3e isn't as strong as it was in '00, but I doubt that it's ceased turning a tidy profit for them.
I think they know this, too. That's why they're making a point of letting the world know about how easy it is and how much the DDI will let you play with your buddies all over the world. They want to grow outside of 3e's current audience.
I don't really blame the designers and developers for knocking 3e. Honestly, they've spent the better part of two years doing that in the office already, in trying to figure out how they want to make 4e better at doing some things that 3e kind of flailed at. They're (probably) justifiably proud, and believe that their additions are sincere improvements over an excellent, but flawed system. They're going to say "This is so much better!" because they're really intimate with the rules. For the rest of the world, it might only be marginally better, and perhaps "not better enough."
I'm noting that they're going to be a victim of their own success. As much as some people have noticed that high-level play is twisty, you have to factor in "How many people care enough about that to spend $90, and $30/month for the next 10 years?" There reaches a point where it's "Good Enough." Where another set of core books won't improve the flaws enough to be worth the money.
But I think the contingent of D&D fans who care more about the brand name than about the rules is very high, perhaps high enough that with those guys + the outliers that the changes are recruiting important enough for + the new blood, D&D doesn't need people that think that 3e is "good enough," just like they haven't needed members of any edition that thought those editions were "good enough." The worst they could do is make enough noise and division that someone who might get newly into 4e would be scared away because of the impression, which won't hurt D&D's core, though it might have an effect on how well the game can grow (and thus its' long-term ability).
That some people oppose any change isn't a surprise but I'm not sure if it qualifies as "a lot of critics" (Cadfan) vs just a vocal minority.
