Whizbang Dustyboots said:
When C&C threatens to sell as much as 25 percent as D&D sells, then WotC should jump into it. Until then, no, not worth their time.
I don't agree with the comparison. We're talking about a stand alone product not a complete game line requiring supplements. It's more appropriate to compare its sales potential to that of a supplement like
Dragons of Faerûn or
Mysteries of Moonsea. Furthermore, consider the difference in cost of printing a 150+ page full color hardback (plus all the writing and development costs) to a 63 page black & white paperback, the development costs of which were paid for a long time ago.
The D&D Basic Game is as simple to learn and play as the classic basic D&D games. It makes a great gift for the young teenagers in your life..
I'm actually thinking in terms of adults that enjoy D&D but don't have the time it takes to play 3.x. The d20 Basic Game is more of a board game and feels like you're playing a demo version of 3.x. It just doesn't replicate the feel of B/X or OD&D very well.
We've made progress since then, and all you'd accomplish is splitting the market, which is what happened when AD&D and D&D were on the market together. Imagine WOTC trying to support two D&D lines now -- you'd lower sales (and therefore quality) for both.
I see them as completely different products appealing to different audiences. Hasbro sells
MtG and
Betrayal on the House on the Hill at the same time as they sell D&D 3.x. AD&D was split by its campaign settings and unique rules for each, not by B/X. B/X was a niche game even then--kids felt too self conscience to play something with 'Basic' in the name. They had to play the 'Advanced' game. Now those kids have matured, have families of their own and lots of demands on their time. As one grows older, rules lite tends to appeal more. High school/college kids and anyone with the time to play at least weekly will continue to seek out games such as 3.x.
Again, we are talking about a stand alone rules lite game. There's really no need to support it other than printing the 2 pamphlets.
The rulebooks and other books are still readily available enough via ebay and as pdfs for those who want to play with the older rules set.
Cook Moldvay and the original Mentzer booklets are not available (legally) as .pdfs. The original booklets can be found on eBay, but for a clean copy + shipping the price difference between a new printing (~$20-25?) is not that significant. Plus you are still talking about a 25 year old book that was of low quality when it was new. I purchased the Rules Cyclopedia .pdf --but they are of poor quality. Print them out and they are difficult to read.
I know I probably am underestimating reprinting costs and overestimating demand, I'm just throwing the idea out there.
