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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Erratic K" data-source="post: 1247553" data-attributes="member: 14360">I think there is some balkanization of the RPG industry.  I think that 3.5E causes some factionalization of the D20 consumer audience.   There was a certain uniting or banding together of RPG players when 3E came out.  It attracted new players, won back some old players, and probably converted some players of other systems.  Now with 3.5E, some players move to 3.5E, some stay with 3.0E, some probably went back to other systems.   Here are a couple reasons I think this happened:1) Some players are happy with 3E2) Some are unwilling to pay price of entry to 3.5E3) Some are unwilling to marginalize their investment (if they move to 3.5 their old material is useless or they fear they will enter a constant upgrade cycle similar to the software industry)4) After 3 years of experience with the 3.X system, some players are moving to other systems (this is a small group from what I've seen selling in games stores), some are returning, some are new RPGers experimenting5) Some move happily to 3.5The d20 movement was a dominant RPG industry trend but the 3.5E switch broke some of the momentum.  I also think the glut of d20 products has changed the retail landscape (and to a different extent the gaming landscape).  The retail landscape is release oriented now.  Not much restocking and tons of new release fever (this is always true in retail, but seems more intense right now- I wonder if this opinion is upheld by the recent number of products that went into a second or third print run compared with previous years).I realize that d20 is not the whole RPG industry, but it is such a large part right now that any break down of the RPG industry should at least consider d20 type games.  I think there will be one of two paths ahead: either a slow cooling (like when D&D has fragmented before), or some new "hot" trend will eat into the RPG pie, like CCGs did in the 90's (or perhaps an RPG trend will eat into the d20 pie but for the short term, I doubt it).  It is part of the boom and bust cycle, the boom was ~2000 to now.  It is possible some new RPG industry element will spark some kind of fire, but I think not until after the fields lay fallow for a while. -EMe, I'm gonna continue gaming and having fun.</blockquote>

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