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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 6251309" data-attributes="member: 32740">It really doesn't matter which edition did what to the player base, or when, or why.  I think the subdivision was inevitable.  I think D&D had a longer run as the 800 lb gorilla than really should have been expected which I suspect derives largely from the fact that table RPG's is STILL such a niche hobby.  The hobby has grown; its player base expanded.  D&D has notable competition from other RPG's that have developed and primarily it faces the alternate versions of ITSELF, thanks to the radical changes found in different versions.No version of D&D was ever going to remain the RPG whose players outnumbered all other versions and RPG's combined.  Any thoughts that it would remain the gorilla, any thinking that it was possible for D&D to forever control and outweigh the rest of the market, certainly any thinking that it was actually better that we all be rounded back up under one constricting banner and turned back from our misguided wanderings to other RPG's and other versions, well I believe that's extremely short-sighted if not downright arrogant at this point.  I don't predict where these things are going to go anymore.  My crystal ball is as unreliable as the next guy.  I think the OP is correct, however, in that we're at an interesting crossroads and we're going to be seeing people moving down ever more distinctly different paths.</blockquote>