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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4685782" data-attributes="member: 467">I agree with much of what IR says, though the following is problematic for me:First of all, 4E seems absolutely nothing like Basic D&D to me. I have seen folks say this in the past and it just doesn't ring true. Basic was not "balanced" in any way that 4E is "balanced", if it was "balanced" at all. Nor did it make any attempt to define "fun" or obviate playstyles.  All the preceeding is, of course, opinion and YMMV.What is less debatable is the falsity of the assertion above that evolution leads to "simple superiority".  It doesn't.  It leads to (or, rather, results from) survivability in a particular environment.  If any version of D&D is "superior" it is AD&D, simply by virtue that it retains a relatively healthy following in an environment that is otherwise hostile to it: IOW, it has a high degree of survivability. 4E is far too young for us to know whether it possesses a high degree of survivability.  I, for one, don't think it does simply because the environment in which it spawned was/is a transitory one, as well as one directly manipulated by the "intelligent designers" (remember early on when we were all told how bad 3E was, before we were told how good 4E would be?).I don't mean to bring the focus too directly on 4E, but as the most recent evolutionary leap it is difficult not to. That said, I think there is ample niches for all these various species of D&D, and we will undoubtedly see more. Hackmaster is going through an edition change that will (if KenzerCo is to be believed) remove it in some ways from the core AD&D system while maintaining the AD&D play experience. If and when the GSL becomes a viable reality, we will watch 4E itself spawn offspring and some of those may survive as species unto their own. 3.x and variations of it aren't dead, either, and there's plenty of room for D&D to grow via d20 and the OGL -- and perhaps now more motivation than ever before (I wouldn't be surprised if we see an alternative to Pathfinder that hews more closely to both 3.0 and AD&D).In short, "D&D" as a genotype is very healthy and diverse.  What remains the question, though, is if any one form can thrive in the RPG market as it stands. 4E has had a good first year by all accounts, but will it last? Will Pathfinder truly take up the mantle of 3.x? Without its tie to the "old school classics" can Hackmaster grow? Will C&C weaken because of the loss of EGG and his creations? Are retro-clones simply a fad that will disappear as quietly as they came on the scene?</blockquote>

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