ArmoredSaint
First Post
Wow. I don't know where to begin. What a monumentally offensive, self-centered, and hubris-laden original post...
I'm in my early thirties and am just barely old enough to have cut my teeth on 1st edition AD&D, which is by far my favorite edition of the game. I suppose that I qualify as "old guard" by your standards.
They already tried it your way. They already tried to push the "old guard" aside--changed things, rejected long-standing traditions, and gave the finger to nostalgic appeal--in 4th edition and look what happened? The younger generation didn't buy it in great enough numbers to keep it afloat. I don't want to start an edition war, but that point is inarguable--if ignoring the tastes of the older crowd in favor of making the game fresh and new to cater to those of the Pokemon generation had worked out for the brand, we wouldn't be staring down the barrel of a new edition, now would we? Younger gamers have other options available to meet their needs--tabletop RPGs, CCGs, and MMORPGs--and a large number of them won't ever look in D&D's direction no matter how much the game tries to cater to their tastes.
No thanks. The "new guard" were given their chance and they dropped the ball. Fans of the newer fantasy fiction failed to support the brand in sufficient numbers to make aiming the game at their tastes a worthwhile endeavor. In the meantime, the Old School Renaissance happened. What was old is new again.
So, no--we won't go away. You've no right to tell us to do so, and no leg to stand on with the assertion that the new game ought to be aimed exclusively at the younger crowd who failed it the last time they got what they wanted. As others have said, it is bad business practice to deliberately alienate your long-standing loyal customer base in order to woo new customers. It didn't work with New Coke, and QED, it didn't work with D&D either.
May your complaints ever fall upon deaf ears.
I'm in my early thirties and am just barely old enough to have cut my teeth on 1st edition AD&D, which is by far my favorite edition of the game. I suppose that I qualify as "old guard" by your standards.
They already tried it your way. They already tried to push the "old guard" aside--changed things, rejected long-standing traditions, and gave the finger to nostalgic appeal--in 4th edition and look what happened? The younger generation didn't buy it in great enough numbers to keep it afloat. I don't want to start an edition war, but that point is inarguable--if ignoring the tastes of the older crowd in favor of making the game fresh and new to cater to those of the Pokemon generation had worked out for the brand, we wouldn't be staring down the barrel of a new edition, now would we? Younger gamers have other options available to meet their needs--tabletop RPGs, CCGs, and MMORPGs--and a large number of them won't ever look in D&D's direction no matter how much the game tries to cater to their tastes.
No thanks. The "new guard" were given their chance and they dropped the ball. Fans of the newer fantasy fiction failed to support the brand in sufficient numbers to make aiming the game at their tastes a worthwhile endeavor. In the meantime, the Old School Renaissance happened. What was old is new again.
So, no--we won't go away. You've no right to tell us to do so, and no leg to stand on with the assertion that the new game ought to be aimed exclusively at the younger crowd who failed it the last time they got what they wanted. As others have said, it is bad business practice to deliberately alienate your long-standing loyal customer base in order to woo new customers. It didn't work with New Coke, and QED, it didn't work with D&D either.
May your complaints ever fall upon deaf ears.