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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DreadPirateMurphy" data-source="post: 4966558" data-attributes="member: 20715">So, this is the real point of this thread, since your premise states you are already rich.  You're asking the question, "What will D&D look like in 30+ years?"  Then you're adding the twist that the current gaming environment does not exist -- no CCGs, no sophisticated video games, no plethora of products from 30 years of gaming still available on the Internet and in used bookstores, and no third-party D&D materials available.We can speculate.1)  The original growth of the hobby was via word-of-mouth, particularly among wargamers and fantasy fans.  Dropping a bunch of 4E product into that environment is likely to engender stunned disbelief and confusion.  Imagine the initial reaction:  "What is the 'Internet'?"  "Who would pay $29.95 for a book like this?"  "What's Wizards of the Coast, and why are all of these trademarks listed as being for the 21st century?"  Since this would undoubtedly cause massive disruption, let us assume that you somehow obfuscate anything that references modern times explicitly...otherwise, you'll end up in a holding cell in a Third World country while unpleasant men who wear sunglasses indoors ask you...questions...2)  You would immediately have people copying the work and adapting it.  First, the lack of history to the hobby means that people are likely to reinvent all of the other ways to do the things D&D does.  There is no body of evidence yet in existence back then to suggest that an armor class system where 0 means unprotected is better than one where 10 means unprotected, right?  Second, the understanding of copyright law by participants in the hobby back then was slightly lacking...3)  Eventually, the market would settle down into a dominant player (whoever owns the D&D rights), and a bunch of smaller competitors.  The company names might not be GDW, or White Wolf, or Palladium, or Steve Jackson Games...and the game systems might look slightly different because of the inspiration from the "future version."  Some would undoubtedly even look like the non-existant (in this timeline) earlier versions of D&D as a way to differentiate themselves.4)  By the year 2009, you are going to have a market with one dominant company and a bunch of smaller ones.  (Nothing about 4E would have driven D&D mainstream -- it is a complex and slightly pricey hobby under any conditions.)  There will be a wide mix of products using different systems.  The 4E mechanics will be called "old school," and true grognards will refuse to play any other edition.  Some systems will be classless, while others will use dice pools.  In short, it will look very much like it does today, but the names will be changed to protect the guilty.Admittedly, this seems like a long winded way to say, "no change."  I think that there is a fallacy in your premise -- that evolution of a product line is going to lead to automatic improvement of a system over time.  Fans today don't all agree that D&D is the best system, or that 4E is the best version of that system.  We wouldn't have to ban edition wars threads if that weren't true.  It's a matter of opinion.  Given market forces, you're going to have a lot of the older ideas still get invented, and you'll have just as much variety.</blockquote>

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