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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 5693163">I agree splats sell more. but I don't think they drive sales of the core material as much as other supplements might. In fact I have to wonder how much of a deterrent they are to new gamers. I can only imagine how confusing it is to see an array of hardcover books and wonder if you have to buy them all to play.  The problem with the reboot model is I think it gets tiring for the consumers. I can only speak for myself. But I was all excited when 3E first came out. When 3.5 I was a touch irked. And when they announced 4E I was pretty much shrugging my shoulders.   I agree that 4E being such a break was the big killer here. But I also think this tactic would eventually not have worked. The idea of having to restock my core D&D books every 3-4 years is something I don't have the energy for. I don't mind buying one edition and building on it over a long period of time, but I am just not interested in constantly buying new editions of D&D.   I think they know how to do basic market research too, but I really think they over estimated the value of feedback on their boards. I could be wrong, but it seems like everything discussed on their forum made it into 4E design consideration. I have no idea how much market research they actually did in the field (though I heard plenty of stories of them popping into game stores,e tc). However I don't think WOTC is quite at the level of say a major software company or colo corporation. I still think a lot of what the designers were seeing on the net impacted their design choices. To me it it looks like they were paying attention to places like the forge. And that they were actively producing a more "gamist" version of D&D. I could be completely wrong. I can't read their minds, but this has long been my impression.   I think there has to be a connection between flavor and crunch for most people. And I think you are right here, lots of people felt their was a disconnect between 4E mechanics and fluff. But I also think people genuinely want flavor that doesn't have anything to do with the mehcanics per se. I want a cool cosmology, I want interesting settings and cool NPCs. Much of that doesn't hinge on flavor. When flavor should intersect with mechanics, absolutely I want them to align properly.</blockquote>

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