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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shadzar" data-source="post: 5444273" data-attributes="member: 6667746">Not in the least, at least not to me. Tired also, would not be good for me to try to start a thread on it tonight either. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />I would assume since they made 3rd edition and the SRD/OGL, they have most of that they could copy and paste from the EPS files for anything made after 2000 and before 4th edition. It would have been foolish to destroy that because copying some description for later use isn't that big a deal.2nd edition AD&D was a large part already typed up from the books, so again a copy and paste from that work.1st edition start with the 2nd edition spells, then alter them to follow the proper format. So here would be a bit of work.Rules Cyclopedia shouold cover enough of older D&D editions, Not sure what was used or if acutal files are in WotC or HASBRO possession, but something must exist that oculd be copied and pasted. If not being black and white, scanning in and OCR wouldn't be too hard. Was that ever for sale in PDF format? That would mean a PDF to copy and paste from.I am not talking all material in existence, as that isn't what it takes to support. Technically if rules are turned off for the VTT, it will support older editions as well as other games, but not enough to make mass amounts of people to flood to DDi for it.Here is a server, here is older D&D with its databases, let's not let it crash and be down and POOF support for older editions and a reason for users of them to have a DDi account. With the retro-clone movement it woudl go a logn way for WotC to get some money from that jsut by having a seat at the table to offer up something for those players.TSR didnt have the advantage of the internet as exists now to tap the potential of supporting multiple editions. Maybe whet the whistle of older edition players if someone feels like it and add a new accessory every once in a while like a group of monster from a module or something. Still nothing new has to be made to support older editions as the plethora of plethora material exists enough for people to join.Remember the stated goal of GLEEMAX! was to have a place for all gamers. Well that failed miserably, do DDi took over to focus on D&D, but it is missing a chance to get money form people of older editions by not offering anything for them.While securely locked onto the WotC servers, well as secure as the 4th edition material is; this will also give them control over it to "stop the piracy", and be able to generate revenue for a database that just sits there and is checked for performance issues.In the short run the costs will be there, but at $10 per month or whatever the costs would dwindle if done smart to get the information form the places that require the least work to input into a database, or even have the database populate itself with a script to read the existing formats so a human doesn't have to copy and paste each thing.How much money are they making now on older editions? How much does $10 a month form those players generate?Money in LARGE amounts was wasted on GLEEMAX!, but older editions databases are not something that nobody has any idea what is, not is it something people didn't ask for. They jsut have to decide the best way to get the database built and filled, and decide if they are looking for quick return or if slow return is ok.Think once the VTT comes out, if it connects to a database to help show things; what advantage it would have to recapture older edition customers, if they could import things from an older edition database to play the game.We know the VTT is actually coming sometime in the next 10 years. We know MANY people have DDI accounts for the Rules Compendium and/or Character builder. So if 4th edition players have DDi accounts still for just Rules Compendium and the hope of a VTT, What is to say older edition players wouldn't do the same if the edition in questions had a Rules Compendium?</blockquote>

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