Why doesn't WotC license older editions?

[kitsune9]

Look to the simplest answer.

Competition.

You don't want older editions competing with your current flagship.

This sums up my response.

 

[Mistwell]

OK, what Necromancer cast Resurrect Dead Thread in here?

 

[Reynard]

OK, what Necromancer cast Resurrect Dead Thread in here?

Looks like a relatively new user who must have been reading deep in threads past. I think we should give him a pass before we start with the holy water.

 

[Hjorimir]

Is this thread vulnerable to radiant damage?

 

[Doug McCrae]

I think it's because no one would buy them. Or not enough to be profitable. Everyone who wants a copy of the 1e rules either already owns them or can easily acquire a second hand copy. If 3e was making decent money for WotC there would never have been a 4e.

 

[Minicol]

I think it's too late for WOTC to license older editions.

Smaller guys have already moved in, and have acted way too fast for the behemoth to follow. They'd have to compete with established names on the niche market, since their own IP is already committed to the current brand of D&D.

It would cause brand dilution for them, and waste resources.

Beseides, if anyone is NOT playing 4e now, it's probably for pretty serious taste reasons, such as writing style and fun of the product, and convincing them to change is not going to work overnight.

So, while they are doing their 4e stuff, let's have fun with our 3pp products.

Huzzah !!!

 

[Reynard]

If 3e was making decent money for WotC there would never have been a 4e.

I think the issue is that "decent money" has a different meaning when applied to a WotC owned by Hasbro than it did for an independent WotC.

I also find it interesting that you are implying that 4E was primarily a cash grab.

 

[qstor]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned OSRIC in the thread.

Mike

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Wow. I remember that thread. It began as "why doesn´t Wotc license an older edition i like" and turned into "let me prove to you that 4e fails on different levels." Let´s see how long it takes until the necroed thread goes down the same route.

 

[Mistwell]

Wow. I remember that thread. It began as "why doesn´t Wotc license an older edition i like" and turned into "let me prove to you that 4e fails on different levels." Let´s see how long it takes until the necroed thread goes down the same route.

Reynard already inferred someone else's comment about 4e being a cash grab. It's already begun.