I guess. As a big fan of sci-fi... I wouldn't bother. Just give me Spelljammer, and drop the pretense that you're trying to do a different genre with the same engine.
Well here's a question for you, then (and for anyone wanting to speculate). Assuming that "phase one" (2014-23) is covering the most important basics of D&D canon, where do you think they'll go with "phase two?" (2024 and beyond). That's ten years in, and presumably a lot of even the new folks will be starting to get itchy for "something different." Do they keep going as is, and hope that expanding out into more Magic settings and fleshing out the classic worlds, and maybe adding a new one every so often--not to potential cross-polination from TV and film--will be enough to maintain the high plateau indefinitely?
The reason I find this inquiry fascinating is that we're actually approaching uncharted waters. Not just the huge popularity in and of itself, but how it might impact the line and change the "edition cycle paradigm." With 1E, they cleaned up and organized with 2E about a decade in, and then expanded broadly with the "setting golden age" in the 90s. After the 3E to 3.5E quick revision, they had a very short run of just five years (2003-07) churning out product. With 4E...well, you know.
Meaning, change and the direction of the game was always guided by the edition cycle. 1E needed cleaning up, so we got 2E. 2E was thoroughly glutted and struggling, plus WotC wanted to revamp the whole game and put their stamp on it. 4E came about after 3.5E's glut, and wanting to appeal to a new generation. And 5E came about through the failure of 4E to bring D&D to a new level and gather that new generation.
But now they've accomplished that. We're seven years in and still rising. And they've done it without the normal treadmill of products. Assuming they keep rising for a bit
and find a very high plateau, D&D will be in new territory. How do they maintain that plateau?
One thing we have seen, as far as underlying patterns, is a slow increase in product, but a very measured one. After 2014, we saw three hardcovers for three years (2015-17), and then four hardcovers for the next three years (2018-20), and now presumably five hardcovers for the next three years (2021-23). Do they keep with that pattern, and go for six in 2024 and just play steady as she goes, expanding slowly with more product until they achieve glut and/or start declining?
At some point they'll have to do something...different. Maybe not in 2024, but I would think sometime shortly thereafter. "Different" might simply mean shifting the focus from the Realms and offering adventures in new worlds. Or it might mean a more meta approach, with neo-Planescape as a kind of cap-system that facilitates adventures in a variety of settings. Or maybe they focus on Magic settings. Or maybe, which is the hypothesis of this thread, they expand into science fiction.
I have no idea. I don't even assume that the SF approach is the one they'll take. In fact, I'd probably bet against it and think they'll remain focused on D&D. But I'm just thinking that, at some point, we'll see a shift of some kind, whether through expansion or a new approach.
But I ramble...
