WotC WotC can, and probably should support multiple editions of D&D.

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's not a Hasbro thing, that's an every corporation thing! I'd be absolutely shocked if Purina or Nabisco (both subsidiaries of major conglomerates) thought past quarterly profits. That's that nature of being traded on the stock market.

True, it's legacy brands -- and I forgot about the toiletries and vitamin industries! -- that dominate store shelves this way. It's unlikely they'd get to that level again if they were starting in the current economic environment.

(Which is a reminder that "oh, that's just capitalism" ignores that capitalism has changed quite a bit over the decades and is not based on universal, unchanging practices or, more importantly, regulations.)

 

[Oofta]

There is no way we're going to have 3 versions of D&D. Theoretically they could have something completely different like a Star Wars RPG, just not sure there's enough demand for even that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For all that, Frito Lay doesn't have a multiple new flavors out on the shelves every month.

Doritos and Oreos certainly do. In fact, that appears to be a large part of their business model now. Coca-Cola -- far and away the most popular soda -- seems to be now actively trolling their customers by putting out shockingly bad (Forest Oracle levels of bad) new stunt flavors several times a year, which people buy anyway.

It is not something that the RPG industry has ever done historically, and probably requires a lot more money than the RPG industry is ever likely to be able to invest (the 5E team is almost certainly understaffed and they'd need staffers to support legacy brands as well, which seems impossible to imagine Hasbro ever doing), but it's not an impossibility. Just infinitely improbable.

 

[overgeeked]

Doritos and Oreos certainly do. In fact, that appears to be a large part of their business model now. Coca-Cola -- far and away the most popular soda -- seems to be now actively trolling their customers by putting out shockingly bad (Forest Oracle levels of bad) new stunt flavors several times a year, which people buy anyway.

It is not something that the RPG industry has ever done historically, and probably requires a lot more money than the RPG industry is ever likely to be able to invest (the 5E team is almost certainly understaffed and they'd need staffers to support legacy brands as well, which seems impossible to imagine Hasbro every doing), but it's not an impossibility. Just infinitely improbable.

In the food isle analogy, the consumables would be modules.

 

[Retreater]

Exactly. Don't like this flavor of D&D, cool...here's another flavor you might like.

Beyond the Crystal Pepsi?
Sinister Secret of Salt and Vinegar? (Venger?)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In the food isle analogy, the consumables would be modules.

The auto industry also "competes with itself." Cars are purchases that often outlast a D&D edition.

 

[overgeeked]

True, it's legacy brands -- and I forgot about the toiletries and vitamin industries! -- that dominate store shelves this way. It's unlikely they'd get to that level again if they were starting in the current economic environment.

(Which is a reminder that "oh, that's just capitalism" ignores that capitalism has changed quite a bit over the decades and is not based on universal, unchanging practices or, more importantly, regulations.)

Well, sort of.

Maximize profits; minimize costs.

The only thing reining them in is the regulations you mention...when they're actually enforced. LOL.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sinister Secret of Salt and Vinegar? (Venger?)

The secret is that salt and vinegar chips are delicious.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, sort of.

Maximize profits; minimize costs.

The only thing reining them in is the regulations you mention...when they're actually enforced. LOL.

The regulations largely got chucked out the window starting in the 1980s, even outside the US, based on the widespread adoption of new regulatory theory. The reason things feel "different" nowadays with capitalism is because they are.

Just a response to the general comment of "it's just capitalism," which lets governmental regulatory and legislative bodies off the hook.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No way. They don't have enough designers for 5e work. It just isn't ever going to happen.

They have enough designers for the 5e work they actually want to do.

You're quite right though; they will never do this, because it wouldn't make them enough money for it to worth it to them.