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

[Micah Sweet]

I don't think they need to support older editions, but if they did support another edition, i would want that to be 4th edition.

Me too. I've got all I could want in people making stuff for other editions, but the 4e people deserve some love.

 

[Umbran]

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.

Yeah, but then they stop selling them. Those flavors are not generally supported for a long period of time. They will draw a few sales out of (perhaps morbid) curiosity, but aren't going to be part of the long-term lineup.

The moral equivalents of this are, say, Fantasy Flight Games reprinting the old West End d6 Star Wars for the 30th Anniversary, or the recent D&D Spelljammer product. These are tastes of something that aren't getting long-term, persisting support.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Supporting multiple editions would make business sense if there was a significant pool of gamers out there who are playing versions of "D&D" that aren't published by WotC. The reality is that WotC is already selling to the vast majority of their potential customers. There might be a small number of Pathfinder and OSR players they could reel in with targeted products, but I doubt it would be worth the effort.

 

[bmfrosty]

My long-time D&D group is almost exactly the same. We stuck with AD&D, skipped 2E, 3E, 3.5, and jumped on both 4E and 5E. But we've since jumped ship to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.

Gongfarmers Unite!

 

[Azzy]

Another thing to consider is that having multiple, incompatible, product likes named Dungeons & Dragons (regardless of how they delineate and brand the different editions) will cause general confusion ("Why is this D&D book not compatible with these other D&D books?").

 

[ninjayeti]

All of those people worried that WotC's dominance of the RPG industry was bad for the hobby must feel pretty silly right about now. Turns out the problem is that WotC isn't dominant enough.

My question is why stop with just other versions of D&D? Remember what Paizo did to WotC under the OGL with Pathfinder? Two can play at that game - say hello to the ORC licensed Dungeons & Dragons (Powered by PF2 Edition).

 

[bmfrosty]

Supporting multiple editions would make business sense if there was a significant pool of gamers out there who are playing versions of "D&D" that aren't published by WotC. The reality is that WotC is already selling to the vast majority of their potential customers. There might be a small number of Pathfinder and OSR players they could reel in with targeted products, but I doubt it would be worth the effort.

I don't have a ton of data to prove that there are people are sticking with Pathfinder in pretty big groups. There are definitely people that are backing big kickstarters by tiny companies that are making games compatible with TSR's math. I think the difference is that one is called D&D and the other isn't.

 

[bmfrosty]

All of those people worried that WotC's dominance of the RPG industry was bad for the hobby must feel pretty silly right about now. Turns out the problem is that WotC isn't dominant enough.

My question is why stop with just other versions of D&D? Remember what Paizo did to WotC under the OGL with Pathfinder? Two can play at that game - say hello to the ORC licensed Dungeons & Dragons (Powered by PF2 Edition).

One is called D&D and one isn't - that's where the difference is.

Daniel Proctor is doing a new revision of Labyrinth Lord and I'd definitely play that over B/X, but if I'm talking about it, I need to end up calling it D&D, or someone is most likely to wonder what the hell Labyrinth Lord is. Same exact note goes for Pathfinder. If I have to explain that it's relabeled D&D then the conversation is about that.

D&D is synonymous with Fantasy Role Playing. It's the Kleenex of facial tissue.

Once I get into discussing the difference between different editions and OSR and NuOSR and Retroclones and everything else, it's all about preferences in how you play Fantasy Role Playing games.

 

[Morrus]

Yup, there are thousands of other TTRPGs to play. Maybe try playing one of those. WotC doesn't have to do everything.

 

[Zardnaar]

Bad idea for all the previous reasons mentioned.

The occasional one off special though would be good to see though. Eg a new AD&D (or whatever) adventure sold as collectors items. PDFs for the Hoi Polloi.