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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 3471681" data-attributes="member: 9254">Amusing, but futile.  No significant number of gamers are going to boycott 4e for the simple fact that they will want to see 4e before they make a judgement.  I am personally expected to become a "d20" player (or whatever license-free name gets applied to R/SRD based games) after 4e comes out....but I'm still very likely to buy the 4e core books.This is/was a huge PR gaffe.  The worst part is that WotC has shown this is a consistent approach they take to handling the market.  Look at E-Tools/PCgen.  License canceled with finished product in the pipeline that could never be released.  Plus, there's no official replacement product even now, several months later.  Now they pull the license on D/D mags and again there is no replacement product.  I understand the logic: if the competing products are dead long enough, the general public will be so eager to see something official that they'll hail the e-mag and online chargen as being "eagerly awaited."  The problem is that they've shot their existing client base in the foot.  The people who would use the electronic chargens were E-Tools/PCGen users and will still be somewhat disenchanted with WotC.  The people who are willing to shell out cash for steady streams of content (e.g. subscribers to Dungeon/Dragon) will likely be quite irked at WotC as well, since they were cut off for several months.  It's hard to say how many of these people will use the digital initiative because it all comes down to how many move on to other games or are thoroughly disenchanted.  WotC either expects these people will get over it and buy what they've got or that new users will replace them, indicating some kind of deep tie-in with 4e or DDM.  And they are probably right.  The facelessness of a corporation means  a house-cleaning and a new product launch can often reinvigorate the line.  I know i was highly dissatisfied with TSR during the "Player's Options" years but I came to the WotC fold.  It does mean that I probably won't buy many product lines that are licensed from WotC though, since I know that if the product turns out to be successful enough or provide some other marketing tie-in that  WotC is likely to cancel them and move them in-house with no support.Sorry 3rd parties, unless you get a 10-year contract WHasbrotC is just too likely to screw you.</blockquote>

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