LogFAQs > #886630742

To be fair, once you manage to "perfect" a system, updates and new revised editions are honestly kind of a negative anyway. Especially if you're trying to "fix" something that isn't broken (see also, the New World of Darkness, a lot of people's opinions of 4e D&D, etc).

That being said, I have no real opinion on the quality of C&C because I've never played it. But having nearly 20 years of products being perfectly compatible with the rule set you buy today is a nice plus (as opposed to people constantly having to update or convert older D&D books or adventures to modern rules, because you're dealing with a half-dozen different conflicting systems), especially when it means your players won't immediately devolve into edition wars before a game, arguing over which version they'd prefer to play.

The real motivation behind most reworks and updates of systems isn't to make a better version of the system anyway, as much as it is to sell all new copies of the same old books to your older hardcore audience. Once a player owns the core rulebooks, they're no longer a source of income for you unless you keep putting out dozens (or hundreds) of splatbooks, "expanded/advanced systems", and "rules clarification" type books. But doing so tends to overcomplicate the game to the point where new players start being discouraged from playing, at which point you pare it all back, release a new edition, and start the entire cycle over again.

In D&D's case, the only real reason they came out with AD&D and 2e was to screw Gary Gygax out of money, and the reason they came out with 3e was because 2e had grown into a bloated confusing mess (and to push the d20 idea, in an attempt to grab control of the marketplace and public awareness back from White Wolf). 4e in turn was at least partly due to the fact that 3e and 3.5 had similarly grown bloated (especially once you factored in third party support books), but also as an attempt to claw at least a few new players out of the MMO market.

5e seems to be aiming at trying to maintain a balance between being simple enough to appeal to new players while referencing enough older material to appeal to oldschool gamers, and has been doing a good job of avoiding bloat, but WotC will almost certainly come out with a 6e version of the game eventually, because you can only drip-feed out so many setting books and adventure scenarios before people stop buying new books.


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"Wall of Text'D!" --- oldskoolplayr76
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