Why did we really do 2.0? Here is the unvarnished truth.
When we did Dragon Storm/Kanchaka, way back in 1996, the game played quick and easy. Characters maxed out at nine things. That is what I call the "Classic" Era. As the distributors “thinned out” in 96-98 they decided to look elsewhere for new game ideas and we lost distribution. We shrank to a cottage industry and began to struggle.
In 99' we began the "Deluxe" Era. We struggled to keep DS alive. It sucked up cash faster than it made it. We had to focus on other fields to make the extra money. We produced the Deluxe cards. Many great ideas were added to the game, but the "Classic" rules binding the ideas were not flexible enough and the games slowed to a crawl as characters got to do 15 "things", or more a round, and got another batch from Familiars. Mistakes were made, I think it was Mocha's fault. Despite the much appreciated support and efforts of our hardcore fans, we continued to shed players faster than we gained them.
When we watched a game being played at a Con and a player started his turn, we saw an amazing thing. Two players got up saying "we are going to go get food, we will have time while he does all his stuff." We knew right then we had two choices. Abandon the game or make new rules.
We like this world of Sue's, and we are stubborn. The result is DS 2.0. It is a blend of Classic DS and the lessons we learned over the years.
We realize that combining the Classic cards with the 2.0 rules can be awkward at times, but we decided that people had invested in the game and we determined to preserve as much of that investment as we could. DS players are flexible, and our GM's are good. We knew they could deal with some card anomalies using 3.4, so we kept the old cards, and pushed onward.
By late this fall we will have all of the Core cards for 2.0 done. At that point we can start doing all of the neat extra cards, races, books, and esoteric schools of magic as we go through the next 15 years.
As far as sales, 2.0 immediately doubled our sales, brought old players back, and is standing on its own. Certainly there are some upset players, but we had no other choice, and we are happy with 2.0. It is not perfect, but what is? We have 3.4 and you guys to deal with the new anomalies.
Mark