Of 4e Sales, Ryan Dancy, and the End of D&D as we Know it

I caught wind of Ryan Dancy's recent article over at ENWorld from JoeTheLawyer.

It's a very interesting read to say the least. 

Among the things he says Dancy states that, according to his industry sources, Pathfinder is outselling 4e.

Paizo couldn’t exist without the OGL and the D20 System Reference Document. And according to my industry sources, it’s outselling Dungeons & Dragons a feat (no pun intended) I would have considered almost impossible 10 years ago.

Pretty staggering no matter how you feel about 4e.  To think that ANY fantasy roleplaying game would outsell Dungeons and Dragons is mind blowing.  

He went on to say,

Three years ago I told people that it didn't matter if 4e was successful or not, because it was likely to be the last version of D&D that would be based on paper based tabletop gaming. I've seen nothing so far that changes my opinion about that.

To think that 4e would be the last version of D&D to be printed on paper is a little shocking.  Yes, PDFs have seen a mediocrity rise over the last ten years, but to think that people won't buy books any more...  

Guess I should get an ipad or one of those new ripoffs. 

Obviously D&D is changing, but what will it change into, will it be reconizable, and will it be something the majority of us enjoy? 

Those are the questions WotC and other industry leaders will have to answer in the coming years.