Explain the gain for WotC? They were getting support, info they put into their books, and an ever increasing support source for new players. As far as I can tell they will produce some of the content on their site. If they charge for it they could gain that money, but won't they lose the Dungeon/Dragon faithful, and won't they now compete with a company that has supplied some of their best authors (I love Wolfgang's work on EttDP)? I've read the WotC post on this (which could have been informative, but was instead spin), and I still don't understand. What is the gain for WotC on this action?
I'm guessing a percieved gain by consolidating all D&D official material under their roof and an attempt to quash competition. Of course, that's all bullshit and they're a bunch of idiotic f#!~ers, but I think that's their reasoning.
Or maybe Satan told them to do it. Anyone want to say "WotC isn't evil" now?
They must perceive a profit financially. They are a company after all, as is Paizo. Both are working to keep their employees/owners/shareholders employed/profitable. The difference between companies usually is in how they approach keeping this employment/profit growth and the balance between the groups (employees, owners, shareholders). Also, how well they forsee what they can do to improve profits.
I personally like companies that have some emphasis on keeping their employees employed. It keep a more friendly, long term mindset. If profit dollars is all they think about, they forget that their customers are people too.
So WotC is doing what they think is best for them, their company, their shareholders. With a little logic, it should also be good for their future customers. If they do things right, their current customers will also be their future customers, but if they see a huge growth area by switching customer bases, they that isn't necessary true.
I, personally, am ready for a change. So I'm giving the Paizo products a try (pathfinder, gamemaster). The recent WotC products I've bought may have been an interesting read, but I just haven't been using them in game at all. I'm hoping Paizo's products will be different. Judging from the way Dungeon has improved over the last 5 years, going from a pretty good magazine to an excellent one, I've got not doubt I'll like them all.