So why did you think it worked in the first place?
- Unlike the other D&D revisions, 3.5E flat-out stated that it was a 3.5E; since this didn't patronize the fanbase it didn't create as much resentment.
- 3.5E's reason for being was to fix things, or at least that's what the brain trust said. Since it didn't have the goal of making the game more accessible to new people or boosting sales, it made the fans feel like they were being listened to rather than abandoned.
- 3.5E came out after the mega-success of Neverwinter Nights; 3.5E came out right after that game caught fire, allowing it to catch potential D&D fans that 3.0E missed.
- 3.5E immediately came out with Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms products rather than let those campaign settings drift in limbo to help lube the fans.
- 3.5E slipped in unannounced with little fanfare; this happened quickly enough so that the fanbase wasn't able to build a resentment against the edition before it came out.
- 3.5E immediately released a flurry of sourcebooks which changed 'key' feats, prestige classes, etc.. So though the changes to the PHB and DMG were fairly minor, when the changes started to accumulate with the Complete series holdovers ended up switching anyway to jump on the Frenzied Berserker and Spellsword and such bandwagons.