Vanuslux
Explorer
This has gotten a bit off topic, but my original post was about imposing an apocalypse, about creating a post-apocalyptic situation in a setting/world where that had not been the case. This includes Star Wars following the Vong invasion, Dragon Lance in the Fifth Age, and Forgotten Realms 4E.
It is not about a setting always meant to be post-apocalyptic, such as Dark Sun and Exhalted, or some home game where it happens to the players.
I do not buy, for a moment, that breaking these setting and setting the bits on fire is anything less than an exercise in cruel vanity. I do not believe it is about discovery, unless vivisection is about science.
Okay, so this is limited to published settings then? You're basically stating that developers who make drastic changes to settings have no other motivation than to rape players of all previous joy they may have found in the setting, and couldn't possibly be a creative or marketing decision. It's all about the ruining the happy places of their customers because that gets them off.