What started this whole thread came out of the Yugoloth thread. In the Yugoloth thread, someone mentioned that it might be a cool idea if Yugoloth served gods. Not that they have to or anything like that. Just a thought. Shemeska immediately stated that this would be impossible because Yugoloth hate gods. The entire idea is shot down, not because the idea is bad or not interesting, but because it contradicts Planescape canon.
Canon which does not exist in any other setting other than Planescape.
I called this sort of reaction "hysterical" because it not only overstates what's happening, but does so to such a degree that it's difficult to take seriously.
What happened was that, on another thread, one person posted an idea, and another person debated it. Shemeska didn't attack the other poster, he didn't say that it was an inherently bad idea, he just personally disagreed with it, and noted why he did so (e.g. adherence to prior materials). That was that; a civil, rational exchange of ideas on a topic, which is sort of the point of having these threads in the first place.
Now comes Hussar, loudly bemoaning the "oppression" of a whole range of ideas by these PS-loving fanatics, "shooting down" ideas as though they have some sort of thought-control powers.
And this is hardly the first time I've seen this sort of thing. Any time any discussion of planar elements comes up, the PS fans jump up and down that any change must first be vetted to be PS compatible.
There's a hypocritical element in this, as for the last several years I've seen you jump into any thread where someone expressed a critique or other negative opinion of Fourth Edition, and proceed to derail the thread by telling them exactly why they're wrong and 4E is the best version of D&D ever to come out. You're a practitioner of the very same "chilling effect" you claim (incorrectly) to be receiving from others now.
No other setting ever gets to have that level of control over core elements in D&D. And I have no idea why PS fans get away with it. Why do the rest of us, who have zero interest in PS lore have to follow PS canon in publications which are not set in Planescape?
According to your own poll, "the rest of us" constitute a minority. So there's that.
If I want to add the idea of god serving Yugoloths into the game, that should be discussed on its own merits. Not shot down simply because it counters something in a book that only applies to one setting.
As mentioned previously, the canon is part of the issue of merits that can be discussed in relation to an idea. Likewise, disliking or otherwise disagreeing with an idea is not "shooting it down."
THAT'S my point for this thread. Trying to paint me as some hysterical PS hater isn't true. I don't like Planescape, but, then again, I would argue for any setting having this sort of authority over core. I didn't rail against 4e changes, because the 4e changes were interesting.
As Imaro said, this is incredibly hypocritical - you're against changes being imposed onto the Core, and every other setting...unless they're interesting the way the 4E changes were (and those were everywhere; just look at the Primordials in Dark Sun).
Heck, Yugoloths hating gods might be every bit as interesting as yugoloths serving gods. My beef is that the discussion gets shut down, not because the ideas are bad, but because the keepers of the PS lore forbid any changes.
For the record, people who disagree with you are not "shutting down" anything. But if you want to see fewer people acting as some sort of thought-police over what's good for the game, I suggest starting a little closer to home.
