<- Sucker

[Korgoth]

I want to be a fan boy. I really do. So why do they make it so darn hard?! <--- Rhetorical quesiton, I know.

It actually turns out that it's all an evil behavioral experiment studying Pavlovian consumerism. The next D&D boxed set will actually contain hungry, rabid weasels that will leap out and attack you when you open it. Oh, and a character sheet.

 

[Echohawk]

The next D&D boxed set will actually contain hungry, rabid weasels that will leap out and attack you when you open it. Oh, and a character sheet.

Oh great, I can just imagine all the fun I'm going to have getting that boxed set through customs

 

[HDTVDinner]

So, in an effort to catch up on my collection non-crunch 3.x products, I ordered a few of the Fantastic Locations map products. Mostly because I liked the Keep on the Shadowfell poster maps. Turns out, THEY ARE THE SAME RECYCLED MAPS! At least the ones from Dragondown Grotto are.

I know, I could have saved myself the heartache by having previewed the maps on the galleries or something. Lesson learned and I place this here as a warning to others

So they are exactly the same and nothing is in one and not the other?

 

[Voadam]

Humor

If they do, I wouldn't have any other option but to infer that WotC is having budget problems and they're cutting corners (perhaps Gleemax was siphoning more than anyone thought?).

Think creatively Shemeska, the possibilities are endless .

1 laziness. "I don't wanna make a new map, we already got perfectly fine ones right here on the web site."

2 Editorial screw up. "What was the map file name again?"

3 Sabotage! Pathfinder goblin ninjas hacked the WotC pdfs they sent to the printers. "We'll steal their children next!"

4 Secret continuity plan to link 4e to 3e and lure over recalcitrant 3e holdouts. "It will be eerily familiar and make it feel more like the D&D they know and love."

5 Malice. They don't like their 3e customers. "Anyone who has 3e maps deserves to be snubbed for not having gotten rid of all 3e material in preparation for 4e."

 

[Ulrick]

So, in an effort to catch up on my collection non-crunch 3.x products, I ordered a few of the Fantastic Locations map products. Mostly because I liked the Keep on the Shadowfell poster maps. Turns out, THEY ARE THE SAME RECYCLED MAPS! At least the ones from Dragondown Grotto are.

I know, I could have saved myself the heartache by having previewed the maps on the galleries or something. Lesson learned and I place this here as a warning to others

You saved me some heartache, at least. I have all of those Fantastic Locations and was considering buying Keep on the Shadowfell. Now I won't. So thank you.

 

[Zaukrie]

Yeah, I own all the maps too. It's one reason I didn't buy KotS. I believe the KotS maps are free of the DDM specific markings, like start and exit areas. For $30, I wanted all new maps as part of the really high price.

If anyone wants a few more FL products, I have 3 unopened ones for $17.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

In an ironic twist, for the most recent pre-release tournament for the D&D miniatures game, they accidentally recycled the KotS map (i.e., without needed miniatures game rules info on it), instead of the one from Fantastic Locations!

 

[NiTessine]

So they are exactly the same and nothing is in one and not the other?

Specifically, two of the poster maps are recycled from the Fantastic Locations packs Dragondown Grotto (Dragondown Grotto/Forest Cliff Lair) and Fields of Ruin (King’s Road/Dungeon of Blood). Both packs still have one two-sided poster map that's not included in KotS and KotS has one brand new two-sided map as well.

 

[Dan Bell]

I was on the fence about this myself. Heck, if the free fan made downloads on www.lythia.com do not use secondhand maps I sort of feel like they should not have used the fantastic locations maps on such a key product. Oh well.