D&D 5E WotC: Why Dark Sun Hasn't Been Revived

In an interview with YouTuber 'Bob the Worldbuilder', WotC's Kyle Brink explained why the classic Dark Sun setting has not yet seen light of day in the D&D 5E era.

I’ll be frank here, the Dark Sun setting is problematic in a lot of ways. And that’s the main reason we haven’t come back to it. We know it’s got a huge fan following and we have standards today that make it extraordinarily hard to be true to the source material and also meet our ethical and inclusion standards... We know there’s love out there for it and god we would love to make those people happy, and also we gotta be responsible.

You can listen to the clip here.

 

[gorice]

As a point of comparison, how were the problematic aspects of Dark Sun handled in its spiritual successor, Dragon Kings?

I never got around to picking this up, but I'd also love to know. It seems like no-one has actually read this book.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I never got around to picking this up, but I'd also love to know. It seems like no-one has actually read this book.

I dunno if it's the one, but there was one Dark Sun spiritual successor on KS which was going wildly out of its way to be MORE offensive/problematic than Dark Sun.

 

[nevin]

So there's a different between honest concern, and bad faith concern/concern trolling.

I'm pretty sure WotC is afraid of the latter, here. No-one sane or sensible is going to be mad about fantasy climate change or overthrowing fantasy dictators. But could Fox News or similar stir some nonsense about how "D&D has gone woke" (which, again, silly - it's like saying "Star Trek went woke", when it's like the original "woke" show lol)? Absolutely they could. Would be honestly meant or based on real concerns? Of course not! It would be based on trying to get viewers/clicks/"controversy".

Realistically I think the odds of that happening are extremely low. And even if it did, it'd be easily weathered. But WotC are terrified of any kind of controversy.

I agree. And the last couple of years have depleted thier stock of trust with the playerbase. Nothing that is any kind of risk is coming out for a long time after the few years of misteps.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Dragon Kings Kickstarter by Tim Brown.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1084491323/dragon-kings

 

[Frozen_Heart]

oof. Sad to hear that Dark Sun won't be coming back. It's definitely one of the more unique and interesting settings out there.

 

[Morrus]

this is ridiculous. the woke mob and worry about offending people is insane.

Oopsie daisy. Careless. Please review the rules you agreed to and leave the thread.

 

[Zaukrie]

There are a lot of decent free conversions out there. I agree, it's the.anti capitalist issue.....

 

[Zaukrie]

The problem is, I think WotC ends up in a losing situation regardless:
1) Many existing diehard fans will complain about any changes (and you just know there'll be a cavalcade of "WOKE!" rants).
2) Folks who don't read it thoroughly will complain that, exactly like you said, it promotes the bad thing.
3) Other folks will listen to both groups or either and avoid it as a result.

The potential for it to be an embarrassing sideshow is probably just too high.

This. There's very little upside for the risk. How much money could they even make off this setting? Also, every release in DS is a release they don't make in another setting. There is zero reason for them to release more DS content.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

See!

This is what happens when the community gets all hot and bothered and divided ...

over the psionics rules.

 

[Rhineglade]

Sounds like a great load of crap on the part of WotC in my opinion. It's OK to be respectful but frankly I don't need my little fantasy games to be preaching to me regarding social behavior.