D&D 5E The Final Announcement from The Descent Live Stream: Eberron Hardcover

a.everett1287 · May 20, 2019

Parmandur said:
22 pages out of 175 is not 70%.

I mean, that just depends on your concept of 'math.'

Because really, who are we to assign value to arbitrary scribbling that we have just decided to call 'numbers.'

Parmandur · May 20, 2019

Abstruse said:
How can you say what the crossover between the two books is when the above article is literally all the information we have? Like, do you think I'd post an article that's just one sentence of "We're getting Eberron in hardback" if there was more to report? We don't know how much of Wayfarer's Guide is going to show up in the hardback. It could be none of it is repeated, it could be just a general re-write and republishing of the exact same material We don't know.

And the not-knowing is part of the problem with the announcement. If they'd ended the stream with "We're doing a hardcover of Literally Any Campaign Setting Other Than Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Ravnica, or Eberron!" we wouldn't be having this discussion because any other setting hasn't already been profiled in 5e and WotC hasn't charged us money for it. It would just be fans of other settings upset their setting wasn't next in line for a 5e update or people wanting something entirely original.

But no, they decided their capstone announcement for The Descent, the massive three-day-long 2019 streaming evening announcing the rest of this year's books would end with..."Eberron hardcover" *micdrop* *cuttoblack* (And I'm only very, VERY mildly exaggerating on that. Solely because Nathan Stewart did not, in fact, drop his mic. The rest is pretty accurate.)

The point is they have told us nothing other than "Eberron hardcover" and any backlash for people who feel cheated for having spent $20 on Wayfarer's Guide to Eberron at this point in time are pretty justified in being upset.

Mike Mearls tweeted about a "theoretical" hardcover the very day the Wayfarer's Guide was released: he said that their plan was to include the crunch (what they put through UA) but to not repeat any more than that, and make something Eberron fans would be happy with owning both. So, 22/175 of the Wayfarer's Guide is likely to be repeated, but is free already anyways. I listen to what they say.

Von Ether · May 20, 2019

CapnZapp said:
So here it The idea they would give us a whole new setting out of nowhere simply isn't the business WotC is in any longer.

Talk about milking the customer base.

Since they confirmed that tactic cannibalised TSR's fan base, no. (Same thing happened to Deadlands as well.)

The ONLY reason Eberron even exists is because Hasbro sold the video game rights (the real cash cow at the time) out from under the WotC CEO without telling him. (Which eventually lead to his departure.)

Otherwise it's been FR and previous settings until lately with the MtG stuff.

The newer spin has been setting/genre with Eberron and pulp/noir and now Descent as post apoc.

Azzy · May 20, 2019

Eirikrautha said:
Wow. OK, this will be the first year since 5e released that I haven't bought any D&D products. Maybe next year...

If it makes you feel any better, I haven't purchased any of the adventures or Ravnica.

D1Tremere · May 20, 2019

Just thought I would add my opinion to the mix.
I am very HAPPY! I love the way WotC is producing their books right now, and will be buying the Eberron book for sure (As someone who also bought WGtE).
I honestly do not care what they put out next (though I am like most people hoping for Spelljammer at some point), because I love their line so far.

Barantor · May 20, 2019

I'm not bothered by the book they announced, good for Eberron folks.

I dislike that it was built up a bit and many thought it was something new, they even prefaced it with "not spelljammer" before they said it.

To me, with all the information already shown in these posts, Eberron was likely to happen, that isn't 'new'.
I was hoping for something new, kinda disappointed, but at least Saltmarsh looks cool.

Mr. Wilson · May 20, 2019

Woot!

Hopefully they bring in Keith.

Dire Bare · May 20, 2019

DMZ2112 said:
And yet, until yesterday morning, it was going to be either Planescape or Greyhawk. I even heard some Spelljammer expectations, because of the "clear link" from Saltmarsh's nautical content.

I guess I could have been clearer with my criticism, but I thought the tinfoil hat reference was plain enough.
What I was trying to say is that despite what a large portion of the community seems to believe, WotC doesn't drop hints. They tell us what they are going to do, and then they do it, while certain employees muddy the water to keep the hype level high.

I think you and I live on different planets. WotC most certainly has been dropping all sorts of hints and teases regarding Planescape, Greyhawk, Spelljammer, and Eberron. Some fans have taken those teases and ran into some strange territory with them.

It was never "clear" that the 2019 setting book was going to be any setting until the final announcement dropped at the end of the stream Sunday. There were lots of folks making assumptions and weak "fan theories" about what the book would be, but anyone getting mad over hints, teases, and fan expectations needs to do some self-evaluation.

This year we're getting Eberron, which was hinted and teased along with all of the other settings. We are also getting something planar, "Descent into Avernus", if not actually Planescape. We are likely to get something for Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer down the road at some point, but that doesn't mean a full setting hardcover for any of those settings (although, we might get just that).

There are no lies, no broken promises, no "muddying the waters" . . . just fan assumptions that were weak and didn't pan out.

I realize this is contentious (for some insane reason), but Ravnica is original to D&D, no matter what their spin engine claims (or what the fans are willing to white knight).

"Spin engine"?!?! Jeesh. I'm not really sure what you are saying here, but Ravnica is not original to D&D. It is a setting, or plane, for the Magic: The Gathering card game, probably their most popular setting for Magic. The setting book we just got adapts Ravnica to D&D, which, is awesome.

Dire Bare · May 20, 2019

[SARCASM]Why did WotC choose to go with somebody else's favorite setting and not mine? WHY GOD WHY!!!

Clearly, they should have known that MY favorite setting is the only choice that matters! What's wrong with them!?![/SARCASM]

Soooo tired of the constant sour grapes in D&D fandom. Eberron not your cuppa tea? That's OK. Stop whining and don't purchase the book. WotC hasn't decided to publish the specific book you want yet? Oh well, we don't always get what we want.

dave2008 · May 20, 2019

Jester David said:
They've fixed some typos.
What changes have they made to the races and dragon marks?

No idea, did they say they would? I know there was mention of the artificer being updated and that hasn't happend yet, but it is in the works. So a fair guess is that other updates are in the works too.