Anyone Else Tired of The Tyranny of Novelty?

[TheSword]

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly. Particularly when it comes to D&D (and D&D-like) adventures.

There is a perception that every Adventure Path/Campaign needs to be unique, and cover completely new ground. Paizo is like this but so is 5e WOC. All the themes are totally unique and get more and more extreme as the go on. Consequently more and more distant from a base campaign setting. It starts with good old fashioned dragon cult slaying and ends up following carnivals through the faewild, hellscapes and ice-worlds. Pathfinder was the same, it started with Rise of the Runelords and ends with some weird stuff - futuristic/invasions/Cthulhu/carnivals/police

I think this is a weakness in editorial expectations picking the adventures. Not everything needs to be unique, novel or totally different from what preceded it. As role players a lot of the unique experience comes from the interaction of different characters with the main plot. We just need to have different challenges, locations and enemies so we’re not replaying the exact same stuff and spoiling the surprise.

 

[Marc_C]

it doesn't seem to have...

WoTC reports higher sales for 2019 and 2020. It can't be just canibalization of players from other games. There are a lot of new players in those numbers.

 

[Marc_C]

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly. Particularly when it comes to D&D (and D&D-like) adventures.

There is a perception that every Adventure Path/Campaign needs to be unique, and cover completely new ground. Paizo is like this but so is 5e WOC. All the themes are totally unique and get more and more extreme as the go on. Consequently more and more distant from a base campaign setting. It starts with good old fashioned dragon cult slaying and ends up following carnivals through the faewild, hellscapes and ice-worlds. Pathfinder was the same, it started with Rise of the Runelords and ends with some weird stuff - futuristic/invasions/Cthulhu/carnivals/police

I think this is a weakness in editorial expectations picking the adventures. Not everything needs to be unique, novel or totally different from what preceded it. As role players a lot of the unique experience comes from the interaction of different characters with the main plot. We just need to have different challenges, locations and enemies so we’re not replaying the exact same stuff and spoiling the surprise.

Some people want to eat only American yellow mustard all their lives. Other people want to try every kind of mustard produced on the planet. I don't understand why some people are bothered by what kind of mustard other people put in their dishes.

 

[TheSword]

Some people want to eat only American yellow mustard all their lives. Other people want to try every kind of mustard produced on the planet. I don't understand why some people are bothered by what kind of mustard other people put in their dishes.

Well the equivalent would be if your mustard company made enough original mustard to last you six months. Then the next flavor they made was spicy chilli mustard. They just stopped making original. They sold enough for six months of that. Then the made tarragon infused mustard for another six months.

Now hopefully it all tastes nice and hey why not we’ll give it a go. Unfortunately a few years later they are now making Dr Pepper flavored mustard and bubblegum cherry flavored mustard in a desire to be original/novel/unique.

Some of us would just like a bit more original mustard mixed in with the alternatives.

The ironic thing is that whenever game companies update to a new edition they always go back to original mustard. So it isn’t like the adventure ideas aren’t there… they’re just discarded in favor of every bizarre flavours of mustard.

 

[Fenris-77]

A part of the mustard industry is that, first, you are encouraged to make your own mustard in whatever flavour you choose, and second that there are other companies who specialize in the making of particular flavours of mustard. My point is that there is no lack, and possible a surfeit, of original mustard available for your sandwich making needs.

 

[Ovinomancer]

A part of the mustard industry is that, first, you are encouraged to make your own mustard in whatever flavour you choose, and second that there are other companies who specialize in the making of particular flavours of mustard. My point is that there is no lack, and possible a surfeit, of original mustard available for your sandwich making needs.

What are you talking about? Everyone knows that you can only get REAL Frozen Prepackaged Microwave-ready Yellow Mustard Dishes from Big Mustard, Inc.

 

[Aldarc]

Think about this from the perspective of the writers and publishers. I doubt that they want to keep rewriting the same story with the same flavors over and over again. Sometimes they like doing new things as well. It's not as if there is some great dearth of generic fantasy modules and adventure paths out there in the market for people to pick up either.

 

[Umbran]

Familiarity, perhaps?

If I want familiar, I already have it!

The extended version of each of the LotR movies runs north of three-and-a-half hours and yet each is still too short, in that there's still parts of the book that get left out.

Stuffing as much as possible form the books into movies is failing to follow the primary precept of making the movie good. Books and movies are different media. You generally have to make changes when you jump from one to the other.

How many times have you re-read that copy, is the question?

Several times over. And I use it on a reference on occasion as well.

Counting both books and movies I've got about 7 different versions of Robin Hood here, if not more. And if I stumble on another, chances are I'll pick it up or at the very least read/watch it, just to see what that version does with the legends and-or what the authors' writing/moviemaking style brings to the table.

(emphasis mine)

So... to see what is different! Thank you for demonstrating my point for me.

 

[billd91]

I liked the Branagh Hamlet.

So did the critics and so did most of the viewers if rottentomatoes is to be believed.

 

[billd91]

I can kind of get behind what the OP says in the sense that doing something again is too frequently used as a crutch by critics, but there's something to be said for novelty as well. Remakes of works that have already been made are at their best when there's something novel about them. In the case of written works, different translations, different supporting materials (like the essays or forewards included with different publications of books), annotations, etc. can make a second copy worthwhile to own. For movies, shot by shot remakes would be largely futile unless there's something really different about the casting, or the technology, or the soundtrack - which is why the best remakes involve a different take on the material, variations in adapted screenplays, emphasis on different aspects of the story, etc.

Ideally, there's a reason to do something again. And, particularly in the case of live performance, presenting the work to a new audience may be sufficient. After all, the time and audience are going to be novel even for a repertory theater doing the same play for a season.