D&D 4E 4E FRCS Cover: NOOOOOOOOOO!

[glass]

pheew. That cover was practically the first thing i really disliked about 4th Edition FR. I like pretty much all of the other covers though.

Sadly, it was about the first cover I actually did like! :\


glass.

 

[JPL]

Of course they have Drizzt. In addition to being a tremendously popular character, he is a rather good example of what a young adventurer in the Realms can aspire to become. No Chosen of Mystra whoo-hah, just a few flavorful magic items, a certain degree of fame, and some recurring bad guys. And unlike some of the high level magic types, he minds his own business.

 

[Black_Swan]

I gotta admit, I love all the covers so far.

I agree.

I prefer this style of cover. It's nice and clean, the D&D logo is easy to read, and the artwork inspires my imagination.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Of course they have Drizzt. In addition to being a tremendously popular character, he is a rather good example of what a young adventurer in the Realms can aspire to become. No Chosen of Mystra whoo-hah, just a few flavorful magic items, a certain degree of fame, and some recurring bad guys. And unlike some of the high level magic types, he minds his own business.

I like that post. QFT.

 

[Irda Ranger]

It does look a little bit more old-timey, and normally that's a turnoff for me. But it's also got a nice party blend set on warm, vibrant colors... whereas the PHB has two ugly folks in goofy outfits set in a cold, uninteresting environment. I've only been playing the game for 2 years now -- I'm not anti-new stuff. The PHB's just got an ugly cover, plain and simple.

This. I've been around more than 2 years, but I dislike the 4E PHB cover on the merits.

The game is Dungeons & Dragons. Small bands of heroes go into dungeons and fight dragons. That's the game. The Character Record Sheet art depicts that, and does it well. I really like it.

The 4E PHB cover is lame.

I'm not sure what everyone is freaking out about. This cover is a piece of art that is several years old. Obviously it isn't going to be the new FR cover. That art was used for the Drizzt mini waaay back.

Amazing catch. I don't know that it rules out the art's reuse though. There are enough people in this thread alone who are OK with it.

If WotC cares what certain other people on this thread think though, the FRCS cover should be a landscape/setting picture, not a character portrait. Drizzt is fine; but Drizzt overlooking Silverymoon is way better.

 

[The Little Raven]

The cover of Grand History of the Realms managed to include Drizzt without making the character the sole centerpiece of the cover.

Except that the use of color on the Grand History cover draws your eyes directly to Drizzt, since his dark coloration contrasts with the subtler blues and greens. The first thing everyone I know has noticed about Grand History is Drizzt on the cover.

As for the re-using of old art... it could just be a placeholder for the real cover art, since we are still many months away from it's release.

 

[Festivus]

That cover truly does suck. As does the PHB and MM covers. I have the same problem with the FRCS cover as I do with the PHB and MM covers. They say little or nothing about the campaign setting (or in the case of the core books, about the game). (snip)

And the old 3.5 ones did? If anything I see more conveyance of what the game is with the 4.0 covers than the 3.5 counterparts.

Yep, tells me zip about the game inside the covers.

In other words, I could care less who is on the cover, it's what's between them that counts.

 

[WhatGravitas]

My guess is marketing. Speaking for myself (someone who has zero interest in Eberron), when looking at the new books of the month, I'd automatically skip anything that was of the ECS. I suppose they think that if I see it as D&D instead of Eberron now, the odds of me purchasing it will increase.

Yeah, I totally see why they're doing that - it's obvious, though I still think it's a bit sad. Additionally, I wonder why they haven't incorporated the Realms logo - after all, the Realms logo is on each Realms novel and the new and old logo look similar enough to remain recognizable - so it'd probably appeal to the novel readers as well - as Drizzt would perhaps do.

But then, the art is a mock-up, so a lot may (or may not) change.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Spatula]

However, one cover rocks (IMHO). The cover of the Character Record Sheets.

Looks kinda like a Wayne A. Reynolds update of the Erol Otus red box Basic D&D cover.

 

[Remathilis]

We could complain until we're blue in the face, but i don't think any covers will change. Is there a precedent for covers EVER changing that WotC has unveiled?

::Looks at Races of Eberron::

Sigh, no...