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Community
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5e isn't a Golden Age of D&D Lorewise, it's Silver at best.
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8711776" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>I get that, but, back in the day, you had, what, a couple of book stores that carried fantasy and SF? Compared to today where you have F&SF available in a bajillion different forms and media? I get that that's what you liked to do. Fair enough, but, you expressed surprise that setting books are bad for the industry. My point is that the market for "inspiration material" is so much bigger than it was then. </p><p></p><p>Never minding that so much of the setting material was just random name dropping without any extra material. I mentioned earlier about using the Shining Citadel material that I found for my campaign. Ok, great. But, the Shining Citadel is a couple of paragraphs in the entire Manual of the Planes for 3e. That's it. I really would never buy a 300 page book so I could use a single entry. And that's what setting books are for me - 99% wasted space for that 1% I'll actually use in game.</p><p></p><p>I don't find the notion that setting guides are largely not great sellers to be surprising at all. How many books should I buy that I only use 1 page out of? Take a couple that I actually like - 2e's Faith's and Avatars and Powers and Pantheons. Both Forgotten Realms setting books (although with a LOT of crunchy bits too) with tons of setting material. I really enjoyed reading them. One of my all time favorite characters is a priest of Kossuth. Fair enough. But, I also realize that that priest is the only thing I've ever actually used from these books. They just sit on my shelf gathering dust. </p><p></p><p>My criteria for game books is that they do not sit on my shelf. If all they do is sit on my shelf, then they were a waste of money.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8711776, member: 22779"] I get that, but, back in the day, you had, what, a couple of book stores that carried fantasy and SF? Compared to today where you have F&SF available in a bajillion different forms and media? I get that that's what you liked to do. Fair enough, but, you expressed surprise that setting books are bad for the industry. My point is that the market for "inspiration material" is so much bigger than it was then. Never minding that so much of the setting material was just random name dropping without any extra material. I mentioned earlier about using the Shining Citadel material that I found for my campaign. Ok, great. But, the Shining Citadel is a couple of paragraphs in the entire Manual of the Planes for 3e. That's it. I really would never buy a 300 page book so I could use a single entry. And that's what setting books are for me - 99% wasted space for that 1% I'll actually use in game. I don't find the notion that setting guides are largely not great sellers to be surprising at all. How many books should I buy that I only use 1 page out of? Take a couple that I actually like - 2e's Faith's and Avatars and Powers and Pantheons. Both Forgotten Realms setting books (although with a LOT of crunchy bits too) with tons of setting material. I really enjoyed reading them. One of my all time favorite characters is a priest of Kossuth. Fair enough. But, I also realize that that priest is the only thing I've ever actually used from these books. They just sit on my shelf gathering dust. My criteria for game books is that they do not sit on my shelf. If all they do is sit on my shelf, then they were a waste of money. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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5e isn't a Golden Age of D&D Lorewise, it's Silver at best.
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