Anyone else overall disappointed by D&D books?

[MonsterMash]

I'm generally not interested in what WotC are releasing, but there are other publishers putting out things I want. I'm probably a bit disappointed by the focus on splatbooks, but Wizards is a commercial publisher so they will always need to focus on products with a certain minimum of sales rather than just publish something because it appeals to an editor.

 

[diaglo]

<-----Agrees with Dave

However I'm a bit disapointed in that they did not put down a system for the creation of Totem characters, rather they just created a bunch of them. Not that I couldn't put something together myself by basing it off of their examples but it would have been good to have a system in place to save me some time.

after just returning from a week in Washington state and a visit to Vancouver, B.C....

i now understand the fascination with totem magic... beforehand, it seemed to localized/regional to me.

 

[Ranger REG]

I'm generally not interested in what WotC are releasing, but there are other publishers putting out things I want. I'm probably a bit disappointed by the focus on splatbooks, but Wizards is a commercial publisher so they will always need to focus on products with a certain minimum of sales rather than just publish something because it appeals to an editor.

They haven't totally focused on splatbooks. Recently they released Draconomicon and Player's Guide to Forgotten Realms. In addition, they have three different RPG lines to support -- albeit slowly -- Star Wars (released Geonosis and the Outer Rim World and Ultimate Adversaries) and d20 Modern (Weapons Locker).

Of course, there is their cash cow venture: TCG, which have the largest audience in the gaming community, it dwarfs the RPG community.

But they are gearing up for Eberron, the contest-winning campaign setting. Is this what you're looking for?

It is a good thing that small print presses have been able to focus on small number of product lines that they can handle, but even then more than half the d20-labeled products in the market are under-advertised or of low quality (plagued with editing error as much as WotC). I mean how many of you actually risk trying out a product from lesser known publishers rather than the majors (Green Ronin, Mongoose, AEG, Fantasy Flight Games, etc.)?

 

[MDSnowman]

<-- Likes UA, BoED, and BoVD.

Ehhhh BOED didn't do much for me, I was kind of disappointed that I bought it. But it was still better that Complete Warrior.

 

[Ourph]

They haven't totally focused on splatbooks. Recently they released Draconomicon and Player's Guide to Forgotten Realms.

I thought those WERE splatbooks.

 

[Ranger REG]

Then what do you consider NOT splatbooks?

 

[Alnag]

Well, I am disappointed by D&D books for quite a long time. And I bought just a few of them, core rulebooks and about three or four other. What I really dislike is the fact, there is just nothing interesting, nothing creative in them.

I as a DM want consistent world with functional ecology, economy, politics and so on. And what I get are just inconsisten fragments don't fitting together. Forgotten Realms, however it is nice setting are a good example of this approach. One million inteligent races, one million nations and countries and no connection between them.
It is said, that when butterfly flutter his wings, there is the storm elsewhere. But when in these "fantasy world" there is cathastrophy, most of the time, even the closest neighbours don't care.

We play in our own world. With just three big nations and several small city states and some tribes, because we don't need more for good, long exciting campaign. There are just few intelligent races (even less then in PHB) and there are just few well known monsters, which fit into the setting. We do not use more feats, more prestige classes, more spells, domains, magic items etc. because we do not need them for nice, thrilling and breathtaking campaign.

This game is not about rolling dice and arithemtic it is about roleplaying and none of DnD books helps with this problem. There are no ideas for really good plots, interesting and elaborated persons, completely mapped and described intresting places. This is what I miss in DnD books, although rules are fine, I do not need pregenerated statistics and tables. Even my trained chimp coud make them. So this is I am disappointed by DnD and d20 books. (Yes, I know, there are few exceptions - I bought them, but most of the books are just crap.)

Sorry for mistakes, I am not native speaker. :-(

 

[Incenjucar]

Worry not, you wrote better than the majority of English-speaking chat room goers ever did on their best day.

In regards to the meat of your commentary, there's a few factors.

1) Greenwood has no logic. The man's career has mostly been about reading every book he could get ahold of, and then shoving little bits of all of them together in to his setting. Thus, while the individual pieces are often interesting (but as unique as Shakespeare, which is to say, not at all), none of them are realistically related, and the events are all but at random.

2) Some say that Eberron is, in fact, a fully-realized concept as you desired. It's just that it has magitech trains and lacks the classical fantasy feel in exchange for the 80s action feel. While only a bit more 'unique' than Greenwood's stuff, it's at least done by someone whom comes up with ideas on his own, even if they had been done elsewhere. Effective originality is more respectable than "I read a bazillion books so you'll never guess where I stole this from." (Mind you, I'm not saying that FR is a BAD setting. It's just not the most logical, and very very borrow-happy, as fans and foes alike know well)

3) Like with a meal, the best one for you is usually the one you do yourself.

 

[PoppaGunch]

Racism does exist in WotC worlds (well, FR at least).

Excuse me? The bad race of all time in FR is a Black Race! Down with WotC! They are saying black people are evil!
You should all be ashamed of yourselves!!!!!

(Just foolin, though it is kind of funny don'tcha think?)

 

[Alnag]

Worry not, you wrote better than the majority of English-speaking chat room goers ever did on their best day.

Thanx

Anyway, I have got a few other week points of D&D books. One of them is faith. I miss typical in almost every normal culture present archetypal gods and consistent mythology behind the pantheons. It is just name, one sentence like creator of sth. or protector of sth. and finally domains. Perhaps with some new domain. This used to be good at Greyhawk setting, that there was at least some feeling, that there is some story behind it (and there were more than one pantheon based on different cultures, although the mixed it together in PHB so horribly.) And that's pity, because love or hate between gods coud be base for some intricate plots.

I hope, that Eberron will be as good, as you said. It doesn´t matter, that it is not a typical fantasy, because my group is alway willing to try something new, as far as it has some sense inside. But I will have to wait at least two month till the deliver it even to my small and forgotten country. I look forward to it.