Campaign Settings II

[Dark Psion]

Forgotten Realms: Because it is Home for me. It is where I really got into gaming and feel the most comfortable playing in.

Eberron: There is so much potiential here, many new ideas and to be honest, the Eberron CS is the first book in a long time that I truly savored, slowly reading page by page.

Dark Sun: This is the brutal world where being munchkin isn't strong enougth. A great place to just let off steam.

Spelljammer: This setting was just plain fun to play.

Birthright: My only complaint about this setting was the focus on being Lords and not becoming those Lords. It had the feel of a fantasy kingdom at the begining.

Planescape: A bizarre trip thru the D&D twilight zone. It made you want to go to these planes, it offered a "very different" feel as the rules were bent to fit the setting.

Al-Qadim/Maztica/ Kara Tur: I am a student of history and as such all of these were fun diversions when you needed a break from your regular setting.

Ravenloft: The 3E version just isn't scary, but this one was. When done right, you slept with the lights on after playing.

And a Bonus picks for both Lankmar and Rokugan. Lankmar is the perfect "low Magic" setting where the non-spellcasters can take control.

And as to Rokugan/ L5R, that's where I spent my time waiting for 3rd edition, and while it suffers from the "force the setting into 3rd eddition rules" mentality, it still is a blast to play.

As to the others;
Greyhawk has always intrigued me, but it just has never been really supported.

Dragonlance: Great books, boring gaming and just how many times can the world end?

Mystara et all: Good for cherry picking, but just not different enougth from FR and Greyhawk.

Blackmoor: Always hinted too, but never seen. The teasing gets old after a while.

 

[dead]

Didn't TSR release CONAN, too?

I predict that Eberron will be thrown on the rotting heap of D&D campaign worlds just like: Darksun, Spelljammer, Planescape, Al-Qadim, Birthright, Mystara, etc. Just give it a couple of years.

And don't tell me Eberron is different coz it breaks the *classic* mould. Darksun, Spelljammer, and Planescape broke the *classic* mould but were still flushed down the stinking cesspit coz they didn't make MegaBucks for TSR fatcats.

Anyway, that was TSR and I'm told WotC is a different company. WotC are better at business, apparently, so they'll be able to pimp Eberron better than TSR ever could, right? (Even though TSR did exactly the same thing as what WotC is doing with Eberron. They'd release the core setting book and follow up with a barrage of modules and supplements . . .)

 

[Mouseferatu]

Didn't TSR release CONAN, too?

I predict that Eberron will be thrown on the rotting heap of D&D campaign worlds just like: Darksun, Spelljammer, Planescape, Al-Qadim, Birthright, Mystara, etc. Just give it a couple of years.

And don't tell me Eberron is different coz it breaks the *classic* mould. Darksun, Spelljammer, and Planescape broke the *classic* mould but were still flushed down the stinking cesspit coz they didn't make MegaBucks for TSR fatcats.

Anyway, that was TSR and I'm told WotC is a different company. WotC are better at business, apparently, so they'll be able to pimp Eberron better than TSR ever could, right? (Even though TSR did exactly the same thing as what WotC is doing with Eberron. They'd release the core setting book and follow up with a barrage of modules and supplements . . .)

Wow. You really didn't listen to what was said in the other thread, did you?

WotC is not doing the same thing. TSR had entire handfuls of settings out at any given time, and they were trying to support them all at once. WotC has two, and they're balancing the release schedule.

TSR published based entirely on what appealed to the people in management. WotC does market research to determine what's popular.

And the notion of TSR as "fatcats" is utterly laughable to anyone who's done even a bit of research. TSR was in a deep financial hole long before WotC bought out the remnants.

Dark Sun, Spelljammer and Planescape weren't flushed because they didn't make "megabucks." The company was losing money, pure and simple. And incidentally, if I'm not mistaken--though I won't pretend to be positive on this--I don't think Planescape or Dark Sun ever were officially cancelled. They just stopped being printed when TSR went belly-up, and the market research showed they wouldn't be worthwhile for WotC to revive.

If Eberron survives--and I'd like it to, and I think it will, but I'm not going to pretend I know what's going to happen--it's not because it "breaks the mould." It's because WotC actually bothered to do market research in an attempt to determine what would be popular. Were they right? Who knows? We'll find out. But claiming there's no difference in circumstances is sheer ignorance.

Sorry for the hijack, everyone.

 

[dead]

WotC does market research to determine what's popular.

How was this market research done?

No one asked me what I liked and didn't like.

 

[Vanuslux]

I chose Forgotten Realms because I *do* buy products for it, and Dark Sun because it truly excited me as a setting when it first came out.

I wanted to say Ravenloft because I was an addict in the 2nd edition era, but the first 3rd edition book for it fell flat for me and I lost interest in the setting for 3rd edition. I skim through the books as they come out, looking for a spark of hope, but every time I get the same impression. Arthaus Ravenloft comes off way too dry.

I also wanted to say Dragonlance, but I'm also not satisfied with the 3rd edition incarnation of the setting. For one thing, the books hurt my eyes to look at. For another, the writing style got in my nerves when I was skimming the book. So, as much as I love the setting of Dragonlance, I'm not buying the books.

The only reason that I didn't select Planescape is that I'm sure it would be ruined.

The other settings I'd be willing to check out, but they'd have to really impress me with their new incarnations.

I plan to get the Eberron book at some point...it seems pretty appealing as an occasional game. I doubt I'd get any of the follow up books though.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Eberron, Dark Sun, and Planescape.

I don't like the Realms, don't particularly like Greyhawk (though, I do like it better than the Realms), and really wasn't wowed by most of the old settings. Planescape and Dark Sun were all my friends played back under 2e, though, and most of the D&D games I've played in or GMed since 3e was released have been Planescape games.

I also don't think there's anything stopping new Planescape products from having new feats, PrCs, and races, like another poster commented on-- so if that's what the market calls for, I got no complaints.

I actually liked the new Dark Sun, though I'd prefer to play it sans-Paladin. Easily fixed, and I may use those rules and some of my other stuff to try to run a patchwork Dark Sun soon. Unfortunately, I never did know enough about the setting to run competently, so I'll have to pump my old players for information.

And everything I've seen about Eberron demands that I own it. It looks like it rocks on toast.

On a side note... does anyone know if FFG is still supporting Dragonstar? That's been my favorite 3e setting, bar none. I'm working on converting things to 3.5, and I'd love to see more products.

 

[Staffan]

And incidentally, if I'm not mistaken--though I won't pretend to be positive on this--I don't think Planescape or Dark Sun ever were officially cancelled. They just stopped being printed when TSR went belly-up, and the market research showed they wouldn't be worthwhile for WotC to revive.

As I recall, Dark Sun was sort-of officially cancelled - they said something about stopping publishing stuff, and release the remaining book (Dregoth's Ascension) online like they did Savage Coast. It's just that the cancellation coincided with TSR going belly-up, so it kind of got lost in the general shuffle.

As for Planescape, WOTC released the stuff TSR had in the pipeline for it after buying TSR: Planescape MC3, Guide to the Ethereal plane, Faces of Evil: Fiends, Inner Planes, Great Modron March, Dead Gods, Tales from the Infinite Staircase, and Faction War. Dark Sun was not so lucky, and apparently TSR even lost the files to Dregoth's Ascension or something, so the promised online release never materialized (though I hear that the athas.org folks got something from Kevin Melka and are trying to make a 3e version).

 

[devilish]

Planescape support?

It is a perfect world. All these campaign settings are being supported. Which would you buy?

I voted for Planescape -- but is it really still supported? There were
references/fragments in the Planewalkers Handbook but not to
the extent of having a sourcebook, like Eberron or FR.
F'rinstance, where is all the information on revised Planescape characters/
creatures (they only had a couple in Planewalker)
-D

 

[Mouseferatu]

On a side note... does anyone know if FFG is still supporting Dragonstar? That's been my favorite 3e setting, bar none. I'm working on converting things to 3.5, and I'd love to see more products.

Afraid FFG has announced that the Dragonstar line is over, at least for the foreseeable future. Sorry.

 

[Trickstergod]

Yeah, PS is guaranteed about 240 sales if it comes out. I'm sure that'll make the bigwigs rethink their position.

Oh, I'm sure it would get more then that, though you do have a point...Enworld polls aren't really indiciative of sales. For that matter, I don't think Enworld, on the whole, is indicative of most of the gaming community - we're not generally casual gamers and seem to have a sizable DM percentage amongst us (along with writers and developers and the like here and there).

However, I do wonder how campaign core books do, saleswise, because it seems to me they should do well enough. While a Planescape fan, for example, might not buy every Planescape book out there, chances are most of them would own a core setting book if produced. Take my Ravenloft game for example; I only own a few of the 3rd edition books put out for it, my players much the same, but all of us own the campaign setting. Or the Scarred Lands game I run; only myself and another player owns an appreciable number of the settings books, but the others, for the most part, at least own Divine and the Defeated, the Ghelspad hardcover, or both.

So I don't know that, were Planescape or any of the other settings to be produced, that their supplemental books would do well, but I'm tempted to say the main setting book would. Same with most of the fairly popular settings in the poll; accessories might not be the place to make any money, but I'd like to think that at least producing one book for them would do decently enough to make it worthwhile to print.

Now, some might gripe at this, wanting their settings to be supported but, personally, I'd rather have one book that isn't supported after it's printed, then see no book at all. The stuff in Dragon especially isn't great at times, so really doesn't count. Dark Sun...meh.

Wizards market research might say otherwise, perhaps, but even if I bought nothing else, a Planescape hardcover would likely get my money, and probably most of those I gamed with. An adventure will only sell to a limited audience (DM's who simultaneously like the setting), and a book on player races might not appeal to the guy who's more interested in the setting organizations, but the main book would appeal to the broadest audience possible for those interested in the setting, whatever it may be.

I rather wish Wizards would just do that - put out at least a campaign setting book for Planescape and possibly a few of the other, more popular settings.

Oh and to dead, while I can't say for sure, I'd wager that Wizards market research comes, in part, through their various play testers and what they like, along with seeing what sells and what doesn't. As well as looking into things in the occasional con here or there, keeping touch through those. Amongst other things.