Can someone fill me in on the history of the late TSR/early WotC/3e period?

[johnsemlak]

Having been out of gaming then, I was unaware if TSRs problems.

As I understand, WotC took over TSR in 1997. 3e came out in 1999. Is that right?

So, did WotC also do some 2e material prior to the release of 3e?

Finally, I heard that there was a module that came out right at the end of 2e in which the story ends with a cataclysm and 'nothing will every be the same in the world,' which was put out to help DMs explain 3e changes in their long-running campaigns. I think it wsa a Vecna module. Was there such a module? Did anybody handle the 2e/3e transition this way?

 

[KenM]

The 3e players handbook came out in august 2000, i think, NOT 99. So IMO its too early to do a revised edtion. With second edtion it was 5 years before they put out any changes. I hope Wizards does not expect to put out a new edtion every couple of years, DnD is NOT a card game, and if they "revise" DnD again in another 2.5 years, i'm changing systems for good, as I expect many other people will.

 

[Zappo]

if they "revise" DnD again in another 2.5 years, i'm changing systems for good

I'm curious. If they did, why would you abandon D&D entirely instead of simply sticking with the edition you prefer?

 

[johnsemlak]

Thanks for correcting me on when the 3e PHB came out. Sorry about that.

Can I please ask that this thread stick to the original topic? There are several other threads debating the whole 3.5e issue.

 

[Zappo]

It was a sincere question!

The adventure you mentioned is called "Die, Vecna, Die!". In it, Vecna attempts to escape from Ravenloft and become the one and only deity of the multiverse, IIRC. Massive planar shakeups occur as the result. I haven't played it, but many think it is fairly bad.

 

[Buttercup]

I don't know about the module, but back when this site was still Eric's, there was a long & interesting article by Ryan Dancy about what he found when he we went to investigate TSR's finances and operations after they were purchased by WotC. It was heartbreaking and appalling.

I'll bet it's still around somewhere. I have to leave for work now, but I'll try to find it later.

 

[johnsemlak]

I don't know about the module, but back when this site was still Eric's, there was a long & interesting article by Ryan Dancy about what he found when he we went to investigate TSR's finances and operations after they were purchased by WotC. It was heartbreaking and appalling.

I'll bet it's still around somewhere. I have to leave for work now, but I'll try to find it later.

Yeah, I saw that article,actually. Necromancer Games have a link to it in their 'links' section.
http://www.d20reviews.com/Eric/tsr-rsd-0318.htm

 

[herald]

I have Die, Vecna, Die and I liked it. It's very well crafted.

 

[arwink]

There were, from memory, three adventures. die Vecna Die was one. The Apocalypse Stone was another. I can't remember the third.

The Apocalypse Stone was the only one I had contact with, and it didn't impress me overly much. It's an ambitious product to be sure, but it just didn't work.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, I saw that article,actually. Necromancer Games have a link to it in their 'links' section.
http://www.d20reviews.com/Eric/tsr-rsd-0318.htm

Wow, I didn't realise that old page was still up.

All that info (and more) is now in the "Interviews" section:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news...=Sections&file=index&req=listarticles&secid=2