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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bendris Noulg" data-source="post: 1456855" data-attributes="member: 6398">There isn't a change of status; note that I refer to it as a "perceived" change.  You own comment stating that the article "will probably carry more weight" is illustrative of this point. And it is this new interest that can be of benefit to Athas.org, as I indicated earlier.  Renewed interest in the setting will draw people to the Other Worlds board at WotC, it will draw them here to ask, and to other message boards.  And at each of them, eventually, someone's going to mention Athas.org (the Dark Sun boards at WotC actually link to it!), and that will send people to that site. It is at that time that the choice I mentioned earlier (self-develop from a single one-shot article or benefit from continued support) comes into play. Note that I'm not weighing the validity of one against the other; I'm just saying that, if presented with the option of using a limited distribution (one article in a monthly publication vs a product line printing) or from a source of continued support, the continued support will likely gain a larger following because it will attract two groups of people: those prefer the Athas.org conversion over the article's treatment and those that are using the article and the Athas.org material to create a hybrid. The only thing about this article that could hurt Athas.org is Athas.org itself; If they rant, condemn, decry, or shun it when new people are showing up at the Dark Sun board, they will be alienating those newly attracted to the setting.  If they treat it as an equally valid update/conversion (which they can do without putting down the article or holding it above their own work), then more people will be up to viewing the Athas.org materials.  (Heck, the articles not even out yet and these threads are already appearing on various boards, most of them mentioning Athas.org.) At that time, quality, not source, will be the deciding factor. As for those without internet access, for whom the article is the only expression of Dark Sun known, this will work against the article.  First, they lack the cohesiveness that an internet community focused on one setting has.  Second, they will have only the article itself and will thus develop/evolve the setting in a multitude of different ways.  Not that either of these are "bad", mind you, just that comparing the potential "article only" games will have for becoming the "standard" for Dark Sun to the potential that "continued support" has, I just have a hard time imagining the "article only" version coming out "on top".</blockquote>

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