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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 485783" data-attributes="member: 2013">&quot;The Known World&quot; - a rather tightly focused area - the southern edge of a continent (Brun).&nbsp; Detailed in the Gazetteer series for bD&amp;D, it consisted of a world in something of an &quot;innocent&quot; state - a state wherein the history, culture, and major figures of the setting were more or less well-defined, but where no major cataclysms had happened in the recent past, so everyone was &quot;comfortable&quot; with where they were at.&quot;Mystara&quot; - the name given to the planet when the setting was moved from bD&amp;D to 2e.&nbsp; The big problem (IMO) is that the setting loses its innocence - you have a rending of the fabric of magic due to an artifact in Glantri that causes the entire planet to lose the ability cast spells for a short time.&nbsp; You have the forest of elves overrun by shadow elves (who become far more drow-like in 2e) and who raise their lost city - in the midst of a volcano - and essentially kill the forest.&nbsp; We find out that humanoid leaders (gnolls, kobolds, etc.) are really shadow elves.I could go on, but it just disgusts me.&nbsp; Instead of having a setting where the cultures are &quot;comfortable&quot; with where they are at, we have a setting in constant change (the setting was updated every year for four years with the Almanac books) where everything suddenly becomes dark.TSR violated my #1 rule for a campaign setting - NEVER arbitrarily move it into the future and make changes.&nbsp; (This doesn't mean you can't convert the &quot;rules&quot; to a new version if you switch editions, it means that if you publish a supplement where the date is 1,000 AD don't EVER EVER EVER publish a supplement where the date is &gt;1,000 AD).&nbsp; Why not?Because it makes changes that are not of my choosing and almost definitely will not square with my ongoing campaign, forcing me to re-write every single thing you publish to fit it in.Give me culture.&nbsp; Give me MORE culture.&nbsp; Give me history.&nbsp; Give me MORE history.&nbsp; Give me a feel for the area.&nbsp; Give me new rules for weapons.&nbsp; Expand the geography.&nbsp; But dammit, don't EVER - and I mean EEEEEVVVVEEERRR move the &quot;you are here&quot; point on the timeline.&nbsp; It makes the setting WORTHLESS!(rant over)--The Sigil</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 485783, member: 2013"] "The Known World" - a rather tightly focused area - the southern edge of a continent (Brun). Detailed in the Gazetteer series for bD&D, it consisted of a world in something of an "innocent" state - a state wherein the history, culture, and major figures of the setting were more or less well-defined, but where no major cataclysms had happened in the recent past, so everyone was "comfortable" with where they were at. "Mystara" - the name given to the planet when the setting was moved from bD&D to 2e. The big problem (IMO) is that the setting loses its innocence - you have a rending of the fabric of magic due to an artifact in Glantri that causes the entire planet to lose the ability cast spells for a short time. You have the forest of elves overrun by shadow elves (who become far more drow-like in 2e) and who raise their lost city - in the midst of a volcano - and essentially kill the forest. We find out that humanoid leaders (gnolls, kobolds, etc.) are really shadow elves. I could go on, but it just disgusts me. Instead of having a setting where the cultures are "comfortable" with where they are at, we have a setting in constant change (the setting was updated every year for four years with the Almanac books) where everything suddenly becomes dark. TSR violated my #1 rule for a campaign setting - NEVER arbitrarily move it into the future and make changes. (This doesn't mean you can't convert the "rules" to a new version if you switch editions, it means that if you publish a supplement where the date is 1,000 AD don't EVER EVER EVER publish a supplement where the date is >1,000 AD). Why not? Because it makes changes that are not of my choosing and almost definitely will not square with my ongoing campaign, forcing me to re-write every single thing you publish to fit it in. Give me culture. Give me MORE culture. Give me history. Give me MORE history. Give me a feel for the area. Give me new rules for weapons. Expand the geography. But dammit, don't EVER - and I mean EEEEEVVVVEEERRR move the "you are here" point on the timeline. It makes the setting WORTHLESS! (rant over) --The Sigil [/QUOTE]

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