Do you think Eberron will go the way of Ghostwalk?

[Mouseferatu]

I will admit that I was hesitant at first, but I've come to really like most of what I know so far about Eberron. Not only do I plan to buy it, it's actually a pipe dream of mine to be able to do some work for it at some time in the future.

That being said, I'd support Eberron even if it didn't appeal to me. I want Eberron to be an enormous success, because I want campaign settings beyond Forgotten Realms to become a viable avenue for Wizards to pursue. I know they don't want to overwhelm the market the way TSR did, but I believe there's room for more than one (or even two) "official" D&D settings, if they're marketed properly. The better Eberron does, the better the odds of WotC doing further settings down the line. (Or at least I can hope that's the case, and that's good enough for me. )

 

[Ember_Ion]

I wont buy it. I don't know anyone irl who will (and I know a lot of gamers). I don't think it will suck, its just with greyhawk, forgotten realms, ravenloft, the plethora of converted 2nd ed campaign settings, and other d20 settings liked Scarred Lands (SSS) and Iron Kingdoms...Eberon seems rather boring. I have enough setting source books, and so does everyone else. Unless its some sort of radical new setting (outer space, underwater, or something not yet known of) I really dont think its worth it.

Ember

 

[MerricB]

I wont buy it. I don't know anyone irl who will (and I know a lot of gamers).

Sigh.

http://www.thegamemechanics.com/opinion/rich-007.asp

Cheers!

 

[rounser]

That little back-woods island plays little or no part in the grand scheme of the setting itself.

Just like the magitech plays no big part?
(tech + magic = peanut butter & bacon)
And the swashbuckling pulp?
(fantasy swashbuckling + modern pulp = peanut butter and bacon)
And the rumour that psionics plays a big part in the world?
(S&S flavored magic + sci-fi flavored psionics = peanut butter and bacon)

Those sandwiches are piling up...

 

[MerricB]

Just like the magitech plays no big part?
(tech + magic = peanut butter & bacon)
And the swashbuckling pulp?
(fantasy swashbuckling + modern pulp = peanut butter and bacon)
And the rumour that psionics plays a big part in the world?
(S&S flavored magic + sci-fi flavored psionics = peanut butter and bacon)

Those sandwiches are piling up...

Given that many of those sandwiches might not exist...

Cheers!

 

[Alzrius]

I was under the impression that Ghostwalk was a manuscript that was just lying about at Wizard's. Then when they decided to go 3.5 they decided to publish something in the vacuum created by the step to a new edition. They decided on Ghostwalk for this job but likely they had a bunch of other interesting manuscripts lying about too.

From what I've heard around here (and Monte's boards) the story of Ghostwalk's publication is like so:

Monte and SKR wrote the manuscript that would later be called Ghostwalk over a year before it was released; maybe closer to 18 months. They pitched the idea to WotC, whom at the time SKR was working for, and Monte was not.

WotC's response was disinterest. Undeterred, SKR and Monte shopped the product around for d20 publication. From this crowd, they received a rather great deal of interest.

WotC noted that this product that they had initially turned their nose up at was now being favorably received by many publishers. Hurriedly, they made Monte and SKR an offer, which was apparently acceptable.

All of this took quite a bit of time, which is why we saw Ghostwalk being published on the eve of 3.5E, despite it's 3E mechanics. Either there was no time to convert it, or no real interest on anyone's part. Either way, the 3.5E update supplement (complete with a map of the region) is available now as a web enhancement.

 

[d4]

strangely enough, i'm finding the idea of a peanut butter & bacon sandwich oddly appealing. i wonder if that's actually on the menu anywhere...

 

[Ranger REG]

WotC's response was disinterest. Undeterred, SKR and Monte shopped the product around for d20 publication. From this crowd, they received a rather great deal of interest.

WotC noted that this product that they had initially turned their nose up at was now being favorably received by many publishers. Hurriedly, they made Monte and SKR an offer, which was apparently acceptable.

All of this took quite a bit of time, which is why we saw Ghostwalk being published on the eve of 3.5E, despite it's 3E mechanics. Either there was no time to convert it, or no real interest on anyone's part. Either way, the 3.5E update supplement (complete with a map of the region) is available now as a web enhancement.

Publishers liked Ghostwalk??? I dunno. Just another example of how wide the gap between publishers and customers are in the RPG market. I could never get my head wrapped around with such a ... unique setting. Then again, it's not my cup of tea.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Publishers liked Ghostwalk??? I dunno. Just another example of how wide the gap between publishers and customers are in the RPG market. I could never get my head wrapped around with such a ... unique setting. Then again, it's not my cup of tea.

To be fair, Ranger, that's not even remotely an indicator of how wide the gap is between publishers and customers. It's an indicator of how wide the gap is between publishers and people who don't like Ghostwalk. Given that Ghostwalk was very well received in some quarters, it's hardly accurate to equate the two.

(For the record, Ghostwalk falls into the "Well put together but not my cup of tea, either" category. I like the idea of a city of the dead; I just would have preferred it be handled differently. It's purely a preference issue, not a quality one; I'll be the first to admit GW is a solid piece of work.)

 

[Jhulae]

Yes.

Just as a "peanut-butter and bacon sandwich" might be only one small item on a menu at a restaurant -- and an item I need not order -- it says something about the restaurant as a whole.

That the restaurant wants to cater to all it's customers, no matter their particular culinary desires? That said restaurant feels confident enough that it can do that? I bet I could get a Peanut butter and bacon sandwich at one of Emeril's restaurants...

That's a restaruant I'd want to eat at.