Does Eberron fandom correllate to experience with other non-D&D RPGs?

[Desdichado]

I was having a side conversation on another board, and this thought occured to me. A lot of the "Eberron hatahs" seem to be very conservative and traditional in their roleplaying tastes, i.e., if it doesn't look like Tolkien, or at least Greyhawk and FR, then it's not what they want. One guy even claimed that these non-traditional elements of Eberron cause "cognitive dissonance" for gamers. Maybe that's true for that subset, but clearly for another large subset, it doesn't seem to be because they accept the changes in tone and style that Eberron tries to bring to the table. It made me think of acceptance of those changes and lack of cognitive dissonance is correllated with experience with other non-D&D games, or at the very least settings that are far from traditional.

Anyway, I know this kind of data isn't very good at proving anything, but I'm curious enough to ask anyway. For purposes of this poll, you'll have to decide for yourself what you consider to be a "traditional" D&D setting and what isn't. As a guide, I'd certainly consider Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, the Known World, etc. as traditional, and settings like Planescape, Dark Sun, etc. as "non-traditional."

And, for purposes of the poll, if you've had experience with both non-traditional fantasy settings AND non-D&D games, vote for the non-D&D games; it "trumps" the earlier option in terms of what I'm trying to ask.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I don't know if "traditionalism" is that big a deal, actually.

FR doesn't resemble Tolkien at all (IMO), but it's quite traditional swords-n-sorcery.

I don't think of myself as a traditionalist. Still, there's a few things that irk me about Eberron. Land carts and dinosaurs are among them.

 

[Odhanan]

I've had substantial experiences with non-D&D RPGs and I like Eberron.

 

[Shade]

I dislike Eberron, but not because its non-traditional in the overall RPG sense. In fact, I've borrowed some of the more "non-traditional" elements like artificers and warforged for other campaigns.

 

[shilsen]

I never played a non-D&D RPG till very recently, so my experience was completely with traditional D&D settings when I found Eberron, and I love the setting.

 

[Desdichado]

Brannich Blacksmoke!

I have no idea when I have enough votes to even attempt to claim anything meaningful here, but so far the poll is conforming to my preconceived notions, anyway.

 

[Glyfair]

I have no idea when I have enough votes to even attempt to claim anything meaningful here, but so far the poll is conforming to my preconceived notions, anyway.

I think you are jumping quite a bit. There are hardly any "anti-Eberron" votes, and I suspect the large amount of pro-Eberron votes having large non-D&D rpg experience mirrors the tendancy of the community here.

 

[hafrogman]

I've played many types of RPGs, in lots of different genres, fantasy, sci-fi, modern, post-apocalyptic, etc. But I enjoy them and I enjoy D&D, as seperate things. Just because I like ice cream and broccoli doesn't mean I want broccoli flavored ice cream.

No Eberron for me.

 

[Grymar]

My experience is almost exclusively in Grayhawk and FR and I love Eberron, mostly because it is different. It is fresh. It is like adding cayenne pepper to chocolate ice-cream; it is nearly the same, yet it has a very different kick. The result is something that people love or hate, but almost everyone has a strong opinion one way or another.

 

[Kvantum]

I dislike Eberron, but not because its non-traditional in the overall RPG sense. In fact, I've borrowed some of the more "non-traditional" elements like artificers and warforged for other campaigns.

This sums up my feelings (and idea-mining) quite succinctly. I've mostly played D&D for the last 15 or so years, and there's just something about Eberron that feels "off" to me. I can't put my finger on it, maybe the pulp sensabilities of it, but it just bothers me.

And as far as non-traditional D&D experience, Dark Sun is still my favroite campaign setting, so there you go.