Does Wizards want Greyhawk to fail?
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Philotomy Jurament
First Post
IMO, Greyhawk has been dead since Gary left TSR. Post-Gary TSR animated the corpse and it's been slowly shambling along in undead form ever since, somtimes stinking more and sometimes less.
I love Greyhawk (it and the Wilderlands are my two favorite settings), but I won't weep if "official support" ends.
I love Greyhawk (it and the Wilderlands are my two favorite settings), but I won't weep if "official support" ends.
Thunderfoot
Hero
How about both...
I think the resurgence in Greyhawk material has been spurred on by the RPGA and its various regional campaigns. When WotC allowed this to be used for its test system (so as not to upset their more popular settings) they had no clue as to the potential they were giving to a Greyhawk resurgence. I think it was only after the cat had escaped the bag that they realized that they had doomed their plans to jump the setting to a more established setting like FR.
Of course, since it was the default world, a lot of folks decided to actually research it and low and behold, all the classic setting began to re-surface. Oops, now they had to support it. Unfortunately, the writing, editing, marketing, etc, passed the window of opportunity and coincided with the launch window of 4e. The result, 4e is announced and a glut of Grehawk stuff is released as the setting is being shut down.
Its no secret that WotC wants to distance themselves from OD&D and 1e, but the fans wanted Greyhawk and Blackmoor. They gave it to them, but now they are getting FR, whether they like it or not. FR is extremely popular and will be fine for most folks. I however, will kill any dual-wielding, good-aligned drow rangers that I see and not fret twice. Elminster, be ye warned.
(PS, I didn't like Dragonlance either.)
I think the resurgence in Greyhawk material has been spurred on by the RPGA and its various regional campaigns. When WotC allowed this to be used for its test system (so as not to upset their more popular settings) they had no clue as to the potential they were giving to a Greyhawk resurgence. I think it was only after the cat had escaped the bag that they realized that they had doomed their plans to jump the setting to a more established setting like FR.
Of course, since it was the default world, a lot of folks decided to actually research it and low and behold, all the classic setting began to re-surface. Oops, now they had to support it. Unfortunately, the writing, editing, marketing, etc, passed the window of opportunity and coincided with the launch window of 4e. The result, 4e is announced and a glut of Grehawk stuff is released as the setting is being shut down.
Its no secret that WotC wants to distance themselves from OD&D and 1e, but the fans wanted Greyhawk and Blackmoor. They gave it to them, but now they are getting FR, whether they like it or not. FR is extremely popular and will be fine for most folks. I however, will kill any dual-wielding, good-aligned drow rangers that I see and not fret twice. Elminster, be ye warned.
(PS, I didn't like Dragonlance either.)
dragonlordofpoondari
Explorer
It is hard to imagine the announcement of 4th edition not having an effect on sales of 3rd edition material. The timing is unfortunate, since Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk was on the market for about a day before the shoe dropped.
It does seem ... suspicious.
It does seem ... suspicious.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
If anything, I think they tried hard to revive the setting, taking it back to basics by ditching the Carl Seargeant baggage and making Greyhawk the default 3.0 setting. To me, it simply seemed that the first big Greyhawk push (with the core rule integration and Living Greyhawk) simply failed to rake in the money like FR did.
At the end of the day, WotC is a business -- which means publishing what sells best in order to continue publishing anything at all. While the Greyhawk fan community it undoubtedly loyal, compared to the FR fan community, I think that it is also very small (I think that WotC initially miscalculated its size and, thus, purchasing power).
All of that said, I like all of the 3x Greyhawk material (from LG to the Paizo APs) much better than the body of AD&D2e Greyhawk material.
At the end of the day, WotC is a business -- which means publishing what sells best in order to continue publishing anything at all. While the Greyhawk fan community it undoubtedly loyal, compared to the FR fan community, I think that it is also very small (I think that WotC initially miscalculated its size and, thus, purchasing power).
All of that said, I like all of the 3x Greyhawk material (from LG to the Paizo APs) much better than the body of AD&D2e Greyhawk material.
Mortellan
Explorer
I am beginning to warm up to all these comparisons of the Greyhawk franchise to something undead or dead-loving. I wouldn't think of it as a stinking zombie though, it's more like a lich. No matter how many times you kill it, it reforms again later. The phylactery is well hid too. Keep one eye open, Greyhawk is going to sneak up on you all!
Alaric_Prympax
First Post
No, I don't believe they care about GH. But they do want us to keep playing 3e till next April/May so go out and buy EtCG and play 3e till then. But in April/May buy the 4e Adventure/quick start guide and the NEW SHINEY PH and forget everything you did with 3e and start over with 4e because it's quicker and better and so different that conversion of 3e material is not worth the effort.
Yeah, it seems they really were going to wait for the sales numbers to come in to make a descision to support GH or not, especially now that 4e is coming out and FR will be republished in 2008, Eberron 2009, and who knows what in 2010 maybe GH. 1 GH book per 3 or 4 years is about right with WotC.
IMO what they saw all these years was that there was a vocal outcry for GH and they wanted to get back in the adventure business. They do hardcovers well and someone came up with the idea of "Expedition to ..." series of hardcover adventures and Castle Greyhawk is an iconic place of legend. Thus they would meet the demand for a Greyhawk book and send 3e out with a bang.
I do thank WotC for a GH book, but a GH revival based off of EtCG sales seems unlikely since 4e is coming out and EtCG will be uncompatable with it.
Do I seem a little bitter... yeah I am, because I'm a born Greyhawker.
I wish they would license it to Paizo and let a master (Erik) work on it. Oh well, time to move on it seems.
Yeah, it seems they really were going to wait for the sales numbers to come in to make a descision to support GH or not, especially now that 4e is coming out and FR will be republished in 2008, Eberron 2009, and who knows what in 2010 maybe GH. 1 GH book per 3 or 4 years is about right with WotC.
IMO what they saw all these years was that there was a vocal outcry for GH and they wanted to get back in the adventure business. They do hardcovers well and someone came up with the idea of "Expedition to ..." series of hardcover adventures and Castle Greyhawk is an iconic place of legend. Thus they would meet the demand for a Greyhawk book and send 3e out with a bang.
I do thank WotC for a GH book, but a GH revival based off of EtCG sales seems unlikely since 4e is coming out and EtCG will be uncompatable with it.
Do I seem a little bitter... yeah I am, because I'm a born Greyhawker.
I wish they would license it to Paizo and let a master (Erik) work on it. Oh well, time to move on it seems.We can only hope that Greyhawk is getting a campaign setting. We do not know at this time. We know that Greyhawk is not the default setting for 4e and RPGA Living Greyhawk is being shut-down.
That's an odd thing to say. FR is not the default setting of 4e.
We know for sure Eberron and FR will get campaign settings books. FR is just the first.
Secondly, FR is hardly new, having been around since the '70s.
Emphasis mine.BluSponge said:Eh. Your question assumes Wizards cares, which I don't believe they do.
4e *IS* Forgotten Realms, after all.
The new generation's taking over.
Tom
That's an odd thing to say. FR is not the default setting of 4e.
We know for sure Eberron and FR will get campaign settings books. FR is just the first.
Secondly, FR is hardly new, having been around since the '70s.
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