Eberron: The XTREME D&D Setting!

[Felon]

The hype? All I've seen is negative buzz from people who don't know much about the setting and glowing comments from those who attended Winter Fantasy and actually played it.

There's been negative buzz and there's been positive buzz. A few people attended a brief playtest session at WF, and so far the only person I've seen post about that experience is a fellow who's been a hardcore Eberron/Keith Baker enthusiast for some time now. There really isn't much insight on either side of the issue, but that's Wizard's fault for confining details on the project to snippets and teasers and likening it to "movie-X-meets-movie-Y". I understand some things haven't been finalized, but the design process has to be farther along than what we've heard so far.

Some folks are stoked by the new setting because it's so different, some are annoyed with the spellpunk elements because they sound gimmicky, and a great many could give a darn either way. I'm trying very hard to reserve judgment.

 

[~Johnny~]

A few people attended a brief playtest session at WF, and so far the only person I've seen post about that experience is a fellow who's been a hardcore Eberron/Keith Baker enthusiast for some time now.

There were actually a few playtest adventures, which were all several hours long. So far, I've only seen three people post about those experiences, but the responses are uniformly positive. For a collection of those quotes, click here: Eberron.

Some folks are stoked by the new setting because it's so different, some are annoyed with the spellpunk elements because they sound gimmicky, and a great many could give a darn either way.

Actually, what appeals to me about the setting is that it doesn't seem gimmicky or forced. It seems like the logical evolution of D&D settings, a fantasy world that picks up existing tropes of modern fantasy and puts them together in a thoughtful way. It's to 3E what Forgotten Realms was to 2E: a setting more about little details than high concept.

I certainly agree that you Wizards hasn't revealed much in the way of information about the setting, and I can understand the misgivings of people who are only feeling one part of the elephant. But when I started to research what's out there, including pages of text that Keith Baker has posted on message boards, I've liked everything I've heard. I have a feeling that a lot more people will feel the same way when they see the big picture of the setting later this year.

 

[Emiricol]

As opposed to me, who didn't like most of what I've read. A difference of opinion doesn't mean you simply know more, thanks.

 

[~Johnny~]

As opposed to me, who didn't like most of what I've read. A difference of opinion doesn't mean you simply know more, thanks.

I apologize if I came off as acting like a know-it-all. I just literally mean that I went from totally uninterested in the setting to totally stoked when I got the chance to actually ask Keith Baker questions about the setting.

Sure, there will always be people for whom a setting isn't interesting, but I do believe that the disporportionate amount of bile and bashing we've seen directed at Eberron will settle down when it's actually released.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

In my opinion, Wizards isn't doing a good job of promoting the setting. People are making their decisions based on the limited info that they've put out and a lot of them claim the want like the setting based on that info.

But, if you dig a little deeper, you'll find that Kieth has done a lot of good PR work and a lot of the things people complain about are either gross exaggerations or are taken out of context.

The biggest example I can thing of is the Lightning Rail and things like air ships. If you just read Wizard's info, you'd think they were everywhere. When, in fact, those things are very rare if not unique. The inclusion of dinosaurs is another thing that has been similarly blown out of proportion.

If you are going to try to form an opinion this early in Eberron's life, at least try to make an informed one. If you made your decision based only off of Wizard's preview material, simply put, you made an uninformed decision.

Even if you think you're not going to like it, at least check out the site listed above. You still might not like it, and that's fine, but at least you'll not like it for the right reasons. And even then, you might want to check out reviews after it's release or flip through a copy.

 

[Emiricol]

I apologize if I came off as acting like a know-it-all. I just literally mean that I went from totally uninterested in the setting to totally stoked when I got the chance to actually ask Keith Baker questions about the setting.

Sure, there will always be people for whom a setting isn't interesting, but I do believe that the disporportionate amount of bile and bashing we've seen directed at Eberron will settle down when it's actually released.

Oh definitely A lot of people who aren't liking it at this point do so because of the preview material. I can pretty safely say that probably isn't a good indicator of the setting as a whole. Once the setting is out a lot of people will probably change their minds.