Mercurius
Legend
One thought that keeps nudging at the back of my mind--and I was reminded of when, I think, Ruin Explorer said "let's kill Kalak again!"--is that some of these settings have been largely untouched for decades. I mean, even 4E Dark Sun was 12 years ago, and 2E Dark Sun was first published 31 years ago (and only had a six-year run). So with Dark Sun, we have a setting that was published for a bit over a half-decade 25-30 years ago, then briefly resuscitated 12 years ago.
Now on the other hand, consider that the vast majority of the current player base is under 30 years old and also--and more importantly--never played D&D before 5E. Meaning, I'm fairly certain that 80-90% of current D&D players have never killed Kalak - and it may be more like 95%. Meaning, killing Kalak would be a new and potentially novel experience for most.
Now let's think of "Killing Kalak" as a proverb. In other words, as a general principle for something that older folks--be they grognards or quasi-grognards--have done, but younger folks (newish players) likely haven't.
Let's also consider that if you're reading this, you're part of a demographic that doesn't at all much up with the current D&D player base. I realize that there are many under-30-somethings on this forum, but this forum skews much older, on average, than the total D&D demographic.
I realize I'm not saying anything new, just that I think we could all (myself included) use a regular reminder, especially when it comes to WotC "re-hashing" old material, or re-working it in a way that we grogs and quasi-grogs don't remember as being the "right way."
This is not to say that newer is always better. There are many film re-makes, for instance, that are far worse than the original (I'm thinking of you, Jacob's Ladder). Even within D&D, most Realms fans prefer the gray box or FRCS to the 4E version.
But my point is that, for most, a 2023 Dark Sun (for instance) wouldn't as much be a remake as a first exposure, and while we older folks might gnash our teeth at them doing it wrong, we might just reduce our own misery by accepting that, well, time moves on.
Oh, and a p.s. to @Ruin Explorer, just to clarify: I'm making no assumption about what your thoughts are on "killing Kalak" other than what you said. The phrase just inspired this line of thinking.
Now on the other hand, consider that the vast majority of the current player base is under 30 years old and also--and more importantly--never played D&D before 5E. Meaning, I'm fairly certain that 80-90% of current D&D players have never killed Kalak - and it may be more like 95%. Meaning, killing Kalak would be a new and potentially novel experience for most.
Now let's think of "Killing Kalak" as a proverb. In other words, as a general principle for something that older folks--be they grognards or quasi-grognards--have done, but younger folks (newish players) likely haven't.
Let's also consider that if you're reading this, you're part of a demographic that doesn't at all much up with the current D&D player base. I realize that there are many under-30-somethings on this forum, but this forum skews much older, on average, than the total D&D demographic.
I realize I'm not saying anything new, just that I think we could all (myself included) use a regular reminder, especially when it comes to WotC "re-hashing" old material, or re-working it in a way that we grogs and quasi-grogs don't remember as being the "right way."
This is not to say that newer is always better. There are many film re-makes, for instance, that are far worse than the original (I'm thinking of you, Jacob's Ladder). Even within D&D, most Realms fans prefer the gray box or FRCS to the 4E version.
But my point is that, for most, a 2023 Dark Sun (for instance) wouldn't as much be a remake as a first exposure, and while we older folks might gnash our teeth at them doing it wrong, we might just reduce our own misery by accepting that, well, time moves on.
Oh, and a p.s. to @Ruin Explorer, just to clarify: I'm making no assumption about what your thoughts are on "killing Kalak" other than what you said. The phrase just inspired this line of thinking.
