Have you been disillusioned by Eberron?

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Finally, if you want proof, then read that editorial from Dragon. I think that Matt Sernett (sp?) wrote it and it was about a year or so ago. He explicitly states that the currents themes are being taken from popular books (Harry Potter), video games, and cartoons such as pokemon, and that there target audience are people who grew up watching those shows and playing those games.

Ironically, most people that 'grew up' with these things are now hitting their early 20s...well away from 10-15 year old crowd.

To me it just sounds like you're saying "I don't like it so its obviously childish and for kids." Whether that's your intent or not, its how you come off.

 

[Belen]

ITo me it just sounds like you're saying "I don't like it so its obviously childish and for kids." Whether that's your intent or not, its how you come off.

No. I think that you and Mr. Dyal are hypersensitive where Eberron is concerned and taking insult when none is offered.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Most Homebrews suck.
Most of the worlds are boring and derivative, and most of the games run in them are harmed by the fact that they are located in a homebrew.

I do pretty much agree. A published campaign setting offers many things that it would take some time and complications to do, and in the end the more poeple working on it the more solid and coherent it will be instead of being subject to the DM's whim. And I'm not begrudging anyone who finds Eberron to be loads of fun their loads of fun.

However, it doesn't do what it needs to do to impress me on a personal level. I'm very used to homebrewing, and I run a new campaign setting every couple of months. I don't live in any one world for longer than it takes the PC's to solve their problem in it, usually. "Boring and derivitive" is hard to achieve when in January you're playing a leather-clad orc in a postapocalyltic planet dying from the lack of fey, and then by October you're playing a space ninja in an Oriental Adventures IN THE FUTURE kind of campaign. Eberron doesn't give me anything I need Eberron for. That's not to say others might not get anything out of it, of course.

Also, like Pants said, it's only been a year. Maybe once the writers get this warforged fetish out of their systems, we'll see some support for what makes Eberron unique. Prestige classes, feats, encounter tables, perhaps exotic locatoins for adventuring in Xen'drik. Perhaps involving Eberron's mild connection to space-fantasy (mmmmm). Perhaps helping those who want to explore their death-cult island elves, or tribal halflings. Things regarding working with international politics in the post-war five nations. Things that Eberron does that are not easily portable, and that make Eberron distinctive.

This isn't the same thing as advancing the world's timeline or anything like that. Merely giving DM's and players specific tools for handling what should make Eberron different from most settings out there. Dealing with the world, not just the world's mechanics.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled "BU being a grumpy old man who doesn't like these kids these days with their jazz music."

 

[Desdichado]

No. I think that you and Mr. Dyal are hypersensitive where Eberron is concerned and taking insult when none is offered.

Why would I be hyper-sensitive about Eberron? I like it well enough, but it's not even my favorite setting.

I think you should look around a bit more thoroughly, BU, and not write off repeated interpretations of what you say by several different people as merely hypersensitivity; whether you offer insult intentionally or not, what you say is insulting.

And it's poorly reasoned anyway. It's a campaign of misrepresentation, for the most part. And I'd really, really like to see an example or two of what these Yu-gi-oh and anime and Harry Potter elements in Eberron are supposed to be.

 

[Desdichado]

I don't live in any one world for longer than it takes the PC's to solve their problem in it, usually.

Possibly we're honing in on our disagreement and misunderstanding here, KM. Would you characterize yourself as the kind of person to whom the setting and the storyline of the campaign are very tightly entertwined, and that the setting is usually a very different place for the PC's actions? I.e., setting post campaign is very different from the setting pre-campaign?

 

[Pants]

Oh, and I'm not much of an anime defender; in fact, I'm often the guy anime defenders are arguing against, but your comment about Eberron matching current anime is absurd. What current anime, might I ask?

Did you get the memo? [/Bill Lumberg]

Anime has now been redefined as term to be used whenever someone refers to someone/something they don't like.

For example:
'Greedo shot first! The new Star Wars is too anime!'
'Man, that Fantastic Four movie sucks, it's too anime!'
'The art in 3e sucks, it's way too anime!'
'Governor Arnold is horrible, he's so anime...'

Also, like Pants said, it's only been a year. Maybe once the writers get this warforged fetish out of their systems, we'll see some support for what makes Eberron unique. Prestige classes, feats, encounter tables, perhaps exotic locatoins for adventuring in Xen'drik. Perhaps involving Eberron's mild connection to space-fantasy (mmmmm). Perhaps helping those who want to explore their death-cult island elves, or tribal halflings. Things regarding working with international politics in the post-war five nations. Things that Eberron does that are not easily portable, and that make Eberron distinctive.

Personally, I'd like to see the authors move away from having Sharn-centric adventures. Yeah, it's a cool city, but it seems like almost every adventure starts or revolves around Sharn. How about some action in the Demon Wastes? The Shadow Marches? Q'Barra? Or even the Eldeen Reaches?

Eberron's a big place and I feel they may be limiting themselves by basing everything around Sharn.

 

[Mystery Man]

And it's poorly reasoned anyway. It's a campaign of misrepresentation, for the most part. And I'd really, really like to see an example or two of what these Yu-gi-oh and anime and Harry Potter elements in Eberron are supposed to be.

Page 1 - 320.

Sorry! Sorry...couldn't resist.

 

[painandgreed]

Yes, they added in some more adult elements to help win over existing fans, but they are firmly in the mindset that "Eberron ain't your grandpa's setting."

Spellpunk is what the kiddies want.

I'm 38 and it's what I want too. Our Eberron DM is 40 and he loves it.

The typical medieval D&D world is fine with a little magic and when wizards are rare, but when every small little village has their own wizard and cleric, the abundance of magic would change the world. This is how we see Eberron. A world where magic has become common and even industrialized as it would be at normal D&D levels. It's seems a natural progression but one that would be hard to do in a homebrew because the world would be too different to draw too many people into. That Eberron is mass marketed has exposed everybody to the setting and made it viable.

 

[resistor]

I find it a bit sad that a lot of people seem to have skipped on the third adventure because the second one sucked.

While Whispers of the Vampire's Blade was pretty bad, it was also totally removable from the storyline for the series. In fact, one of the major complaints against it was that it had nothing to do with the plot of the other modules.

Grasp of the Emerald Claw, on the other hand, was great, actually followed in the same plotline, and was just altogether awesome. So to those who didn't like Whispers, I strongly suggest at least checking out Grasp before throwing it out as well.

 

[Micah]

I like the setting, liked when it came out enough to choose to DM in it. I was disappointed in the adventure path. Though "disillusioned" would be too harsh a word.

I still like it and continue to play it. A well written adventure path would have made the game easier for me, and would have given the setting a better foundation in my opinion.


Though with players like we've got at the table almost any game setting would be fun.