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Message: <blockquote data-quote="D+1" data-source="post: 1604747" data-attributes="member: 13654">Yes it matters, no they don't need to be that big, and no they've NEVER explored all areas of a setting.That's most of the reason why over the years the settings I use or at least the PARTS of a setting that I use have gotten smaller and smaller.  I never feel the need to have a campaign with a scope that spans the globe.  Players never get a feel for a place like that and it's hard to pass along any kind of feel for a place like that.No they never run out of room (at least haven't so far), yes it does sometimes nonetheless feel too small, and if they've asked that last question they've never mentioned it to me (though they have mentioned more than once how much fun they're having which does no end of good for my ego.IME the larger the setting the more it's like trying to get to know the country by never leaving the Interstate.  You pass through all manner of terrain, little hamlets by the score and big cities - but never see more than an inn or a few other buildings as you move from point A to B.When players move overland and you repeatedly tell them, "You march for a week and nothing happens," or, "You ride for ten days, kill a few orcs, ride for 9 more..." then you are presenting a world that is impressive ONLY for it's size.  It's otherwise a wide, boring, empty place.  It DOES matter how big the world is because it affects the pacing of your campaign.  How long do pc's have to travel before something, anything, happens to them?  Size has a direct effect upon your style of play, the overall structure of a campaign, etc.  Bigger is not necessarily better.  As long as you have SOME idea of what's in the white spaces (what we used to refer to as "graph-paper terrain") so that you can fill it in if NEEDED, then it's NOT needed.  Trying to nonetheless directly apply those wide open spaces to your campaign when characters never see them or nothing ever happens in them alters the tone of the game.I think people may think they want the biggest, world-spanning game they can pump out but often it ends up being a lot of empty/flavorless white space.  The smaller the scale the more detailed and intimate a connection you can establish to the setting.  Not that world-spanning campaigns can't or don't work, just that it's not really what most people want, even though they might THINK that bigger=better.Just MNSHO</blockquote>

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