The setting was referenced implicitly, with a 2+ page section at the end mentioning the gods and titans. While flavorful, it was inadequate to detail the setting itself. This sounds very similar to what people describe how the setting is detailed in the current Spelljammer product.
Inadequate to detail the setting itself, but were people calling them bad products?
Then I submit that is a failure of the published setting. Wherever there are collections of people there will be interrelationships and trade, hostile or otherwise. Even Traveller and Lancer, games set ostensibly in our galaxy, have worlds at great distance affecting others, chart trade routes, culture clash/shock, &c.
Would there?
Our own world had large collections of people. Yet, even though the Greeks and the Iberans lived during the same time history can only determine they were vaguely aware of each other. Greek history is taught and mostly complete without them being referenced. Even by the time the Vikings could mostly safely sail and travel, they didn't reach the Horn of Africa, or encounter the people of Mesoamerica. And none of these groups were aware of the Chinese.
Remember, Spelljamming isn't anywhere close to safe. This isn't even as safe as the Age of Sail, though the tech is closer, because the "sea monsters" are real. So, could you really establish major trade routes between Crystal Spheres? Even if you could, what would you trade? Gold, Iron, Salt? Many of the planets with advanced civilizations capable of trade have those things, otherwise they couldn't have Spelljammers.
Interrelationships and Trade require more than the possibility of some explorers to reach out and find another culture, but for trade routes and established connections. And even if they do, what do we say? What planets and spheres are so important that we must talk about their relationships? And, as I said before, in Spelljamer, planets are the equivalent of towns. You go, you visit, and then you leave. Do we expect settings to detail "wars" between town militias? Sure, these conflicts are bigger than that, but in the context of the infinite space of the Astral Sea... they are minor. They aren't going to reshape how the players interact with the setting, they aren't going to risk the destruction of the Astral Sea.
I'm not saying such details wouldn't be nice, they would, but they aren't vital for the functioning of the setting like they would be in other settings.
Not necessarily. For this point I was thinking of the
Bajau, a nomadic sea people. Also, if I was tracking the expansion of the Polynesian peoples, that would cover many tiny to moderately sized islands dispersed in the South Pacific.
Even so, I understand your point of focusing where the people and points of interest are. Those should be presented with an appropriate amount of detail, including interrelationships. My understanding is that this wasn't done, and was present in the previous presentation.
But this is where the point is. There are infinite places where people are, and infinite points of interest. So which ones do you detail?
Like, it isn't even a matter that they didn't detail the Astral Elven Empire of Xaryxis, but that the sidebar in the other book makes it clear that this is just one Astral Elven Empire of many Astral Elven Empires. Which ones do you detail? Do you detail the Dwarven Empires or the Giff Empires? Both exist, which one do you detail?
Do you talk about the floating body of a dead god? Which one? There are hundreds at a minimum. An asteroid containing a demonic artifact? There are a lot of those.
Detailing these places and interelating them would do one of two things. It would either be mostly random, because none of them are more important than the other, or it would constrain the setting. Now, there could be an argument that an infinite setting is hard to use, just like a blank canvass, but many of the people complaining are doing exactly what you said. They wanted the book to give them the same info they had in 2e. They want to know that this race controls this planet and is at war with this other race who controls this other planet. But that conflict doesn't really matter for the setting. It'd be a fun little place to go if you want to participate in a space war, but the more important part is wanting to participate in a space war, and the setting provides enough to make your own.
You are missing part of the point of a purchased setting. When you are buying a setting you are looking for inspiration and time savings. If you are presented with "a setting in less than a paragraph that would be plenty for people to run a game in that setting" you don't have a lot of time savings, do you? There is no reason why Spelljammer should or is better by having a paucity of detail when compared to other settings.
All that said, for those who purchased the product and are happy with it, then it's all good. I don't believe that Spelljammer sales are particularly supportive for the format. The community judgement comes with the next supplement that uses the same format, which I believe is going to be Planescape. We'll see how that does. Personally, I love planar adventuring so I am planning on picking that one up. (The only 5e purchase I'll make beyond the core three.) I'll present my feedback then on my purchase.
Where I disagree with that is that I don't believe that spending money on a setting changes the quality of the setting. That is like saying that just because I sell you a Porsche for a dollar it is a cheap junker. Or that if I sell you a rusted frame for a million and a half, that it is a formula-one car.
Now, maybe this isn't saving people enough time. That is potentially a fair argument. But it is saving a lot of time. And there is plenty of inspiration here. I just feel like people need to be open to the inspiration that is here, instead of pining for 2e.
