Are you the type of GM, or do you play with the type of GM who frequently buys new books then immediately tries to work in the new rules no matter how silly, cumbersome or atypical of the campaign they may be?
Have you as a player seen a massive increase in undead in your game since the GM picked up Librum Mortis? Has your normally temperate world suddenly been invaded by cold weather since Frostburn's release? Did your GM suddenly drop a map of a new continent no one has ever heard of in your lap since he picked up Generic CS #77 from the game shop?
My question is, does this frustrate anyone else? Aside from being jarringly unpredictable from one new release to the next, it's just a continuity nightmare. Do you as a GM do this? Do you as a player like it? Does the sight of your GM with a new book in his hand illicit a rolling of the eyes and a long sigh while thoughts of, "Oh, great. Yet another tangent" echo in your brain?
I know that some GMs can pulls this off well. Perhaps s/he planned for the future and had a nice global arrangment already set up with all climates involved. Perhaps there is a really great and epic storyline for the unusually high numbers of undead you're beginning to face. In my case, it just isn't so. This can be true of published campaign settings as well. When the Underdark came out, did your GM suddenly thrust you into an underdark adventure or two when you had been already content in the Silver Marches?
Here is my take on this. As a GM I too get excited about new supplements. I too get a myriad of ideas and a sense of wonder as to where my campaign can go with this new supplement. The trick is to write the idea(s) down, and file them away for a while. For me, it's about 3 months. Once that time has passed, I can usually see how my great ideas were a bit of a railroad attempt and also judge the good ideas from the not so good ones. As a player I am sick and tired of my GM buying a new book and corraling our group into an adventure based in or on that new book the next week. The continuity is broken. The suspension of disbelief is shattered irrepairably and other players and I start bets on what kind of game we'll have next week when the GM mentions he picked up a couple of new books this week.
If this is you as a GM, please, for the sake of your players and for your own reputation, please talk to your players and see how they feel about this.
Actually, I cannot stress that enough as a GM - Talk to your players frequently. Ask for their opinions on sessions, on games, on campaigns, on direction. Don't criticize their "stupid play" when you do this either, as that really won't let them express how they feel about the game in the future. As a GM be prepared to accept criticism. A GM needs to always remember they are the referee and the direction of the game is really decided by the players in-character reactions to the world you present for them.
I tend to look at GMing as gift giving. If I give Lord of the Rings to a friend to read, I cannot make them see it through my eyes. I cannot make sure they note all the details. I can point them out, but I cannot make them appreciate them the way I do. I can't make sure my friend doesn't dog ear pages and write in the margins. I cannot ensure my friend will even want to finish reading the books after Frodo leaves the Shire. All I can do is present my friend with this volume and how he treats it from then on is that friend's decision. I can nudge and ask, "Did you get to the part with that really powerful but happy fellow that sang the poetic songs?" I can lead, but I cannot, I must not, force my view of Middle Earth upon them, as everyone is entitled to their own interpretation and after all, isn't that what makes giving the gift, and GMing so fun?
Have you as a player seen a massive increase in undead in your game since the GM picked up Librum Mortis? Has your normally temperate world suddenly been invaded by cold weather since Frostburn's release? Did your GM suddenly drop a map of a new continent no one has ever heard of in your lap since he picked up Generic CS #77 from the game shop?
My question is, does this frustrate anyone else? Aside from being jarringly unpredictable from one new release to the next, it's just a continuity nightmare. Do you as a GM do this? Do you as a player like it? Does the sight of your GM with a new book in his hand illicit a rolling of the eyes and a long sigh while thoughts of, "Oh, great. Yet another tangent" echo in your brain?
I know that some GMs can pulls this off well. Perhaps s/he planned for the future and had a nice global arrangment already set up with all climates involved. Perhaps there is a really great and epic storyline for the unusually high numbers of undead you're beginning to face. In my case, it just isn't so. This can be true of published campaign settings as well. When the Underdark came out, did your GM suddenly thrust you into an underdark adventure or two when you had been already content in the Silver Marches?
Here is my take on this. As a GM I too get excited about new supplements. I too get a myriad of ideas and a sense of wonder as to where my campaign can go with this new supplement. The trick is to write the idea(s) down, and file them away for a while. For me, it's about 3 months. Once that time has passed, I can usually see how my great ideas were a bit of a railroad attempt and also judge the good ideas from the not so good ones. As a player I am sick and tired of my GM buying a new book and corraling our group into an adventure based in or on that new book the next week. The continuity is broken. The suspension of disbelief is shattered irrepairably and other players and I start bets on what kind of game we'll have next week when the GM mentions he picked up a couple of new books this week.
If this is you as a GM, please, for the sake of your players and for your own reputation, please talk to your players and see how they feel about this.
Actually, I cannot stress that enough as a GM - Talk to your players frequently. Ask for their opinions on sessions, on games, on campaigns, on direction. Don't criticize their "stupid play" when you do this either, as that really won't let them express how they feel about the game in the future. As a GM be prepared to accept criticism. A GM needs to always remember they are the referee and the direction of the game is really decided by the players in-character reactions to the world you present for them.
I tend to look at GMing as gift giving. If I give Lord of the Rings to a friend to read, I cannot make them see it through my eyes. I cannot make sure they note all the details. I can point them out, but I cannot make them appreciate them the way I do. I can't make sure my friend doesn't dog ear pages and write in the margins. I cannot ensure my friend will even want to finish reading the books after Frodo leaves the Shire. All I can do is present my friend with this volume and how he treats it from then on is that friend's decision. I can nudge and ask, "Did you get to the part with that really powerful but happy fellow that sang the poetic songs?" I can lead, but I cannot, I must not, force my view of Middle Earth upon them, as everyone is entitled to their own interpretation and after all, isn't that what makes giving the gift, and GMing so fun?
The campaign were headed towards dragons anyway: A dragon disciple PC was expecting eggs with a great wyrm and planning a quest of atonement after angering Tiamat, just before the book came out. 
