Khorvaire:Two Problems

[d4]

"Boss, we're running out of space to store the gems again."

well people are always wondering where good dragons get their hoards from. obviously those over-productive, too-efficient dwarves are just giving the treasure away!

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Yes, I got ticked. If you must dismiss an analogy of mine show me why. Declaring something irrelevant does not make it so.

There is a whole lot worth considering in a simple statement of "the prices are appropriate for the economy." And you simply dismissed out of hand without comment. Should I take it that you didn't even think about it like you are accusing me?

For part of your thesis that civilization of Eberron will fly apart at the seems, you claimed that people are too far spread apart and that as social beings humans must communicate with the fellows or else the connections that hold society together melt away and civilzation as it is known in Khorvaire ends. Especially since whispering wind the cheapest arcane communication method costs 60gp (it is really 50 gp... As I said, this difference doesn't make a difference to the problem you are critical of, but it is the correct price nonetheless.). You said that the average peasant coun't afford such prices.

I mentioned that it is probably the right price for Khorvaire's economy. It is a feudal-like society which has a whole lot of implicit concepts for how such an economy must work... But Khorvaire isn't a pure feudal society and this cannot be ignored, the individual difference between Khorvaire's version and the real world model are many and compensating for the differences can only be guessed at by even the most competant economists. But the Eberron book pretty much lays out the peasant life as one might imagine... they aren't dying to plop hard earned coins for an arcane internet. So when I said "the prices are appropriate for the Khorvaire economy", I am saying the prices are probably set for those customers who have urgent need talk send a message pronto where time is of the essence... i.e. manor lords and nobility. Just because peasant can't afford it doesn't mean that there aren't ANY customers.

In the post of mine you quote from I extensively remark about the other methods of communication the Eberron Campaign Setting Book talks about. The prices of these other methods are relevant to the pricing of whispering wind, and the continuum of prices for communication are all a part pf the whole of the "communication industry" in Khorvaire's economy. In the post of mine I explicitly stated that House Sivis has a message relay service that transmits a full written page for 5gp per page. While there is not much details on how the pages are moved from customer to customer, upon first reading it sounded like the Pony Express. Still not peasant-priced, but it is worth keeping this in mind with the context of how the Pony Express worked and who it serviced and its impact on society in the American West... and the settlement patterns across Khorvaire that seem to be spread apart as far as those in the American West.

I also mentioned that House Orien has post service that is priced at 1 cp per mile. So the peasant can send a message to the next village 60 miles away for 60cp... that "magic" number you pin-pointed as being the price that could end feudalism in Khorvaire.

So we have different price schemes for the different feudal classes. The upper classes can get near-instantaneous brief messages sent, but at a premium only they can afford. And the peasants have a slower postal delivery system available.

But the great body of this post is just repeating what I already posted. The point being that there is a robust communication industry, differing long-ranged services affordable at varying levels.

In other words, ... "prices appropriate for Khorvaire's economy." I didn't dismiss out of hand, as the rest of the post (which I nearly entirely repeated here) dealt with your thesis. That there are higher priced spells that deliver faster or longer range services, it matters little considering there are reasonably priced services, that have an historical analogue of working in a Khorvaire-like dispersal of population, to meet the "peasant market's" demand.

 

[Piratecat]

Do you have trouble thinking about things. Or is blind reaction more your style?

Mythusmage is banned for 48 hours. Folks, we're serious about staying polite here. Please don't abuse that.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Eric, please avoid, "Pot meet kettle," and the like. Calling someone a hypocrit, especially in so flippant a manner, does not improve the level of discourse.

For everyone, "But it's the truth," is not a defense for being insulting or breaking any other rule.

 

[Remathilis]

I guess I fall into the meh category. if the numbers are too low, none of my PCs have seemed to notice.

I just came to watch a fight and a message-board discussion broke out.

 

[Anabstercorian]

While I think Mythusmage is being waaay too confrontational, he's got some good points. I'm definately going to boost the population levels for my game. Hell, the mournlands are twice the size of California, Karrnath is twice the size of Texas - these are BIG places, and they need a BIG feel. I'll be mostly changing things on the fly, but I'll be changing things.

 

[William Ronald]

While I think Mythusmage is being waaay too confrontational, he's got some good points. I'm definately going to boost the population levels for my game. Hell, the mournlands are twice the size of California, Karrnath is twice the size of Texas - these are BIG places, and they need a BIG feel. I'll be mostly changing things on the fly, but I'll be changing things.

That is the key thing. You are making changes because you, Anabstercorian, want to make changes that seem more logical to you . I think we can and should respect differences of opinion. I think most games and settings are designed so that DMs have flexibility to pursue what they want for themselves and their players. So, I say, live and let live.

 

[reanjr]

Just a note for those watching from the sidelines. The first comment here:

"Eberron is a product of marketing, not creative inspiration. "

is not excused by:

"Now, I'm not saying Keith is not creative..."

Actually, yes, you just did insult Keith (while he has been trying to maintain a professional, even friendly, conversation, even). One of the nice things about EN World is that a lot of developers come here and talk to us about their work. Comments like this poison the well, and tend to make the developers less likely to come back.

I don't really know how I insulted Keith with that. Any problems I have with the setting are in presentation only and not on the creative content in the book. I think you are misinterpreting my post. I simply don't like how 3e is being handled on many levels; and Eberron is our first taste of how Wizards is handling a new campaign setting. Do I think that NONE of the authors that have worked on 3e are creative and talented just because I think the game has become uninspired? Absolutely not. Do I think Wizards is an uninspired company? Absolutely.

 

[reanjr]

But what if you like settings that are actually fun?

:ducks:

I don't know. I never saw a setting as fun or not fun. That's the DM's job. I see settings more as intriguing/derivative, or interesting/trite, etc.

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

I'll just weigh in here as one of the people for whom the current population levels are not a concern...

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