Looking for some feedback

[KDLadage]

I ran a poll in this thread and would like some more feedback concerning the results.

The question was Have you played any of the settings hosted by ENWorld?. At the time I write this there are 118 votes. Of those, 34% do not like the settings, 13% were not aware of them, 28% borrowed material from them, and 12% had other reasons for not using them. The rest had played in them.

To those that answered the poll (and anyone else that would like to opine), I have some questions:

• For those that answered that they did not care for any of them -- what was it about them that you did not like?
• For those that borrowed material, what sorts of things did you borrow? What things surprised you about the settings?
• For those that were not aware of the settings -- now that you are, what do you like/dislike about what you see?

I have other questions too, but we'll see if I can get a conversation going in this thread over these first.

 

[Eosin the Red]

I did not vote but I will give you a kind bump and my take.


I have not played in any of them - I did look at The Shadowlands, and I still frequent Darlages site(s). I steal from him cause that is the kind of fantasy I like --- nasty evil HUMAN bad guys. A recognizable fantasy literature basis, as opposed to the "D&D Genre" as it has become known. Magic is kept in check.

 

[alsih2o]

For those that borrowed material, what sorts of things did you borrow?

one f the players in my tuesday night game wanted to go shaman with his second level after some experience with the world.

i am not picky about what i let into the game, largely because i do not have a large collection of d20 material. (gasp!) we went looking for a shaman class we could both live with and found the shaman class form dusk and we have nabbed it.

we may tinker wiht it a bit, i could probably give more comment on it after i have seen it in play for a while.

 

[KDLadage]

Anything else? Anyone?

 

[haiiro]

I'd like to be helpful, but I voted "I have not played in any of the hosted settings but I have read one or more of them and have borrowed material from them" -- because I have read a bit of Dusk (but not borrowed anything from it).

OOC, what other questions do you have?

 

[KDLadage]

Well, I have a lot of questions... like, if you borrowed from one of the campaigns -- which one was it and in what campaign did you use it in?

Why do you use the campaign you are using as opposed to one of the hosted campaigns? Is is a matter of amount of material, quality of material, both or something else entirely?

What is it you like about your current campaign world that you find better than the hosted campaigns worlds? How about what you like better in the hosted worlds than the one you are polaying in?

What would it take to get you to run or play in a campaign in one of the hosted settings...


...and so on and so forth...

 

[haiiro]

What is it you like about your current campaign world that you find better than the hosted campaigns worlds? How about what you like better in the hosted worlds than the one you are polaying in?

What would it take to get you to run or play in a campaign in one of the hosted settings...

I can certainly field these two.

I've been running and playing games in the Forgotten Realms since the old grey boxed set came out. At the time, the depth and breadth of the Realms was unmatched, and there was a vibrancy and sense of consistency to the setting material that strongly appealed to me. The maps were amazingly well done, and I found a lot in the setting that resonated with how I wanted to play D&D. Some of the particulars have changed, but for me all of the above remains true today, which is why I run FR games.

Also, with so much material available -- and so much room to work in (as Toril is a big place) -- I have the option of using what's out there if it's good and/or I'm pinched on time, or slotting in my own material and changing what I don't like. Most other settings simply can't match the quantity of FR material, and that's a factor as well.

To get me to start a game in one of the hosted settings, there would have to be a wealth of material available -- and a really good hook. For instance, if there were a hosted setting for Piratecat's world, Spira, the hook would be his unbelievably good story hour. That plus some maps and solid background material would make me consider running a game set in Spira. I'd probably also have to be ready for a change (which I'm not).

To get me to borrow material, all you'd need would be good stuff and a good hook (to get me to take a look at your good stuff in the first place, because there's so much good stuff available). I love to borrow ideas, but there are far more ideas out there than I can possibly survey with limited time available to do so.

Nothing about the hosted settings has ever jumped out and grabbed me by the throat -- which is not to say they're not worth looking at. As I said in the survey thread, from what little I've seen of Dusk and from what I've heard about the others (over time, in the boards or on the main page) there is a lot of drive, talent and quality work behind the hosted settings.

 

[KDLadage]

Thanks!

This is exactly the sort of information I was looking for. Anyone else want to chime in?