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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 7161688" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>Probably. I'm not super-familiar with Dragonlance, but at least Dark Sun never had a next-generation thing going where they changed to a completely different game system and entirely different magic systems, and then changed back when people mysteriously didn't like that.</p><p></p><p>Here are two pointers I think are useful for anyone who's going to make a new version of a beloved setting:</p><p></p><p>1. If the setting is currently active, you want to maintain it in its current state, maybe with a few changes if the timeline has to move forward, or if you're changing it to a new version with new rules that need explaining. The best such change in D&D history was probably the Forgotten Realms moving from 2e to 3e - despite the rather big mechanical changes, they explained those as saying neither version was a perfectly accurate reflection of the Realms, but that the new mechanics were a better approximation. The example that sticks with me in my memory is the Simbul, who was changed from a level high-20s (or maybe 30) wizard to a same-level sorcerer, and the devs said "Well, she's always been innately magical, but AD&D didn't have a class other than Wizard to reflect arcane magic, but in 3e we have the sorcerer instead so we're using that now." There were some other changes as well, but they were primarily of a "time marches on" nature rather than a "now the world works differently" type.</p><p></p><p>2. If the setting has lain fallow for a long time, go back to its roots. Find the stuff that people liked about the setting, and focus on those. Feel free to alter other aspects of it, and release it as a "reboot". Don't bother too much with later additions, though it they turned out to be largely positive feel free to include them from the start. This is the approach taken by the current TORG: Eternity release, and was the approach taken by the 4e Dark Sun release (which I gather worked out pretty well, particularly when adjusting for being 4e).</p><p></p><p>What you <strong>really</strong> don't want to do is take a currently successful setting and totally revamp it. That's what they did with 4e Forgotten Realms, and we all saw how well that worked out. The problem here is that moving the FR timeline forward by a century, bringing in a new continent, and assorted other weirdness will likely alienate everyone who <strong>liked</strong> the Forgotten Realms as they were (and while I'm not the biggest fan, I gather that a whole lot of people are), but people who <strong>didn't</strong> like it will still see the Forgotten Realms logo and go "Eh, I'll pass."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 7161688, member: 907"] Probably. I'm not super-familiar with Dragonlance, but at least Dark Sun never had a next-generation thing going where they changed to a completely different game system and entirely different magic systems, and then changed back when people mysteriously didn't like that. Here are two pointers I think are useful for anyone who's going to make a new version of a beloved setting: 1. If the setting is currently active, you want to maintain it in its current state, maybe with a few changes if the timeline has to move forward, or if you're changing it to a new version with new rules that need explaining. The best such change in D&D history was probably the Forgotten Realms moving from 2e to 3e - despite the rather big mechanical changes, they explained those as saying neither version was a perfectly accurate reflection of the Realms, but that the new mechanics were a better approximation. The example that sticks with me in my memory is the Simbul, who was changed from a level high-20s (or maybe 30) wizard to a same-level sorcerer, and the devs said "Well, she's always been innately magical, but AD&D didn't have a class other than Wizard to reflect arcane magic, but in 3e we have the sorcerer instead so we're using that now." There were some other changes as well, but they were primarily of a "time marches on" nature rather than a "now the world works differently" type. 2. If the setting has lain fallow for a long time, go back to its roots. Find the stuff that people liked about the setting, and focus on those. Feel free to alter other aspects of it, and release it as a "reboot". Don't bother too much with later additions, though it they turned out to be largely positive feel free to include them from the start. This is the approach taken by the current TORG: Eternity release, and was the approach taken by the 4e Dark Sun release (which I gather worked out pretty well, particularly when adjusting for being 4e). What you [B]really[/B] don't want to do is take a currently successful setting and totally revamp it. That's what they did with 4e Forgotten Realms, and we all saw how well that worked out. The problem here is that moving the FR timeline forward by a century, bringing in a new continent, and assorted other weirdness will likely alienate everyone who [B]liked[/B] the Forgotten Realms as they were (and while I'm not the biggest fan, I gather that a whole lot of people are), but people who [B]didn't[/B] like it will still see the Forgotten Realms logo and go "Eh, I'll pass." [/QUOTE]
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