Metaplots - it wasn't just TSR that did them
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pawsplay
Hero
Exactly. Sourcebooks that start replacing the "Here be Dragons" parts of a game world with more detailed info can be just as unpleasant. Old fans are left wondering to respond. The reaction to the Prequels is a perfect example of the ambiguity fans can feel; some liked it, some hated it, most people, I think, were left going, "Ok, that's not quite what I imagined. Now what?"
the Jester
Legend
Absolutely true. Which is the primary reason why, after enthusiastically buying in to the World of Darkness stuff, I totally swore it off. And why I've never bothered to buy any Earthdawn stuff- and why I've never picked up any Shadowrun books- despite playing in campaigns in both systems. And why I skipped a lot of Paranoia stuff (the Crash indeed!).
Saying, "Sure, the JLA movie sucks, but so do a lot of other comic book movies" does not make the JLA movie suck less.
MortonStromgal
First Post
I always enjoyed metaplots (some are better than others, Shadowrun's return of the horrors was amazing), it gave a progressive bigger picture to the small pond style stories I run.
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him) 🇺🇦🇵🇸🏳️⚧️
I've liked and disliked various metaplots based on what they were bringing to the campaign I was running.
The metaplots in Traveller and Megatraveller, particularly as presented via the Traveller News Service, were a fun way to inject other setting events into the campaign and helped build a sense of a wider universe out there where things weren't just sitting pat until the PCs encountered them, but were actually happening.
The metaplot in Greyhawk with the wars and the treachery of Rary had some useful elements to it for background when I was running Greyhawk, though I usually preferred to start my campaigns just a little before all of those things went down.
I was less enchanted with the Forgotten Realms metaplots. They didn't grab me much at all.
The metaplots in Traveller and Megatraveller, particularly as presented via the Traveller News Service, were a fun way to inject other setting events into the campaign and helped build a sense of a wider universe out there where things weren't just sitting pat until the PCs encountered them, but were actually happening.
The metaplot in Greyhawk with the wars and the treachery of Rary had some useful elements to it for background when I was running Greyhawk, though I usually preferred to start my campaigns just a little before all of those things went down.
I was less enchanted with the Forgotten Realms metaplots. They didn't grab me much at all.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
I wonder if the reason so many people didn't like TSR's metaplots was because such things weren't part of D&D, originally.
From what I understand, OD&D, BD&D, and AD&D 1E didn't have metaplots in any regard - just stand-alone adventures and the occasional sourcebook on a static setting. If you wanted to drive a campaign forward, that was completely reliant on you, the DM, to come up with. Pre-made dungeons were essentially there to be used as you saw fit.
By contrast, Second Edition - perhaps in response to the rise of other RPG companies that reveled in metaplots - had metaplots for most of its campaign settings (which themselves suddenly started to proliferate), something which I suspect was jarring to a lot of long-time players, and probably was the reason a lot of old-school fans left when 2E came out. Suddenly the world you were organically growing around your campaign was being dictated to you, so it's natural that quite a few people didn't care for it.
If that was the case, then it's less a question of having a metaplot or not, since there are clearly people who like them and others who don't, but rather is an object lesson in not suddenly changing the style of the game.
From what I understand, OD&D, BD&D, and AD&D 1E didn't have metaplots in any regard - just stand-alone adventures and the occasional sourcebook on a static setting. If you wanted to drive a campaign forward, that was completely reliant on you, the DM, to come up with. Pre-made dungeons were essentially there to be used as you saw fit.
By contrast, Second Edition - perhaps in response to the rise of other RPG companies that reveled in metaplots - had metaplots for most of its campaign settings (which themselves suddenly started to proliferate), something which I suspect was jarring to a lot of long-time players, and probably was the reason a lot of old-school fans left when 2E came out. Suddenly the world you were organically growing around your campaign was being dictated to you, so it's natural that quite a few people didn't care for it.
If that was the case, then it's less a question of having a metaplot or not, since there are clearly people who like them and others who don't, but rather is an object lesson in not suddenly changing the style of the game.
Just so we all have the same timelines in mind...
The first AD&D books came out in 1977.
Tracy Hickman was hired by TSR in 1982, and the first Dragonlance novel and module came out in 1984.
The Forgotten Realms started publication in 1987.
2e AD&D came out in 1989.
Shadowrun came out in 1989, and the oWoD in 1991. Dark Sun came out in 1991 as well.
Metaplot is the single most common request/desire I hear from fans. Online fandom is far, far more opinionated about this than folks I meet at conventions, gatherings, etc. Throwing them out is generally a mistake in any game world where you desire investment in it as something with its own identity. It's one of the reasons people still want to play Vampire: The Masquerade and one of the reasons why Exalted's lack of metaplot is almost a metaplot with weasel words at this point.
It is however possible to do them badly, and their creative demands ensure that you will not bat a thousand with them. Even if you avoid major issues like having plots invalidate character types or disguise rules updates, you'll have good and bad years. Metaplot is also challenging, because creators now need to take continuity seriously.
One of the sad things is that RPGs pioneered many story arc development techniques that other media are only now starting to understand and in at least one case (Star Wars) bear responsibility for founding an extraordinarily popular meta-narrative. Basically, the field had the opportunity to show everyone how large narratives ought to be managed, and lost the knack for it.
It is however possible to do them badly, and their creative demands ensure that you will not bat a thousand with them. Even if you avoid major issues like having plots invalidate character types or disguise rules updates, you'll have good and bad years. Metaplot is also challenging, because creators now need to take continuity seriously.
One of the sad things is that RPGs pioneered many story arc development techniques that other media are only now starting to understand and in at least one case (Star Wars) bear responsibility for founding an extraordinarily popular meta-narrative. Basically, the field had the opportunity to show everyone how large narratives ought to be managed, and lost the knack for it.
I'd date the first definite metaplot in AD&D to the Time of Troubles. DL was a straight book adaptation and a different kind of thing, but the Time of Troubles did things like forcibly change character classes through in-world events.
Philotomy Jurament
First Post
I agree that game/setting metaplot wasn't limited to TSR.
I don't like the games/setting metaplot concept, wherever I find it, TSR or not. Happily, I'm not forced to buy or use anything I don't like. So I don't.
(Sadly, there was a period of time where I *did* continue to buy those 2e D&D products, always optimistically hoping that this product was going to buck the trend and be good and cool again. Eventually, even I learned the lesson, though. I acknowledge that some people like that 2e-style material, but it sure isn't for me.)
I don't like the games/setting metaplot concept, wherever I find it, TSR or not. Happily, I'm not forced to buy or use anything I don't like. So I don't.
(Sadly, there was a period of time where I *did* continue to buy those 2e D&D products, always optimistically hoping that this product was going to buck the trend and be good and cool again. Eventually, even I learned the lesson, though. I acknowledge that some people like that 2e-style material, but it sure isn't for me.)
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