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<blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 5318114" data-attributes="member: 40177">One of the common complaints of TSR in the 2e era was their judicious use of so-called &quot;metaplots&quot; - essentially, keeping the game world's timeline moving and often changing established settings with new product updates.&nbsp; Often, these changes were brought about through actions in novels, although there were also game line products that could change the setting as well.In some TSR settings, these product updates would scare away some of the casual gamers - it's hard to keep up with a setting, and they didn't want to spend the necessary money to follow a game's &quot;canon&quot;.&nbsp; Many gamers would avoid TSR's settings because they didn't want to see their game be declared obsolete through some change made by TSR (silly thinking, I know, but a lot of gamers felt that way!)Here's the thing.It wasn't just TSR that did it.&nbsp; In the 90s, most of the major companies had metaplots (often tied to novels or even TV series!) in their RPG lines.&nbsp; And a lot of non-D&amp;D games still have ongoing metaplots.Shadowrun springs to mind - this is a game that has so much of a metaplot going on that the second you buy a sourcebook, you realize the setting is so damned deep that you feel the need to buy every sourcebook, just to stay on top of things.&nbsp; And this goes back at least as far as SR2E - I remember buyings books just so I could figure out was going on with &quot;Hatchetman&quot;.&nbsp; New events happen all the time in the Shadowrun series - which can get damned confusing for casual readers into the line.Earthdawn's setting made some big changes as the product line evolved, including the creation of an Ork kingdom and a huge battle against the Therans.Hell, Mechwarrior/Battletech was awful for Metaplot - to the point that a humans-only &quot;inner sphere&quot; campaign was entirely different from a &quot;Clan invasion&quot; style of game.&nbsp; They were almost different products!RIFTS and other Palladium games have ongoing meta plots that get woven into multi-product events, such as the Coalition's war on Tolkien (I think that was the name of the place).&nbsp; &nbsp; Never played any, but I've heard that there were some pretty big problems with Metaplots in White Wolf games, as well.&nbsp; And it's not just limited to games in the nineties, either.&nbsp; I've seen a small amount of Metaplot creep into Pathfinder (not a lot, but it's there - mostly when products reference the final events of adventure paths as canon).&nbsp; Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e had that Chaos War event about halfway through, if memory serves.&nbsp; And the D&amp;D novel lines still occasionally have meta events that wind up getting referenced in game products.&nbsp; Anyways.&nbsp; It's just a pet peeve when people point at TSR and mention how awful metaplots were, when there are whole lines that did it... and still exist today.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wik, post: 5318114, member: 40177"] One of the common complaints of TSR in the 2e era was their judicious use of so-called "metaplots" - essentially, keeping the game world's timeline moving and often changing established settings with new product updates. Often, these changes were brought about through actions in novels, although there were also game line products that could change the setting as well. In some TSR settings, these product updates would scare away some of the casual gamers - it's hard to keep up with a setting, and they didn't want to spend the necessary money to follow a game's "canon". Many gamers would avoid TSR's settings because they didn't want to see their game be declared obsolete through some change made by TSR (silly thinking, I know, but a lot of gamers felt that way!) Here's the thing. It wasn't just TSR that did it. In the 90s, most of the major companies had metaplots (often tied to novels or even TV series!) in their RPG lines. And a lot of non-D&D games still have ongoing metaplots. Shadowrun springs to mind - this is a game that has so much of a metaplot going on that the second you buy a sourcebook, you realize the setting is so damned deep that you feel the need to buy every sourcebook, just to stay on top of things. And this goes back at least as far as SR2E - I remember buyings books just so I could figure out was going on with "Hatchetman". New events happen all the time in the Shadowrun series - which can get damned confusing for casual readers into the line. Earthdawn's setting made some big changes as the product line evolved, including the creation of an Ork kingdom and a huge battle against the Therans. Hell, Mechwarrior/Battletech was awful for Metaplot - to the point that a humans-only "inner sphere" campaign was entirely different from a "Clan invasion" style of game. They were almost different products! RIFTS and other Palladium games have ongoing meta plots that get woven into multi-product events, such as the Coalition's war on Tolkien (I think that was the name of the place). Never played any, but I've heard that there were some pretty big problems with Metaplots in White Wolf games, as well. And it's not just limited to games in the nineties, either. I've seen a small amount of Metaplot creep into Pathfinder (not a lot, but it's there - mostly when products reference the final events of adventure paths as canon). Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e had that Chaos War event about halfway through, if memory serves. And the D&D novel lines still occasionally have meta events that wind up getting referenced in game products. Anyways. It's just a pet peeve when people point at TSR and mention how awful metaplots were, when there are whole lines that did it... and still exist today. [/QUOTE]

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