One new setting a year?

[PeterWeller]

Not quite. It was releasing multiple campaign settings simultaneously with a veritable library of material for each setting that fragmented the market.

Not only that, but there was little to differentiate many of the settings. Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Mystara, and the a lesser extent Birthright and Dragonlance were all variations on the same generic fantasy tropes. Indeed, they had different focuses, but in the end they were all Elves, Dwarfs and Wizards against monsters and evil gods.

Dark Sun, Planescape, Ravenloft and Spelljammer, on the other hand, all showed how D&D could do "different" fantasy, and Eberron has shown the viability of providing those old school tropes with a modern twist.

Wizards could easily release a setting a year as long as they stay away from the half dozen slight variations on the same theme that characterized 2E settings. If, instead, they make sure each setting has a strong and unique theme and flavor, they can, instead of fracturing the market, appeal to its niches. This means, however, that we only get one "big grab bag of fantasy" setting, and that means no Greyhawk or Mystara or as of yet unnamed generic fantasy world. So, that could suck if you're not an FR fan.

Now, they'll have even more freedom if they decide that not every setting deserves an entire line of books. Forgotten Realms and Eberron will probably be supported for the life of the system. They're the flag ship settings, and they have the fan base to sustain continued sales. Dark Sun and Ravenloft on the other hand, can probably be done to everyone's satisfaction with two books (a fluff splat and a crunch splat) followed by DI articles. Oriental and Arabian adventures could also pop up as settings under this setup. They might require only one book each, a PoL worldless rule book, with perhaps, a follow up FR splat for their respective home settings (Kara-Tur and Zakhara). Obviously, these could also be divorced from Faerun and made into their own stand alone settings. Another option is to do what they did with Dragonlance. The core book was, IIRC, released by WotC; the follow ups released by [I forget who has/had the license]. There's a lot of ways they can release a new setting each year without fracturing their market. Notice how I only mentioned already existing settings. I'm sure they could develop or acquire new settings that fill new niches.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I sincerely hope they *don't* release a new setting every year. It will significantly dilute the brand and split the market.

This is one of many things that killed 2e.

It was actually the continued support of so many settings that killed 2e. They fractured their own market, and their customers went into one "silo" of a setting and never left.

But with a limited or single-burst run, you don't silo. People pick up the new thing because they can get it all and next year it'll be a whole new thing, rather than trying to still keep up with the old thing.

And I have no idea why people all of a sudden assume that because there will be 1 setting per year that suddenly means that the old settings will be revived.

They might be. But there's more than enough new material out there to keep this boat afloat for many years (and I assume they're going to be tapping the fan community like they did for Eberron).

 

[Ranger REG]

And I have no idea why people all of a sudden assume that because there will be 1 setting per year that suddenly means that the old settings will be revived.

Wishful thinking?

There are many fans of old settings holding out for a revival or resurrection.

 

[BASHMAN]

I would LOVE for D&D to resurrect Mystara and the Savage Coast as settings!

 

[dmccoy1693]

I must've been in a coma. Who bought them? Hopefully not Mattel. If I see a Barbie the Vampire Hunter collection at Toys'R'Us, I'm gonna poke my eyes with their lead-filled stake.

CCP. They're an islandic company that does EVE Online. It was more of a merge then a buyout. White Wolf will be producing a CCG of EVE and CCP will be doing a MMO of Vampire. Suppose to be different then any MMO out there right now.

http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=629

 

[Drammattex]

I think the marriage of good game mechanics and good story could make single-volume settings doable.

What wouldn't work: "This is where the elves live in my world."
What would work: "Everybody has a daemon. Check out the mechanics that make that cool."

Um... please don't interpret those literally. They're metaphors.

The rules that govern Melnibone are different from the rules that would govern Middle Earth, which are different from the rules under which Hyborea works, or Earthsea, or Westeros, or the world that The Black Company is set in, etc.

This is why I'm hoping for a more even 4e D&D experience: so that it's easily customizable between worlds (most importantly my own, of course).

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I for one would like to see more settings.
And in my case at least I don't plan to buy more than the core setting book anyway (unless its something extremely well done), so I wouldn't be concerned about a continual stream of more supplemental books for a given setting.

 

[Kesh]

I would LOVE for D&D to resurrect Mystara and the Savage Coast as settings!

Gods, yes. I'm thinking it was a huge mistake for Wizards to skip out on Red Steel/Savage Coast during the whole Pirates of the Carribean frenzy. They could've revised a fun, swashbuckling setting right in the middle of that.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

2008: Forgotten Realms
2009: Eberron
2010: "4E is unfun an fundamentally flawed. We're releasing 5E in a few months"

Now that's just silly. They won't release 5e until 2011.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

And I have no idea why people all of a sudden assume that because there will be 1 setting per year that suddenly means that the old settings will be revived.

There is *some* evidence of this. d20 Modern revived Dark@Matter and Star*Drive (I think that's the name), and look at the "Return" and "Expedition" modules we've seen in 2e and 3e. It is probably easier for designers to revive an old setting than create a brand-new one, and the revival of old settings would appeal to grognards, while newbies wouldn't know the difference between a revived and a new setting anyway.