Planescape 3.5 petition

[Arnwyn]

Not that I really think that this was your intention, but I can see that you've never really tried to fully update a setting comprehensively and completely (and not the lame type of conversion you would come up with using WOTC's little conversion guide either).

And I can see that you're wrong. Actually, I have completely updated both Planescape and Spelljammer (and am working on Maztica and Al-Qadim) for my rather large and expansive FR campaign. It wasn't that hard at all, and it certainly is more comprehensive than that lame WotC conversion guide. (Now, whether it's unbalanced or unwieldy is up for debate - but people have said that about the Core Rulebooks, so I'm hardly hung up on *that*...)

If it really were that simple, there would already be dozens of conversions of each of the 'dead world' settings that TSR produced.

And there probably is... just not all on the internet (I wonder why people are starting to presume that if it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist...?). I know I, for one, am not interested in uploading any of my stuff. (Heck, some of it is not in electronic format.)

 

[Jim Butler]

Does anyone (besides WotC) have sales figures for the old Planescape books? They kept FR alive but killed the other worlds--they must have based their decisions on actual numbers. It would be interesting to know what the cut-off for commercial viability is, in WotC's eyes.

That cutoff is largely subjective, even for WotC.

The decision to kill (and keep dead) certain worlds was indeed based on the sales numbers for those worlds before TSR/WotC killed the line. There was also other information used (such as the apparent cannibalization of players that took place from TSR releasing a constant wave of new worlds). In other words, as Planescape grew, Dark Sun or FR shrunk...

High accolades from reviewers and the game industry at large kept Planescape alive for longer then the sales numbers warranted.

It's important to note, though, that the sales numbers required for WotC to be happy are considerably higher then what any d20 company today would be happy with. A product that sells 10,000 copies at WotC is a real stinker. That same product for a d20 company is the shining gem of its portfolio. WotC (Hasbro) has very high sales expectations, and products that don't meet those goals are not long for this gaming world.

 

[Jim Butler]

And there probably is... just not all on the internet (I wonder why people are starting to presume that if it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist...?). I know I, for one, am not interested in uploading any of my stuff. (Heck, some of it is not in electronic format.)

That's very true. We actually figured that a lot of Dragonlance/Ravenloft/other dead world campaigns were still going merrily on their way long after we killed the lines. In fact, some of the campaigns probably veered so much from later books in the line that those campaigns stopped becoming active purchasers of the line (which lef to lower and lower sales as more and more campaigns veered so far from what we considered the baseline of those worlds). In other words, the books that we kept producing didn't fit into their customized setting.

In many ways, I suspect that the online fans (at ENWorld, on newsgroups, and other venues) are the most vocal supporters (and detractors ) of products. But they're a minority when it comes to actual purchasers of products.

 

[Mach2.5]

And there probably is... just not all on the internet (I wonder why people are starting to presume that if it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist...?). I know I, for one, am not interested in uploading any of my stuff. (Heck, some of it is not in electronic format.)

Okay, your darn right about this, and yes, its a blatant oversight that I myself take completely for granted all too often. Presumption will certainly be my downfall

But they're a minority when it comes to actual purchasers of products.

Ahh, but they are also the biggest supply of advertisers you can get a hold of