aurance said:
People could have said this about the Forgotten Realms when there were relatively few novels about it too. But as more novels are written about the Scarred Lands, the more difficult it will be for a DM to ignore them. I wouldn't put the Scarred Lands' merits in this regard on a pedestal above other settings just yet.
Edit: Just realized I completely echoed Joe's words.
And as someone whose collection of D&D books is primarily made up of Scarred Lands stuff (Come to think of it, I'm fairly certain I own all the hardcovers, if not all the softcovers)...
I'm with you and Joe G, to a degree.
Between the well-integrated pantheon and religion that actually seemed integral to the setting, the gritty image of a world just recovering from catastrophe where the future still might be an uncertain thing, and the wounds left behind, such as with the dead god of the elves and the people who were likely soon to follow with him...well, I liked the Scarred Lands quite a bit, and still do.
But that's been dissipating, in part due to things like the Forsaken trilogy's resurrection of Jandaveos, and furthermore by Nightfall's little run down of the books themselves. So long as there's still a world to flesh out and detail, metaplot doesn't strike me as a necessity, which is essentially what the novels were. Metaplot. Which, while it thankfully doesn't seem to be having too strong of an impact on the setting its self, even putting down so much as sidebars means there's some of an effect.
Not to mention that either eventually the option of a resurrected god will become a standard fact in later books
or
It will remain little more than a sidebar here and there, an option, in which case, one has to ask, what point did the novels serve anyway? Why go with that story if its contents were going to be almost entirely ignored?
Again, I'm essentially with Joe G here. I think detailing the death of Jandaveos would have made for a more interesting series of novels.
Furthermore, I think had Faithful and the Forsaken detailed a "What if?" section on the gods resurrection, taking it from the viewpoint of PC's trying to bring back the forsaken elf god and what might happen if they succeed would have made for a stronger, more compelling presentation of the gods potential resurrection, instead of offering up some sidebar option about some NPC bringing back the deity.
It's also interesting that the Forgotten Realms is brought up; more and more it seems to me that the Scarred Lands is starting to follow in its path. While the Scarred Lands setting has always had aspects of other settings to it, it seems to be emulating them a bit more with every book or preview of things to come.
Anyway, in regards to novels in general, I brought this up when the Forsaken elf trilogy's ending was originally discussed, but, it seems pertinent to this conversation as well, so I'll bring it up again.
The Dragonlance novels were good. Excellent. I truly enjoyed them. However, for me at least, they helped kill the setting as a place to role-play. Everything felt done, and this was even before the 5th Age stuff. The epic nature made everything seem small and unimportant in comparison. There was nothing that could hope to top the events.
In comparison, I truly enjoyed the Ravenloft novel Vampire of the Mists. Which by no means diminished my desire to play in the setting. If anything, it inspired me to play in the setting. The events mattered, but the story wasn't so world-shattering that it would affect a game any. The novel wasn't intrusive, even if a DM intended on it being entirely canon within a game.
Which is how novels should be. Non-intrusive. Because if the world-altering events in the novel aren't going to be actually used in the books....well, what's the point? And if they are going to be used in the books, a point is reached where the DM either has to use the novel events, or just stop bothering to buy the books because they're no longer useful anyway.
Eh. Rant, rant, ramble rave. I may have lost my point somewhere along the way. But there you have...this.
I suppose I'll just leave with a "You're welcome" to Holy Bovine. I do try to be helpful.
Unhallowed for me folks! 
