Setting Reboots are Good

[ferratus]

Like you Fenes, I'm picking and choosing from the best that the Realms has to offer. No to the ToT, but yes to the human ethnicity's found in the 3rd edition. Finder Wyvernspur? BAD. Moander? GOOD.

I'm doing the same thing for Dragonlance. I've always liked the epic romance fantasy aspect of it, and the war between good and evil embodied by Paladine (Bahamut) and Takhisis (Tiamat). There are a lot of good ideas that are mixed in with the bad ones that have accumulated over the years, and I'll be departing as much from the canon as suits my purpose to create a workable setting.

I would have preferred it if the Forgotten Realms had done a complete setting reboot. I think most continuing series of fiction have a limited shelf life of 5-10 years. Most movie franchises, comic books, tv shows and campaign settings generally run out steam somewhere in that length of time. When the reimagined series is bad, it can usually just be easily ignored. If it is good, it can be really, really, good without the baggage of the old canon. Battlestar Galactica is a prime example, but you wouldn't have to go far to find more. The old continuing storyline is a great source to mine for ideas, but the reboot allows those ideas to wanked together in a more coherent storyline.

If Dragonlance is released again for 4e, I hope they don't just do a literal translation of the original War of the Lance and call it a day. I would like them to go back to the original design notes. Take the original goal of placing an emphasis on dragons, and do an overarching series of adventures. Heck, I'd even be okay with rewriting the Chronicles as a novel trilogy tie-in with authors that aren't Weis and Hickman.

What does everyone else think about this? Is a periodic reboot of continuing series generally desirable?

 

[delericho]

What does everyone else think about this? Is a periodic reboot of continuing series generally desirable?

Sometimes. If the existing canon has grown so convoluted that it makes further storytelling difficult (Star Trek), or if it has been lying fallow for a few years (BSG), and your reboot brings something new to the table, then I'm in favour. Otherwise, I'm not a fan.

Heck, I'd even be okay with rewriting the Chronicles as a novel trilogy tie-in with authors that aren't Weis and Hickman.

Gah, no thanks. Recent Dragonlance fiction (including from W&H) hasn't exactly been great, but I'd really rather not go back to that well again. I might feel different in five years.

 

[Mokona]

Am I a fan of reboots? Definitely YES.

Were Time of Troubles and Spellplague the right ways to do a reboot? Not for me. I much prefer my reboots to go back to an early period in the setting and reimagine the setting. Ultimate Marvel style is a good way to approach the concept.

 

[ferratus]

Yes. Ultimate Marvel, Battlestar Galactica, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Begins, Casino Royale.

Setting reboots can be bad, no question about it. However, I've never seen a retcon or massive change through a storyline that has been done well.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It depends. Reboots for the sake of selling more stuff are annoying. Reboots for the sake of cleaning out tons of contradictory and broken crap are annoying, but occasionally necessary.

Personally, I'd rather have settings that didn't acquire the tons of canon that make reboots necessary.

 

[Cadfan]

It depends. Reboots that really just clutter the setting worse are not my cup of tea.

Honestly, I want one of two things from a setting.

1. A setting I can use. 4e is doing the sort of setting I can use with its default setting- a bunch of unassociated bits, lego pieces if you will, that I can assemble into a coherent and customized whole based on what I need in my own campaign.

2. A setting with a story I can read. The problem with this is that settings that have stories tend to never resolve those stories, until eventually someone blows up the world so that everyone can start over with new, never-to-be-resolved plotlines.

 

[catsclaw227]

Personally, I'd rather have settings that didn't acquire the tons of canon that make reboots necessary.

QFT. This is one reason why I liked the Wilderlands.

I would really love a 4e conversion of Scarred Lands, a "reboot" so to speak, though with no advance of timeline. I.e. make the minor changes to make the existing history sit better within the rules, but let me use all my existing SL fluff.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I'm generally not in favor. I don't see much of a point in going back to an earlier point in the setting, nor do I see how it's a good thing to tell people that the material they paid money for, be it in the form of game materials, novels, or what have you, is now suddenly invalid. I do think that the BSG reboot was successful, but Casino Royale was where I finally stopped being a Bond fan. I really do not like what I've heard about the Forgotten Realms reboot and I'm still unsure whether or not I'll be buying the products for it since I will most likely not be using it as a setting for my games.

 

[Umbran]

Hm. I'm not a bit user of published settings to begin with. I do sometimes mine them for ideas.

I don't usually see much point in rebooting a setting, much like most remakes of movies are wastes of time. They usually don't improve the vision, and if they add enough really new material to be worthwhile, then that new material usually clashes with the original vision, leading to cognitive dissonance between old and new.

 

[Scribble]

I think it's an interesting idea... Has it been done before anywhere?