Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Matthan" data-source="post: 3532377" data-attributes="member: 20005">I've loved Spelljammer since first hearing the idea of it (which unfortunately was after its demise) and I've gone back and bought many of the products of the line and enjoyed most of them.&nbsp; About its popularity, I can only look back and give an opinion, but my hope is that it might spark some thoughts in those of you who lived through it to give it some weight.The overlooked thing that I believe hurt Spelljammer was the novels.&nbsp; Where Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms had strong novels that helped cement the setting as fan favorites.&nbsp; Part of that is timing (what else was there like it at the time?) and part of it was quality.&nbsp; The Chronicles provide a touchpoint for many young fantasy fans.&nbsp; How many gamers think fondly of Raistlin?&nbsp; Drizzt and Elminster seem to likewise helped to bolster popularity of the Forgotten Realms.&nbsp; (As an aside, I think the initial stumbles of Dragonlance products that kept so close to the novels and original modules hurt the view of Dragonlance as an RP setting, by the time they started expanding their outlook most gamers had written off the setting or passed the time when they wanted to play in the world i.e. when they just finished the novels.&nbsp; FR seems to have used its popular characters to prop up ideas about the wider world.&nbsp; Elminister explains different things.&nbsp; The Underdark referring to Drizzt.)Spelljammers novels were hurt by the shifting authors dealing with a continuing story.&nbsp; If we had 6 Spelljammer books with the same authors that got to tell their own story (and consequently shown the flexibility of the setting), you may have gotten a different response.&nbsp; The other thing that I do believe played a part was simply the amount of settings that were starting to roll out.&nbsp; And everyone plays this card, I admit.&nbsp; Spelljammer took a lot of risks with its design.&nbsp; Not everything turned out perfect, but it's a bold design.&nbsp; Unfortunately, in my opinion, it didn't read the direction of fan culture (which is a terrible term that I'm going to taken to task for) very well.&nbsp; In other words, it went with more wild and fun fantasy than a darker fantasy.&nbsp; Look at that time period and look at what was selling across the board.&nbsp; Comics were starting to get &quot;darker.&quot;&nbsp; Movies as well.&nbsp; Even tv shows were playing on those same few notes.&nbsp; And we bought it.&nbsp; Spelljammer didn't fit that mold.&nbsp; It could have, but it never presented itself that way.&nbsp; Ravenloft did and sold fairly well and maintained a decent novel line alongside it.&nbsp; I would even argue that Planescape went more in that direction with how it presents the different factions and the art choices.&nbsp; Spelljammer hit at that wrong point for a product of its kind.&nbsp; It still found an audience, but never a mass one (relatively speaking since we're talking about gamers).&nbsp; That's my unproven musings.&nbsp; Though to the person earlier in the thread who mention Iron Heroes Spelljammer, my thanks, you may have just given me the drive to start a campaign.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Matthan, post: 3532377, member: 20005"] I've loved Spelljammer since first hearing the idea of it (which unfortunately was after its demise) and I've gone back and bought many of the products of the line and enjoyed most of them. About its popularity, I can only look back and give an opinion, but my hope is that it might spark some thoughts in those of you who lived through it to give it some weight. The overlooked thing that I believe hurt Spelljammer was the novels. Where Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms had strong novels that helped cement the setting as fan favorites. Part of that is timing (what else was there like it at the time?) and part of it was quality. The Chronicles provide a touchpoint for many young fantasy fans. How many gamers think fondly of Raistlin? Drizzt and Elminster seem to likewise helped to bolster popularity of the Forgotten Realms. (As an aside, I think the initial stumbles of Dragonlance products that kept so close to the novels and original modules hurt the view of Dragonlance as an RP setting, by the time they started expanding their outlook most gamers had written off the setting or passed the time when they wanted to play in the world i.e. when they just finished the novels. FR seems to have used its popular characters to prop up ideas about the wider world. Elminister explains different things. The Underdark referring to Drizzt.) Spelljammers novels were hurt by the shifting authors dealing with a continuing story. If we had 6 Spelljammer books with the same authors that got to tell their own story (and consequently shown the flexibility of the setting), you may have gotten a different response. The other thing that I do believe played a part was simply the amount of settings that were starting to roll out. And everyone plays this card, I admit. Spelljammer took a lot of risks with its design. Not everything turned out perfect, but it's a bold design. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it didn't read the direction of fan culture (which is a terrible term that I'm going to taken to task for) very well. In other words, it went with more wild and fun fantasy than a darker fantasy. Look at that time period and look at what was selling across the board. Comics were starting to get "darker." Movies as well. Even tv shows were playing on those same few notes. And we bought it. Spelljammer didn't fit that mold. It could have, but it never presented itself that way. Ravenloft did and sold fairly well and maintained a decent novel line alongside it. I would even argue that Planescape went more in that direction with how it presents the different factions and the art choices. Spelljammer hit at that wrong point for a product of its kind. It still found an audience, but never a mass one (relatively speaking since we're talking about gamers). That's my unproven musings. Though to the person earlier in the thread who mention Iron Heroes Spelljammer, my thanks, you may have just given me the drive to start a campaign. [/QUOTE]

Verification