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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7707132" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>WotC spent fifteen years only giving adventures token attention.</p><p></p><p>The focus on classics works for now: it gives them time to relearn how to write adventures and work out the kinks, while building an audience. And they need to build up a back catalogue of classic and traditional adventures before they can do the more gonzo stuff. They can't jump right into the funky stuff.</p><p></p><p>When Paizo started doing adventures, most of theirs were pretty darn traditional in terms of fantasy as well. <em>Rise of the Runelords</em> was pretty darn archtypal in terms of villain and story. It took Paizo seven years to slightly do something experimental (<em>Reign of Winter</em>) and another couple years for <em>Iron Gods</em>. </p><p></p><p>Even then, <em>Out of the Abyss</em> was unlike anything that had come before. And while it was inspired by the Giant series, <em>Storm King's Thunder</em> was very much its own beast. So they seem to be alternating between classical update and something new. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The Points of Light setting model fails because it only works in the a couple products before it collapses. The idea of the PoL setting is a generic world of names on a map and some minor lore, a starting setting where you can branch out and explore on your own as a DM. That's a great starting point, and people can talk about what they did with the setting and the various places.</p><p></p><p>But that ceases to work once you start publishing more adventures and content in that world, as every new product is introducing a contradiction between what the DM created and what WotC created. </p><p>"Gardmore Abbey" is on the map in the DMG, just a short hop from both Fallcrest and Winterhaven. Really close to the Keep on the Shadowfell. How many DMs decided to set adventures or scenes there in the three years between <em>Keep on the Shadowfell</em> and <em>Madness at Gardmore Abbey</em>?</p><p></p><p>Plus, people complain about setting four "Realmshaking Adventures" in a space the size of the Sword Coast. Imagine those adventures in an area as small as the Nentir Vale (which is close to the size of the Dessarin Valley, the setting of <em>Princes of the Apocalypse</em>).</p><p></p><p></p><p>The "setting per year" model also did seem to fail. They quickly moved from setting book/player book to player book/monster book for Dark Sun. </p><p>I think dwindling sales of the 4e rules didn't help. People just were not buying 4e books. The settings they chose were also tricky. The Realms was nuked, Eberron hadn't changed so the 3e setting book could still be used, and Dark Sun was as much player content as world lore.</p><p> </p><p>Selling settings will always be niche, since the majority of DMs run homebrew. So right out of the game, campaign settings are at a disadvantage in terms of sales. </p><p>You don't need three campaign settings. No DM is changing settings every year. Sure, there will be the collectors that buy everything, but those are a minority and not the main audience. The average player buying the books might get a campaign setting. Or two. But then they'll stop, so you have diminishing returns. </p><p>When you are releasing a setting every year, people might decide to hold off on buying the books in the hopes their setting will be next. The Mystara fans would be less likely to buy the Realms of Dragonlance if they think a book for them might be next.</p><p>In theory, the fans of classic settings will buy their favourite, and *could* they'll offset the people buying future settings. But they're also the people who for sure have a copy of that material already. You're selling them a book they already have. Settings, by their nature, are primarily rules agnostic. </p><p></p><p>Releasing regular campaign settings just doesn't seem sustainable. It's not a long term business model.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7707132, member: 37579"] WotC spent fifteen years only giving adventures token attention. The focus on classics works for now: it gives them time to relearn how to write adventures and work out the kinks, while building an audience. And they need to build up a back catalogue of classic and traditional adventures before they can do the more gonzo stuff. They can't jump right into the funky stuff. When Paizo started doing adventures, most of theirs were pretty darn traditional in terms of fantasy as well. [I]Rise of the Runelords[/I] was pretty darn archtypal in terms of villain and story. It took Paizo seven years to slightly do something experimental ([I]Reign of Winter[/I]) and another couple years for [I]Iron Gods[/I]. Even then, [I]Out of the Abyss[/I] was unlike anything that had come before. And while it was inspired by the Giant series, [I]Storm King's Thunder[/I] was very much its own beast. So they seem to be alternating between classical update and something new. The Points of Light setting model fails because it only works in the a couple products before it collapses. The idea of the PoL setting is a generic world of names on a map and some minor lore, a starting setting where you can branch out and explore on your own as a DM. That's a great starting point, and people can talk about what they did with the setting and the various places. But that ceases to work once you start publishing more adventures and content in that world, as every new product is introducing a contradiction between what the DM created and what WotC created. "Gardmore Abbey" is on the map in the DMG, just a short hop from both Fallcrest and Winterhaven. Really close to the Keep on the Shadowfell. How many DMs decided to set adventures or scenes there in the three years between [I]Keep on the Shadowfell[/I] and [I]Madness at Gardmore Abbey[/I]? Plus, people complain about setting four "Realmshaking Adventures" in a space the size of the Sword Coast. Imagine those adventures in an area as small as the Nentir Vale (which is close to the size of the Dessarin Valley, the setting of [I]Princes of the Apocalypse[/I]). The "setting per year" model also did seem to fail. They quickly moved from setting book/player book to player book/monster book for Dark Sun. I think dwindling sales of the 4e rules didn't help. People just were not buying 4e books. The settings they chose were also tricky. The Realms was nuked, Eberron hadn't changed so the 3e setting book could still be used, and Dark Sun was as much player content as world lore. Selling settings will always be niche, since the majority of DMs run homebrew. So right out of the game, campaign settings are at a disadvantage in terms of sales. You don't need three campaign settings. No DM is changing settings every year. Sure, there will be the collectors that buy everything, but those are a minority and not the main audience. The average player buying the books might get a campaign setting. Or two. But then they'll stop, so you have diminishing returns. When you are releasing a setting every year, people might decide to hold off on buying the books in the hopes their setting will be next. The Mystara fans would be less likely to buy the Realms of Dragonlance if they think a book for them might be next. In theory, the fans of classic settings will buy their favourite, and *could* they'll offset the people buying future settings. But they're also the people who for sure have a copy of that material already. You're selling them a book they already have. Settings, by their nature, are primarily rules agnostic. Releasing regular campaign settings just doesn't seem sustainable. It's not a long term business model. [/QUOTE]
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