Hello, KENZER folks! Hope my little discussions of Geanavue haven't been upsetting you guys too much. I assume the discussions I've started are the main source of the web preview now being made available (a good idea anyway, BTW)... I will reiterate the following plusses of the product:
Geanavue is extremely well-detailed, has a gorgeous map, the rumorquests are innovative and fun, production values are high. This would've (could've, should've) been the perfect city book for me, except for the following issues:
LANGUAGE:
Few people enjoy looking at a word and not having any idea how to pronounce it, or worse, when they do pronounce it, it sounds silly, stupid or utterly meaningless to them. This is sadly the case with Kalamar's languages, IMO.
Ease of use for players and DMs, rather than an attempt to create an otherworldly flavor, should have been the format used. If I want otherworldly names, I'll go read Lovecraft, LOL. I have no time or inclination to try and learn how to pronounce hundreds of weird words for an RPG, nor does anyone in my gaming group. We're Americans, for crying out loud!
CONFLICT:
I think the purpose of Geanavue not being a place with ready-made adventuring conflicts built in but left for the DM to develop should have been explicitly stated on the back cover and in the introduction. Those who want such "off the shelf" conflicts will be disappointed with Geanavue, despite its glorious map and attention to detail. The majority of the adventuring possibilities stated in Geanavue are far too subtle for many gamers (not that I don't like political intrigue and espionage, I just wish some of it was a little more overt than covert, as it takes less time to set-up/think-up).
MAPS:
Having a downloadable or bonus B&W city map without all the Kalamaran place names written on it would go a LONG way toward making future Kalamar city books more portable to other settings. I assume that over 50% of the gamer market does not and will never play in Kalamar, regardless of enticements, and so it would seem to make sense to provide convenient alternatives for those who would like to buy KoK products but not use the setting. Geanavue needs such a map, as the street and place names are all in a language most gamers will never use, understand or be able to pronounce. I for one, would very much like to be able to rename everything without marking up the beautiful color map. A "blank" DL of it would be perfect, as its free and thus adds nothing to the book price, and I can always DL more copies if I screw up or want to reuse it for a different city elsewhere.
Anyway, hope these suggestions are helpful to you guys; I'm not trying to mess up your sales or anything! I was just hoping for something a bit different (by different, I mean interesting, with off the shelf overt conflicts easily adapatible to other settings) than I got from Geanavue. In that regard, I was rather frustrated and disappointed in the product. On the other hand, you have done an outstanding job on the dual-sided city/undercity map, rumorquests, and level of care and detail devoted to the guilds, nobles, wealthy, sewers, etc. All that does not change the fact that I will have a hard time integrating Geanavue into my campaign. My group does not need a ready-made detailed LG city, as that is not the kind of place they will be adventuring in and/or spending any significant amount of time in. The place is simply too uptight and boring as written. Something along the lines of "decadent" Zoa would probably have made a better choice, or including Loona in Geanavue without making us buy a separate book for essentially the same place!
OTHER CITY BOOKS:
I'll probably end up buying Freeport soon; I hope I don't have to drastically alter that city as well. I'll also be looking at Windhaven and Bluffside, though I'm much more skeptical of them (particularly Bluffside, after reading about some the NPCs wandering around the city--as well as its being hard to place due to the whole meteorite and split-level thing). Skraag: City of the Orcs from Mongoose was a bitter disappointment---worst city map ever, and not nearly enough detail on people or places. It read more like the Slayer's Guide To Orcs than a useful city supplement. Mongoose's next city book, Stormhaven, is a city that floats on the ocean and will be similarly hard to integrate... In fact, I doubt I will buy it after wasting $15 on Skraag.
ADVENTURES/KOK:
I have not bought any other KoK products before Geanavue (though I've looked at them, and just bought Harvest of Death--but only for the Sharjan pseudo-vampires, the rest of it was of no little to no use to me). Can't handle the weird names, don't care for the world, art in the "Imagequest" handouts is poor to mediocre at best (no art is better than bad art). The adventures just don't interest me at all (the same is true for the WoTC ones and 90% of the rest released by third party publishers, plus the stuff in Dungeon). I find that with most modules these days, the only thing useful is the map, maybe a new spell, magic item, trap or monster, and the rest is a complete wash-out. Every module I've bought for 2e/3e was just for those things---never used them "as is." Couldn't! My players would kill me, LOL.
