Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the old splintering the fan base chestnut...

[Mercule]

They err more towards the generic side, which is probably for the best overall.

The Realms is fairly generic, but what little flavor I've gotten from it I find displeasing. Sort of like LaCroix made from oregano -- which isn't something I'd care to sip from. That's an obviously subjective opinion, but taints my bias in obvious ways. Definitely not something I'd want to make Kool-Aid from, if that isn't stretching the metaphor too far.

 

[Parmandur]

The Realms is fairly generic, but what little flavor I've gotten from it I find displeasing. Sort of like LaCroix made from oregano -- which isn't something I'd care to sip from. That's an obviously subjective opinion, but taints my bias in obvious ways. Definitely not something I'd want to make Kool-Aid from, if that isn't stretching the metaphor too far.

I'd compare the flavor to Sriacha Ketchup: sure, it's a bit Basic, but sometimes one just wants something slathered in the stuff.

I'm a firm believer in the value of generic tropes as an aid for role-playing, and I really appreciate Greenwood's dedication to providing endless detail for his fan fiction pastiche (Aslan rules a forest in Faerun, for goodness sake).

 

[Reynard]

I'm a firm believer in the value of generic tropes as an aid for role-playing, and I really appreciate Greenwood's dedication to providing endless detail for his fan fiction pastiche (Aslan rules a forest in Faerun, for goodness sake).

Tropes are a great shorthand tool, especially useful in things like convention games where the only thing you can be mostly sure of is the people sitting down at the table are familiar with D&D and probably the Lord of the Rings movies. You can use them in their normal state, or subvert them for effect, but in either case they let you give out a lot of information in very short order and allow players to feel comfortable in an otherwise new circumstance (playing with a bunch of strangers at a rando GM's table).

My issue is less about how generic an adventure is and more about how inscrutible it is. Trying to pry the actual useful at the table game information out of Storm king's Thunder's walls of text was maddening (Pathfinder is guilt of this too). I am desperately hoping Dragon heist uses plenty of infographics and charts and other tools to make it easy to navigate who's who and what's what.

 

[Mercule]

I'd compare the flavor to Sriacha Ketchup: sure, it's a bit Basic, but sometimes one just wants something slathered in the stuff.

Perfect! I loathe ketchup and just thinking about the flavor makes me kinda gag. Mustard, BBQ, ranch, salsa, etc. are all fine, but any ketchup will ruin my food. (And, yes, I'm serious. Ketchup is just gross.)

So, to take your metaphor, if I go out for a burger, it may come with ketchup, no matter what I say to them. Sometimes, that's no big deal because it's trapped between the cheese and the lettuce and all comes off just by pulling the lettuce (not like lettuce has any flavor, anyway). Whatever is left is easily overwhelmed by the other flavors. Other times, the ketchup is squirted onto the bun and left to sit while everyone else's food finishes. It soaks in and mostly saturates the bun -- and may even trickle through the tomato, pickles, onions, etc., coating everything. There really isn't any way to save the burger, at that point, short of tearing it apart and rebuilding it, replacing the contaminated bits.

Some adventures (PotA) just have the Realms between the lettuce and the cheese. Others (ToD) have it all soaked in. If you like ketchup, or just aren't picky about what goes on your burger, it's really not a big deal. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth wiping everything off on a napkin (which is going to sit on the table while I eat the burger -- gross) and how much bacon it's going to take to cover up the remnants of the ketchup.

By comparison, 1E modules were a lot more like a slab of ground beef in a dry bun. You could put whatever you wanted on it, but coming with even cheese was considered pretty flavorful. That's got it's own set of issues, but it's not the same thing.

 

[HawaiiSteveO]

I've found the Wizards adventures I've purchased unnecessarily dense, and quite a bit of work to prep well.

Adding setting swap details to it pushes it over the edge for me, unfortunately. Still, would love to see the new adventure, even though Eberron stuff has really clicked with me.