Why is Eberron being pushed so hard?

[hong]

Maybe you'd like Destan's Valus Setting, fresh from the printers.

I liked it so much, I turned Lord Victor Destan and Lady Sonia Valus into NPCs in my game.


Hong "I do not kid" Ooi

 

[Belegbeth]

Just out of curiousity, how much does that pay?

Philistine! The life of the mind is its own reward. ($40,000 - $100,000 (U.S.D), depending on tenure status and the location of the department.)

 

[Belegbeth]

Is Vance not classical fantasy? Did I miss a memo?.

Did WotC produce a setting based on Vance's novels? Did I miss a memo? (Aside from the magic system -- which is only loosely Vancian in nature; Vance's wizards are unlikely to have more than 2-10 spells "readied" at any time -- no DnD setting is based on Vance's novels. I would LOVE a setting as colourful and interesting as Vance's Lyonesse series.)

... 'Classic' fantasy is for history buffs and sophisticates... it's almost a dry academic pursuit at that point. ...

I weep that people actually think things like this.

 

[hong]

I weep that people actually think things like this.

Never mind. I hear there are websites catering to lonely people with lots of time on their hands. And some of them are actually free!

 

[Rauol_Duke]

Philistine! The life of the mind is its own reward.

Thanks, but I'll stick to my fish-god...

 

[mhacdebhandia]

It's just that, no longer being niche-oriented means that old timers and certain intellectuals are out of luck. Alas, I'm the sort of person who studies science, mythology, philosophy, psychology, and history for fun.

That might be true - but you sound, mostly, like a wanker.

As a counterpoint, I'm very similar to you (yeah, probably including the wanker part), and I agree with the point made upthread about Eberron being more sophisticated than the marketing hype gives it credit.

More to the point, damn it - a setting is what you make of it. I could take the Forgotten Realms and make anything of it I want. The same applies to Eberron - and the whole damned game. You could run mindless CRPG-style dungeon crawls, intense and elegant political maneuvering, a save-the-world epic, grim and gritty war stories, colourful urban crime capers, eldritch horror, whatever.

It's called "interpretation", and intellectuals, of all people, have to possess a talent for it.

 

[Belegbeth]

Never mind. I hear there are websites catering to lonely people with lots of time on their hands. And some of them are actually free!

I don't understand this. How does it follow from I said? Why does a fondness for classic fantasy -- and disappointment that some people find it 'dry and academic' -- imply loneliness and lots of spare time? Is there a point to trying to insult people you do not know anything about?

 

[Destil]

[edit] I see that Hasbro purchased the Atari name in 1998, and Infogrames bought it from Hasbro in 2002.

Ah, cool. I haddn't heard of Infrogames buying the atari license from Hasbro.

 

[Campbell]

Is Vance not classical fantasy? Did I miss a memo?


Hence, the LOTR role playing game I saw at my FLGS. Do you think a WOTC 'generi-' oops, 'classic' setting could really compete with LOTR at this point? Do you think kids getting Greek myths and King Arthur shoved down their throat at school will turn around and go back there for fun? I seriously, seriously doubt it. Not when they can choose things like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft.

'Classic' fantasy is for history buffs and sophisticates... it's almost a dry academic pursuit at that point. I look at the Eberron CS and see a wild riot of energy, liveliness and vitality. A library or a rock concert? I know which one I want to go to for enrichment, and which one I want to go to for fun. Games are fun. Games are escape.

As a fairly recent high school graduate I can verify that American secondary schools do not push works like The Once and Future King, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or any form of mythology down students' throats. There is however very valid point within the contents of your post: Good literary worlds do not neccesarily make for enjoyable game worlds, espicially good D&D game worlds. D&D has a very solid framework for a game, but at this point I think that claiming that D&D is a generic fantasy roleplaying game does the game an injustice.

 

[smetzger]

Yes, but wasn't Greyhawk dropped for more... spiteful reasons?


Really? What was it called?

Pools of Radiance and others from the DOS days.