Why no WOTC support for Greyhawk?

[Nellisir]

Ultimately it must have to do with whether WotC thinks they can make money off of Greyhawk supplements. Evidently they don't think such material would sell very well.

Very true. But they aren't 100% accurate. I mean, DMG2 is apparently selling like hotcakes. I'm pretty sure WotC hasn't been sitting around for 3 years, thinking "we've got a sure hit, let's hold off just a little while longer...". I think the best hope GH fans have at this point is that the setting support in Dungeon results gets enough favorable comments and sales to attract attention at WotC.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[ecliptic]

What sucks is stupid Eberron over shadows all support Greyhawk ever gets in Dungeon magazine.

 

[BWP]

All of the material released in Dungeon and Dragon has to be *dummed* down to a generic level.

I don't understand what you mean by this statement. How does making an adventure fit into a generic setting "dumb it down"?

A "Greyhawk-specific supplement" -- one that could only be set in GH and nowhere else -- would require, what, exactly? And what would make it worth the effort? More importantly, what would make it worth the loss of customers who don't want something so GH-specific that they can't adapt it to their non-GH game?

 

[WizarDru]

I understand WotC's reasoning for not wanting multiple setting lines, but I'm not sure it's totally right. I went from buying material for Al-Qadim, FR, GH, and occasionally Dark Sun, Mystara, and Planescape to occasional FR purchases (I've gotten the regional stuff so far, but I won't get Waterdeep, Heros of Ruin, or Heros of Valor). By supporting fewer settings and giving me fewer choices, WotC has gotten -significantly- less of my money.

Well, according to WotC, you were the exception, not the rule. Most people didn't support as many settings...many only supported a couple consistently...and when you consider the FLOOD of products, most of those titles weren't selling enough to make a profit. Some product lines never really made a profit ever, but were being propped up by successful ones, because TSR didn't really have a good appreciation of their fanbase.

Believe me, I'd love for more specific Greyhawk material to come out, and I'd drop big coin for a GCS like the Eberron and FR books....but I understand the reality of the decision. And with quality modules like "Racing the Snake", "Shadows over Istvan" and "The Whispering Cairn", I can let it slide. The fact is that most of the old AD&D modules revealed Greyhawk in tiny snippets, often in a vaccuum. Such was EGG's writing that two sentences from him could contain volumes of 'hinted-at' lore...but stuff like Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics provide the same type of material.

 

[Imperialus]

Greyhawk you want?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44112&item=5201839461&rd=1

There you go...

Everything you need to know from the days of the week to what relations are like between Urnst and Furoundy. And best of all Rary's no damn traitor.

 

[Von Ether]

I think what everyone would like to see is a hardback like the one the forgotten realms got (the people who worked on it did a great job and I only became a fan of that setting because of that book). I would buy it in a heartbeat

A $40 chunk of my paycheck for hardback or this ..
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/867270000

I'd rather spend $26.

 

[Swordsage]

As an FR fan, I was ecstatic when GH became the 'core setting' with the advent of 3E. That meant all the generic dross was lumped into GH with little rhyme or reason as to how to fit it in or use it, leaving the Realms free and clear from it's own 'shoehorning 2E time'. Ahh, happy days.

-- The Swordsage

 

[Silverleaf]

Greyhawk you want?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44112&item=5201839461&rd=1

There you go...

Everything you need to know from the days of the week to what relations are like between Urnst and Furoundy. And best of all Rary's no damn traitor.

Hey, nice maps man! And best of all, it's super-low on stats and completely edition agnostic.
The 1983 boxed set isn't too shaby either, has more meat and adventure seeds, but still very open and uncluttered. Kinda like Forgotten Realms when it was just the grey 1e boxed set...

 

[Ranger REG]

I understand WotC's reasoning for not wanting multiple setting lines, but I'm not sure it's totally right. I went from buying material for Al-Qadim, FR, GH, and occasionally Dark Sun, Mystara, and Planescape to occasional FR purchases (I've gotten the regional stuff so far, but I won't get Waterdeep, Heros of Ruin, or Heros of Valor). By supporting fewer settings and giving me fewer choices, WotC has gotten -significantly- less of my money.

Meh. I only like Al-Qadim because it has a place in FR, which became my favorite setting since I left home after high school. Never got into Dark Sun (the feral halfling bores me) and I was never a fan of the outer planes, so no Planescape.

IOW, WotC made a prudent business move by not being like TSR: making too many product lines for so little audience. Admittedly the ones I like are good, but they were killing TSR financially. I mean they didn't even try to raise the price just to meet ends back in the 90's.

 

[MerricB]

OK. How much Greyhawk support is there in Heros of Battle? Or are there no wars either in Greyhawk?

How much Forgotten Realms and Eberron support was there in Heroes of Battle? This was a setting-free book. Well, almost: there are references to Urnst in a prestige class, I think.

It would've been great if Frostburn had included a paragraph, or even a line, saying "The setting material in this book can be placed on the northern continent of Hyperborea in Greyhawk, due north of the Land of Black Ice." I'm pretty certain they had -that- much room.

That's a line devoid of actual useful information. I'm currently running a game in the Bright Desert and using a _lot_ of Sandstorm material. I don't need someone to tell me that a book about deserts can be used in a desert area in the campaign setting!

Cheers!