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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7408736" data-attributes="member: 82106">IMHO there are two problems with game publisher published setting material. 1) There are maybe 100 guys out there putting out these things, and they've been doing it for 30 years. There are 1000s, maybe 10s of 1000s of fantasy authors, and they and their predecessors have been cranking this stuff out for FIVE THOUSAND YEARS. What we have available to us today is the creme of a vast crop of fantasy material (and basically the same argument goes with other genres). I mean, sure, there's STILL a lot of junk out there, I've read some complete garbage, and most of the FR novels and such generally fall into that category too.Still, if I want high quality imagination to be inspired by, I'm FAR FAR better off to go to the shelves of my library's fantasy section than to drivethrurpg.com. No offense to anyone who's putting out RPG material, there certainly IS some good material, but proportionately its hard to find anything that holds a candle to anything in Gygax's much vaunted Appendix N (and that's a very tiny sample of some of the good stuff).2) Now, when it comes to actual adventures and such, well then I can't buy one written by Robert Silverberg, more is the pity, but at least I can get something competently put together by someone who has some understanding of RPGs. Even then though it probably is only useful if I take it apart and use the bits. Still, I can do as well as they can in that department, and with the right game mechanics it isn't even hard (4e, your great selling point!).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7408736, member: 82106"] IMHO there are two problems with game publisher published setting material. 1) There are maybe 100 guys out there putting out these things, and they've been doing it for 30 years. There are 1000s, maybe 10s of 1000s of fantasy authors, and they and their predecessors have been cranking this stuff out for FIVE THOUSAND YEARS. What we have available to us today is the creme of a vast crop of fantasy material (and basically the same argument goes with other genres). I mean, sure, there's STILL a lot of junk out there, I've read some complete garbage, and most of the FR novels and such generally fall into that category too. Still, if I want high quality imagination to be inspired by, I'm FAR FAR better off to go to the shelves of my library's fantasy section than to drivethrurpg.com. No offense to anyone who's putting out RPG material, there certainly IS some good material, but proportionately its hard to find anything that holds a candle to anything in Gygax's much vaunted Appendix N (and that's a very tiny sample of some of the good stuff). 2) Now, when it comes to actual adventures and such, well then I can't buy one written by Robert Silverberg, more is the pity, but at least I can get something competently put together by someone who has some understanding of RPGs. Even then though it probably is only useful if I take it apart and use the bits. Still, I can do as well as they can in that department, and with the right game mechanics it isn't even hard (4e, your great selling point!). [/QUOTE]

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