Wizards 2008 releases?

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Court is out on what effect the DI will have but the initial impact of cancelling Dungeon and Dragon magazines is almost universally negative on the vocal front. If that actually results in less sales for WoTC, I don't think we'll ever know.

Agreed.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

It's not necessary to have RSE in a FR novel. It's an editorial choice, and one that puts the novel readers ahead of the gamers.

That is true, and I don't deny it.

One could interpret it as a development of a continual cycle of momentous events which must be followed in order for later stories to make sense - not unlike the "shocking" twists of a soap opera.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

I would like to see a book cover forested lands – rainforests, swamps, temperate forests, etc. – the way Sandstorm covered deserts. But it probably won’t happen. Pity.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That is true, and I don't deny it.

One could interpret it as a development of a continual cycle of momentous events which must be followed in order for later stories to make sense - not unlike the "shocking" twists of a soap opera.

That's a worthwhile point, but still, that could be accomplished by having upheavals with a group of characters the reader was invested in, much like Sam Grimes changes and grows in the Discworld novels.

 

[Nepenthe]

I would like to see a book cover forested lands – rainforests, swamps, temperate forests, etc. – the way Sandstorm covered deserts. But it probably won’t happen. Pity.

I was in fact thinking about the very same thing the other day. So let's mark that down as a "me too".

 

[JustKim]

I was in fact thinking about the very same thing the other day. So let's mark that down as a "me too".

This has been suggested since before the first environment book was even released, back when it was just Far Corners of the World at wizards.com. Despite all that momentum, WotC does not seem to want to publish a forest/jungle/swamp book.

 

[Razz]

I'm just not sure that's actually true, Luis. Again - Forgotten Realms game products don't hit the New York Times best-seller list. Forgotten Realms novels do.

You wouldn't complain if, say, you were using the d20 Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game and it turned out that Robert Jordan's latest entry in the Neverending Series changed the world so much that a significant amount of the game information was affected, because you understand that you're playing a game based on the novels, not reading novels based on the game setting.

It may simply be that market forces have convinced Wizards of the Coast to make this the de facto case for the Forgotten Realms.

Which is totally just wrong, in my opinion.

See, not every Forgotten Realms player reads a FR novel. It's unfair to base a lot of the game material on the novels. Especially if said novels are being churned out so quickly. It's gotten to the point where a FR player will be so far behind on what's happening in the Realms if he/she is a couple of trilogies behind everyone else. It's also thinning out the market since now you're not only required to purchase Forgotten Realms sourcebooks, but you're also going to have to churn out money for all those novels to boot as well.

If you don't buy the novels, the next time a FR sourcebook comes out and a million things just happened that just made your last sourcebook practically obsolete makes you sit there and wonder,"What the hell?"

Like I said, I wouldn't mind an FR novel here and there being canon material. Like if it detailed a new region or a catastrophic event were to happen that they were planning to implement into the world. But I really don't believe ALL of them should be canon. Again, Eberron went this route and it's working out fine. You have the fans of the novels and the fans of the gamers getting what they want and neither side having to worry about one affecting the other. Also, the novel readers who are the gamers can actually apply the events in the novel into their game with just a word.

 

[Eytan Bernstein]

Which is totally just wrong, in my opinion.

See, not every Forgotten Realms player reads a FR novel. It's unfair to base a lot of the game material on the novels. Especially if said novels are being churned out so quickly. It's gotten to the point where a FR player will be so far behind on what's happening in the Realms if he/she is a couple of trilogies behind everyone else. It's also thinning out the market since now you're not only required to purchase Forgotten Realms sourcebooks, but you're also going to have to churn out money for all those novels to boot as well.

If you don't buy the novels, the next time a FR sourcebook comes out and a million things just happened that just made your last sourcebook practically obsolete makes you sit there and wonder,"What the hell?"

Like I said, I wouldn't mind an FR novel here and there being canon material. Like if it detailed a new region or a catastrophic event were to happen that they were planning to implement into the world. But I really don't believe ALL of them should be canon. Again, Eberron went this route and it's working out fine. You have the fans of the novels and the fans of the gamers getting what they want and neither side having to worry about one affecting the other. Also, the novel readers who are the gamers can actually apply the events in the novel into their game with just a word.

I suppose mine could hardly be considered an objective fan opinion, but I read the novels for fun and to get the "feel" of the Realms in my mind. I like to read books that detail new regions or that inspire character ideas (or that expand on ideas I already have). I don't see the novels as big books of history that I have to import into my campaigns. If there is history and detail that I need, I use it. But, if there is some small town on a map that was covered in a novel written 15 years ago (which I'm sure I read), I might well forget or do something entirely different with it. I do like the idea of canon because it provides a common history, but I don't necessarily limit myself to it, except for the purposes of design.

 

[Mercule]

I'm definitely not an FR fan, so this will probably sound like heresy to some people.

I'm not sure that FR is a distinctly 'gaming' world, anymore. WotC is certainly making more money from the FR novels than the gaming material will ever generate (see above point about NYT Best-Sellers list). As such, I think FR is a great way to draw people into the hobby.

Lots of gamers got their start by reading Tolkien, Vance, Brooks, Jordan, Martin, etc. and wanting a bit more of that world. There's a desire to then play in that setting. The trouble is that IP is held pretty tight -- and, it often doesn't translate well to game rules.

FR provides a consistant, successful presence in the sci-fi section at the book store to draw people to the concept and the setting. I doubt you can read FR novels for long without discovering that it started (or shot to fame) as a D&D setting. Boom! Instant invitation to play. Of course, the source material needs to be able to support the people who are playing in the Realms because of the novels -- which may (data would be great) be more than the number of people playing in the Realms because they like D&D.

So, it almost seems that the Realms are a bridge brand to help introduce players to D&D. I actually appeciate FR in that regard.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm definitely not an FR fan, so this will probably sound like heresy to some people.

I'm not sure that FR is a distinctly 'gaming' world, anymore. WotC is certainly making more money from the FR novels than the gaming material will ever generate (see above point about NYT Best-Sellers list). As such, I think FR is a great way to draw people into the hobby.

Lots of gamers got their start by reading Tolkien, Vance, Brooks, Jordan, Martin, etc. and wanting a bit more of that world. There's a desire to then play in that setting. The trouble is that IP is held pretty tight -- and, it often doesn't translate well to game rules.

FR provides a consistant, successful presence in the sci-fi section at the book store to draw people to the concept and the setting. I doubt you can read FR novels for long without discovering that it started (or shot to fame) as a D&D setting. Boom! Instant invitation to play. Of course, the source material needs to be able to support the people who are playing in the Realms because of the novels -- which may (data would be great) be more than the number of people playing in the Realms because they like D&D.

So, it almost seems that the Realms are a bridge brand to help introduce players to D&D. I actually appeciate FR in that regard.

All well-put, but none of it requires that the novel world be at the expense of the gaming world. A modest shift in editorial direction would continue letting the goose lay her golden eggs, but do it in a way that didn't make gamers second-class citizens of the Realms.

To paraphrase Buffy, Realms fans shouldn't have to know the plural of "apocalypse."