Wizards in a rough patch?

[MerricB]

The biggest problem with a "single setting" book is that it is one book that takes profit... and stops that player from buying any other setting books.

I know that I have the LGG, and haven't bought any FR books past the FRCS. If there wasn't the Greyhawk/Realms divide, I dare say I'd have all the FR books.

I buy Eberron books because they are significantly different from the fantasy of FR/Greyhawk, and I like knowing what Wizards are doing. (However, if not for my RPGA games, it's quite likely I'd soon abandon them).

Cheers!

 

[Turjan]

Riiight. And once you get that one main campaign setting book, you will not ever ask, plead, beg, or even slyly suggest making more products on a certain campaign-specific topic, right? Even if that one book didn't have enough information that you desire? Can you resist the temptation? Can anyone -- be it curious newbie fan as well as hardcore fans -- resist?

I can . Athas is interesting enough. It's got so many conflicts, possibilities and different interest groups that you can play there forever. I'd just like to have something comprehensive in a nicely printed book, not a mix of old boxed sets and conversion documents from athas.org. Not a good business model? Maybe.

 

[Psion]

The biggest problem with a "single setting" book is that it is one book that takes profit... and stops that player from buying any other setting books.

I know that I have the LGG, and haven't bought any FR books past the FRCS. If there wasn't the Greyhawk/Realms divide, I dare say I'd have all the FR books.

Don't look now, but you bought more than the single setting book.

Well, I certainly can't say for sure that the "short setting" approach would hit the mark for WotC, but it seems to be an approach they thought viable in the past, and is the approach of one book or a limited line is something that other publishers are finding productive.

 

[Turjan]

The biggest problem with a "single setting" book is that it is one book that takes profit... and stops that player from buying any other setting books.

I know that I have the LGG, and haven't bought any FR books past the FRCS. If there wasn't the Greyhawk/Realms divide, I dare say I'd have all the FR books.

I don't see much overlap between the FR/Greyhawk and any of the discontinued settings that show up on the wish lists. Spelljammer can be used with everything. Athas is more different to the FR or Greyhawk (or Dragonlance, or even Arcanis) than Eberron. Planescape is easily integrated into both, FR and Greyhawk.

This means I could imagine a FR Spelljammer book or a Greyhawk Planescape. Athas is too different; I cannot really tell whether that's good or bad.

 

[tetsujin28]

Riiight. And once you get that one main campaign setting book, you will not ever ask, plead, beg, or even slyly suggest making more products on a certain campaign-specific topic, right?

I'm fine with that. Really.

Even if that one book didn't have enough information that you desire?

Like what? If it's something I really need, I can make it up.

Can you resist the temptation?

Yep.

 

[DragonLancer]

So, a lot of heasay would prevent you from testing it yourself?

Sort of. If I was going to run Dark Sun again, I think I would dig out my 2nd ed rulebooks and run it under that set of rules. Even before that issue of Dragon came out I had thought about converting DS over to 3.x (I'm not too keen on what athas.org came out with in the end), but the current rules don't give me the same feel for the setting that the last set of rules did.

 

[DragonLancer]

Just one book per setting, or would you prefer a continuing line of products?

The problem with a single book for the setting is that after a while it begins to get stale. You want more and when you don't get it, you turn away.

Imagine where MtG would be now if they just printed the basic set and never released expansions. It would have died very very quickly.

 

[Ranger REG]

Sort of. If I was going to run Dark Sun again, I think I would dig out my 2nd ed rulebooks and run it under that set of rules. Even before that issue of Dragon came out I had thought about converting DS over to 3.x (I'm not too keen on what athas.org came out with in the end), but the current rules don't give me the same feel for the setting that the last set of rules did.

And what feel is that? Rules, not Tools?

 

[DragonLancer]

Asking someone to explain the feel they get for a setting is difficult at best. Theres no way I can explain (especially in a text format) that adequately so that you would understand. The best I can do now is to try and compare the two rules sets and see how they would impact the nature of the setting - bearing in mind the nessecary rules changes that DS has. For me 2nd edition fitted into that world very well, but then I have a strong feeling that it would because the setting is non-standard and was built around the 2nd ed rules. 3.x just doesn't conjour the same feel to me.

I'm not sure what you mean by "rules not tools?"

 

[ThirdWizard]

The problem with a single book for the setting is that after a while it begins to get stale. You want more and when you don't get it, you turn away.

Except for hardcore fans. Don't forget us hardcore fans.