World's Largest City [Merged]

[DM_Jeff]

Bumpeth

 

[jekessler]

Update from my earlier post..er, months ago. I did finally receive my contributor's copy (there were some issues with the address AEP had on file for me ), so I can see what bits of my Entertainment district did make it into the book (most of it, with in-jokes mostly intact), and can feel somewhat better prepared to answer questions relating to it, if there are any at this point.

I've answered a few general questions that arose on the AEG forums (fitting with their publicity surrounding the release, there isn't a separate forum for it, but there has been some small discussion of it in the WLD forums), and even pointed over here to this thread for DM_Jeff's succinct description of the core city idea.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

Bumpeth

OK, here's a bump for you:

My FLGS got the book in with no fanfare. It sat on the shelf right next to Ptolus. Copies of Ptolus came and went while the WLC gathered dust. I talked to a dozen people about it and asked them why they were passing on WLC.

One of them had purchased WLD. The editing errors in the product eroded the "good will" meter for that consumer. Translation: no more $100 AEG books for that person.

Four people were somewhat interested in WLC, but were swayed toward Ptolus instead. The reasons? Better layout, better art (subjective) and no editing errors found while skimming Ptolus in the store.

Seven people thought both products were cool, but would never spend more than $25 on a RPG book.

 

[DM_Jeff]

My FLGS got the book in with no fanfare.

It never did. it got the exact opposite amount of fanfare Ptolus did!

Copies of Ptolus came and went while the WLC gathered dust.

There's no comparrison. I'd never think to compare the two. Ptolus is a superior product, I know this to be true. I just know WLC does indeed have good uses. Wanted to help stir up discussion again, is all.

One of them had purchased WLD. The editing errors in the product eroded the "good will" meter for that consumer. Translation: no more $100 AEG books for that person.

That's a shame. Mongoose got at least a handful of products out of me before they lost me. And for WLD and these editing errors, I still love how jim pinto points to the fact that WLD has the largest thread on EN World ever. Apparently they do not damage the fun of the actual product.

-DM Jeff

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

And for WLD and these editing errors, I still love how jim pinto points to the fact that WLD has the largest thread on EN World ever. Apparently they do not damage the fun of the actual product.

By that line of thinking, it's worth noting that there is no huge, positive (or gameplay-related) thread for WLC. What that tells me is that while the professional errors may not damage the "fun" of the product, they eroded the consumer loyalty toward a second product.

I would go so far as to say that many people would not have purchased WLD if they had known about it's many errors. However, since they already plunked down $100 for it, they are trying to get their money's worth out it.

I've actually been running a WLD game over the past few months. It doesn't mean that I think it's a great product. It just means that I'm determined to get something out of my investment.

 

[DM_Jeff]

I've actually been running a WLD game over the past few months.

Hope you have fun with it!

-DM Jeff

 

[BlueBlackRed]

My FLGS has 1 copy of Ptolus and 2 copies of WLC.
Both have sat on the shelf since since they were released while he sold 7 copies of Rappan Athuk Reloaded and at least 3 of the WLD.

Other than this thread I don't believe I've seen much fanfair for the WLC.

 

[jdrakeh]

The art is decent, not horrible. The NPCs are generic, but that's intentional. Ditto the lack of world-specific setting info. The NPC stat blocks aren't anymore erroneous than those in most d20 products. The failure to include maps of interior spaces is very unusual and it bugged me a lot (why should I have come up with my own maps of sewers and the like when I just dropped $100 on this massive book?). The editor suggests that you buy AEG's Toolbox to deal with items and other mundane details, as the text of the WLC doesn't (deal with such thing). The lack of an index or subject-specifc table of contents drove me absolutely insane.

Overall, the book has a lot of cool ideas but its organization is the real deal killer, as the lack of a proper index and table of contents makes locating things in such a massive book during play next to impossible.

 

[DaveMage]

Well, keep in mind also that the WLD is the type of product that many people had wanted since they started playing - a fully detailed massive dungeon crawl.

As I see it, the problem with WLD is Region A - which, naturally (and unfortunately), is what people started with. This gives many people a poor impression of what's to come. However, many of those who have stuck with it found lots of fun beyond that region (and indeed, there are even those who enjoyed Region A - YMMV and all that). There are a few editing gaffes, but I see them as fairly minor. (And for those who have a few hours to kill, many of these are addressed in the mondo thread here on EN World.)

The WLC is not something that was as desired. City adventures seem to be (overall) less popular than dungeon crawls (after all, the game is not called "Cities & Dragons" ).

Heck, (and I realize this is anecdotal) many DMs and campaigns I've been in completely hand-wave the whole city experience - I know I usually do too.