WotC setting search winner - Eberron

[Goobermunch]

I don't really care, and I certainly don't want WotC to get sued (hey, they make my favorite game).

But you haven't disproven any of my points. I still doubt anyone would sue them - as I've said before - but it is not out of the realm of possibility.

So, Emiricol, you want someone to disprove your points, I’ll take a crack.

First things first, under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 11, any attorney who signs a complaint makes a continuing certification that they believe that all papers, pleadings, and motions are not for an improper purpose and have sound support in fact an law.

In short, this case would never be filed. It would never be filed because there is no basis in contract or tort law for a suit. Your suit wouldn’t sound in contract because you can’t prove the terms of a contract. The setting search is too vague to constitute an offer. Furthermore, even if you did manage to assert that there was a contract, WotC reserved the right to make the decision based on personal taste. As long as the selection committee didn’t act in bad faith (by rigging the contest), no court would find breach.

As for punitive damages, they’re not available in contract cases. If you want to go down the road to tort damages, you’re going to have an even harder time of it. You’ll have to show some kind of personal injury, even for a fraud claim. Good luck there, because one of the elements your plaintiff will need to prove is that but-for WotC’s alleged misrepresentation, they would have won the contest. I doubt you’ll have any luck on that front.

Oh, and finally, bringing a case purely for the purpose of harassment is a violation of the professional rules of conduct. It’s the kind of thing that can cost you your license.

As for your non-legal points, I'll go back and start refuting them now.

--G

 

[Bloodstone Mage]

Hmm...

Urban and industrial feel?

Sounds okay.

Dark swashbuckling?

Sounds cool.

Dinosaurs and similar creatures?

I think I'm gonna go buy Midnight.

Well, to be fair, I can't really make any judgments on this Eberron setting yet. It's still over a year until its actual release, and the report on it is so vague, and the Wizards people are so hush hush about it, that no information in the present article we get now could begin to accurately describe the setting.

Personally, I think Wizards is being like Jello Biafra in Election 2000. Jello Biafra is a musician, of the former band "Dead Kennedys", who ran for president in 2000 and is a Green party activist today. His goal for his campaign was to point out all of his radical views as much as possible so he could get a lot of attention. I believe Wizards might be doing the same. They say, "Trains, dinosaurs, and swashbuckling", and suddenly gamers everywhere are turning their heads and looking at the Eberron books. Not too bad of a publicity stunt, if it is one. Of course, I could be off by several thousands of miles. That is just a wild guess.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

Cheers!

 

[Goobermunch]

As for your non-legal points, I'll go back and start refuting them now.

--G

Well, once I weeded out all of your purely subjective statements, I came to the conclusion that your sole point is that the WotC has done a terrible job promoting Eberron. The only thing I can state as a refutation . . . is that WotC isn't responsible for the abysmal preview on Gaming Report.

--G

 

[Eridanis]

I didn't follow the link to the Gaming Report article, but if they don't include the art provided in the pamphlet I got to take a look at, then you might be missing out on the only concrete info we have so far on the setting. Cool sketches of flying machines, spired villas, new critters...it looked intriguing to me. I'm not going to jump to conclusions before we see more concrete info (which will be another six months away, I'm sure, as it'll be a Summer 2004 release), but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the book is near release.

At any rate, there is hardly enough info to generate any heat one way or another, it seems to me.

 

[Goobermunch]

Gaming Report has put up some details about the WotC setting search winner:

GamingReport

Quick highlights:

- It is described as having a 'magically industrial edge'

- Includes cultures such as gnomes, dwarves, orcs and drow, plus new races called shifters and changelings. No mention of elves?

- Dinosaurs and other lost-world creatures are also present.

- The setting uses d20 Modern's Action Point system.

I realize people have already balkanized into two camps here. I can see the folks who've decided based on a vague and sparse preview that this setting sucks.

To them, I say that I've read the same review and gotten a different feel. Where you're invisioning a Final Fantasy-esque steampunk world, I'm seeing a gritty pulp influenced world where heroes explore ancient ruins and negotiate with secret societies in the back alleys of major cities.

I see a world where the cities are large and far apart, but where wizards have found a more efficient way of transporting goods an people than breaking it up into lots and packing it through the astral (via teleport spells).

I think of golem driven trains and envision daring duels fought on the roof of a pullman while dodging tunnels through cliffs.

I anticipate meeting dinosaurs while exploring the jungles of the lost continent.

I guess I got something different out of those 277 words than you.

For those who've decided to wait for some more information, I hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised. I hope I will be too! If not, well, nobody can force me to spend my money, least of all WotC.

--G

 

[Emiricol]

Well, once I weeded out all of your purely subjective statements, I came to the conclusion that your sole point is that the WotC has done a terrible job promoting Eberron. The only thing I can state as a refutation . . . is that WotC isn't responsible for the abysmal preview on Gaming Report.

--G

Well other than a single comment I made in passing, and then a reply to a reply, your conclusion is correct. My posts are and have been that it has been promoted very poorly.

I've commented before that whoever handles WotC's Public Relations efforts ought to be fired, and that remains no less true now. Had WotC's PR person or agency done any kind of a decent job this would not have happened (at least not yet - if the setting is weak, no amount of PR will change that).

 

[Emiricol]

Re: Re: WotC setting search winner - Eberron

I realize people have already balkanized into two camps here. I can see the folks who've decided based on a vague and sparse preview that this setting sucks.

To them, I say that I've read the same review and gotten a different feel.

And therefore everyone else is wrong

 

[ShadowX]

Re: Re: Re: WotC setting search winner - Eberron

And therefore everyone else is wrong

How did you get that from his post?

 

[Emiricol]

Re: Re: Re: Re: WotC setting search winner - Eberron

How did you get that from his post?

Context? Precedent? Phft.

EDIT: He's going off his *feeling* about it in equal measure to those he disagrees with. As I said before, I'll evaluate it more when it comes out, but from what was stated in the article (based on WotC company communications) it sounds like something I wouldn't spend my money on. I seem to be in agreement with a lot of people on the matter.

 

[Dismas]

The article doesn't give enough info to make final picture.

To be it is bit like saying; mammal, brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys and expecting us to be able to picture what the animal looks like.

Based on peoples reactions on this thread, I am leaning towards Pro, basically because so many people are against it

There have only ever been 2 campaign worlds that grabbed me from day 1 and those were Planescape and Birthright.

The only sensible thing to do is to wait till the product comes out and try to get some demo games.