WotC setting search winner - Eberron

[teitan]

I just read the first four or five pages of the thread and to me it sounds like a vocal minority ranting and raving for one of two reasons...

1. Their setting submission was better, they thought it was a contest and are so mad that this guy broke some non-existent rule of this "contest" that they are going to have SOUR grapes and be angry even if this setting winds up outselling FR and DL combined and is the best thing since monkeys throwing pooh. Just to point out, NOWHERE did it say anything about technology levels in the guidelines we were requested to follow. Valterra said that WOTC wasn't looking for some higher technology world specifically and such a setting would have a difficult time breaking into the top 10.

2. They just want to see the older settings brought back except there is a problem with that... those older settings didn't sell as well as TSR, WOTC and now Hasbro would like. Remember that Hasbro changed the way FR books are done and almost removed the heart of the setting from it. Also, maybe WOTC has plans to bring back these older settings and just haven't revealed them yet. I don't remember the DLCS being announced until after this search was started, though I could be wrong. Honestly though, I don't think there is a lot of prophet to be had in relaunching these lines for HASBRO's bottom line. WOTC maybe, but HASBRO no.

I think some of the smaller companies should license these settings, let WOTC do the main book and publish it. Maybe WOTC could do one off books, who knows. But geesh, let it go...



Jason

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think it could be very very cool. Could end up being a favorite setting of mine.

I do agree it may risk being a mish-mash, however. Dark settings don't appeal to me much, Swashbuckling doesn't appeal to me much, but dinos and trains and 'industrial age' stuff definately do. So we'll see what happens.

And it may just be the cynic in me talking, but I think a good 80% of the hatred to this setting is 'sour grapes' form not winning the contest themselves with their obviously better submission. Not all of it, of course, but these knee-jerk reactions scream 'I hate this because it's not mine and mine is better!' to me.

I didn't win either, but I still think the setting has potential. And really, at this point making a love it/hate it judgement is premature at best. Either you like it's potential, or you don't.

I'll also second the 'they did a crappy job of explaining it.' This makes me feel like I've seen a movie preview, which, for a setting, is lame. It's a teaser, not an information session, and that seems to be a total slap in the face. They could've at least given us firm grip on what the world is like...

 

[drnuncheon]

I do agree it may risk being a mish-mash, however. Dark settings don't appeal to me much, Swashbuckling doesn't appeal to me much, but dinos and trains and 'industrial age' stuff definately do. So we'll see what happens.

Trying to decide whether the world is a mishmash or not from what we've seen is like trying to extrapolate Greyhawk from one-line descriptions of the GDQ series ("So what, the whole setting is about giants and drow and fishmen? That's lame.") or the Forgotten Realms from the cover art of R.A. Salvatore's collected works.

 

[Emiricol]

Based on what I saw, it sounds like something I'd have no interest at all in.

But I'll say again - WotC's PR folks did a crappy job (yet again), particularly in managing the perception that this is steampunk when they asked for "traditiona" and "medieval". Also, the "review" was vague at best, and the setting is a year out.

So, it is waaaay to early to say whether it will be a waste of time yet or not. Anything at this point is raw conjecture and personal feelings (I won't even grant them the status of opinion yet) based on little information from WotC and a writeup that was far from being in-depth enough to draw a real conclusion.

I can understand how some people would feel some hostility to WotC based on what little we knkow so far, and how some people would see a lot of potential in the setting, but I've come to the conclusion that it is just too early to tell.

Let the flames and mean-spirited replies to bits of quotes taken out of context begin!

 

[blackshirt5]

Eberron looks pretty interesting to me...

If I may take this moment to share my particular success story...

My setting proposal Sundered Skies is going to be published
By Pinnacle!

It's not going to be D20, I am writing it for the sublime Savage Worlds , a system that suits my particular playing style much better.

I didn't write Sundered Skies up specifically for the setting search, but until I bought Savage Worlds, it was D20.

The Skies got a lot of support on this forum for which I am very grateful.

Thanks!

That setting does look awesome; what's the Savage Worlds system like, perchance?

Also, just as a note, I think Ebarron(sp?) looks interesting, and I'll wait until I hear more to pass judgment on my purchasing or not.

But then again I'm a member of the great Baker/Smith conspiracy, so...

 

[kenjib]

Well, if wizardry is an 'anybody can do it'. A lot of fantasy settings posit that a certain 'talent' is necessary as well as the training.

Even if it is a skill that can be taught to anyone, there's a lot of reasons why "the state" might not be able to sponsor wizard education, too: funding, lack of ability to enforce the edict, the wizards being unwilling to share their secrets with 'just anybody'...

J

Another factor is that rulers likely would not want so much power available to the general populace. Everyone having wizard abilities would be a massive, threat to the status quo, as well as the security of the populace.

 

[blackshirt5]

Not to pick on one poster, but yeesh, this really sums up much of this thread.

I'd like folks to please ease up on the accusatory tone, blanket generalizations, conspiracy theories, random cries of "you're a troll!" and so forth. If you can, great, this thread can live.

I Can't Believe You'd Be Such A Troll, Eric!

*Runs off into corner to hide and pet Elminster* Don't worry my pet; no actual GOOD idea will EVAR(sp) supplant your world! EVAR!

 

[Iron_Chef]

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

I think there was one Sleestak that was friendly to the Marshalls. I can't remember his name, but I think he showed them how to use the Pylons found near that "lost city."

His name was Enoch, and you could tell him apart from the others because he wore a red and gold outfit---I think he had red eyes, a slightly more expressive face and was more golden colored, too. Didn't he represent the sleestaks from the past, before they became somewhat degenerated and dullwitted? He was way smarter than the others, I remember that.

 

[TheAntiSummit]

Mass Production of Magic Items

Just a thought about magical mass production- since magic item creation doesnt have to work the same way in every world, it's possible that the limits of such things could be pushed back. If a magic item can bestow a magical spell on a person, why not on another item? Maybe a group of mages together can create a magical factory, enchanting it to bestow its magic onto other items? For example, the local wizards guild gets together and contracts the carpenters guild or the masons guild to build them the shell for this factory. Then they all help with casting this super duper fly spell on the equipment, and then they have the cobblers guild bring them 100 pairs of boots every day. They put the boots in the now magical equipment and poof! you have your mass produced boots of flying. This probably can't last forever, so after a month or however long the magic in the equipment lasts ebfore being expended and dispersed into all the boots, the wizards guild comes back from vacation or whatever they did during the down time to regain the experience it costs them to enchant the factory, and does it all over again, renegotiating their lease while they are at it. It might sound dumb, but it's possible, and in a society that has dealt with magic for hundreds or thousands of years, it seems a logical progression (to me at least).

 

[NickTheLemming]

I just read the first four or five pages of the thread and to me it sounds like a vocal minority ranting and raving for one of two reasons...

Since I'm one of those that's been quite vocal, I'll answer these two points from my perspective.

1. Their setting submission was better, they thought it was a contest and are so mad that this guy broke some non-existent rule of this "contest" that they are going to have SOUR grapes and be angry even if this setting winds up outselling FR and DL combined and is the best thing since monkeys throwing pooh. Just to point out, NOWHERE did it say anything about technology levels in the guidelines we were requested to follow.

I didn't send in any setting, and never had any intention of doing so. I think those that have complained about the tech level have either been complaining that it claims to have mediaeval tech when it has hover trains (My position), or that the original guidelines mentioned that they were looking for something in a similar vein to FR, GH etc, and everyone assumed that a higher tech level than that would not be welcomed (Position held by some others).

2. They just want to see the older settings brought back except there is a problem with that... those older settings didn't sell as well as TSR, WOTC and now Hasbro would like. I think some of the smaller companies should license these settings, let WOTC do the main book and publish it. Maybe WOTC could do one off books, who knows. But geesh, let it go...

I'm not that interested in FR and GH to be honest. I can remember the first GH stuff, and quite enjoyed it at the time, but I've moved on since then. I want something else, not GH and FR. I'm quite interested in several of the other settings that didn't win (Earthforge and Morningstar look interesting), and other new settings that have appeared (Midnight). I'd like to see more of the original submissions appear, and possibly be published by other companies (Preferably without the heavy reliance on D20, like the Sundered Skies book that's being released for SW).

Nick the Lemming