Would Darksun have been a better 1st release for 4e?

[Mournblade94]

I addressed this in another thread. FOr those that were not happy with the 3rd edition to 4e changeover, if Dark Sun had been the leading campagin setting instead of Forgotten Realms would this have changed your reception?

Darksun ALMOST got me to go back to WOTC products. It looked nice, and honestly if Pathfinder was never made I might have gone back and commited to the rules beyond PHB 1 and played Dark Sun. Its just not worth the buy of the next 2 years of books just to play darksun when i inherently do not like the system. It is somewhat disappointing though.

I suspect if Darksun was released BEFORE Forgotten Realms, I would have been much more tolerant with the changeover.

Darksun was a perfect match. It drastically altered the common tropes of classic fantasy, just as 4e destroyed many of the earlier editions' mechanics. Darksun may have made 4e more palatable for me. I was on the fence with 4e when I first started running it, then when the Forgotten Realms was released I was pretty much convinced the system could not support the way I have always been playing D&D (Except for 2nd edition Darksun), and I jumped ship.

Does anyone feel similar about it?

 

[The Human Target]

I don't think so at all.

It skews waaaaay too far from the basics of DnD fantasy.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I don't think so. DS requires a greater focus on Psionics rather than Arcane (seldom a widespread popular concept), doesn't have the widespread name recognition that FR had, and doesn't have the kitchen sink approach that FR does. FR was the best choice for a lead setting. Maybe Greyhawk, but definitely not DS. DS is a good, "ok we have these rules, now lets see how far we can modify them," setting. IMO.

 

[delericho]

I addressed this in another thread. FOr those that were not happy with the 3rd edition to 4e changeover, if Dark Sun had been the leading campagin setting instead of Forgotten Realms would this have changed your reception?

No. My opinion of 4e is independent of what they've done with the settings.

That said, I really dislike what they've done with the 4e Realms, to the extent that I'm immensely glad I was never particularly a fan of that setting. Ick.

However, I agree with others that Dark Sun is a bit too "out there" to be a good choice for the first 4e setting. I would have gone with either Eberron or an entirely new setting first.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The first setting was the Nentir Vale/PoLand. And it was perfect. An old style throwback to be explored as the game was being explored. The realms were the second and were high fantasy with defined good and evil, heavy mapping, and large organisations. I'd have probably gone Eberron first. Then Realms.

And no. Dark Sun is a subversion. It's taking tropes and turning them on their heads. It isn't and shouldn't be the default mode of play.

 

[Nifft]

My aunt is a Slider, so I asked her how things worked out in the time-stream where Dark Sun was the initial 4e setting, and FR came out in 2010. Here's what she snipped from online discussions in that universe:

Oh great, they're tying the whole new edition to some one-trick pony setting. It's no surprise that they're just shoving a bunch of best-seller gods into the default pantheon, the REAL default setting has no pantheon. Lazy justification for the new Warlord crap, back in my day we had no healing and we LIKED it.

Look at this crap. Of course they can't write anything half as good as Faiths of Eberron, the design staff was picked from people who worship godless deserts like Athas.

OH MY GOD THEY MURDERED MY FAVORITE SETTING, LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET A BUNCH OF DARK SUN FANBOYS LOOSE ON A REAL SETTING, HOLY FRAK THEY MADE ELMINSTER AFRAID OF MAGIC LIKE HE'S SOME KIND OF REFORMED DEFILER, WTF POINTS OF LIGHT THE REALMS ARE NOT SOME FRAKKING DESERT

... in that time-stream, there were no survivors.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Doug McCrae]

Too niche.

 

[Dice4Hire]

No, Dark Sun is an advanced, and more limited setting, and would not have been a good offering at first. FR was a lot better as was Nentir VAle.

 

[dm4hire]

While I agree with everyone else that Dark Sun would have been a bad choice, since it has a different feel and the general presentation is different, I have to agree that FR should have waited. Eberron would have been a better choice I think for first up of the major settings. WotC's pending release of the Neverwinter Nights area in my opinion is an attempt to lure back some of the FR fans who jumped ship. It might garner a few of them, but I don't think it will pull near as many people had FR been better received.

 

[Mournblade94]

yeah your all right i suppose.