All the campaign settings.... [Archive] - Wizards Community

All the campaign settings.... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Saber
02-01-04, 07:30 AM Here is an interesting question out there for all of you. First, I am a huge fan of the D&D world, and have nothing bad to say about it. I have, and always will, love the game. My question is this: does anyone see the number of settings out there currently, and those proposed, to be a problem?

Its a great thing with the OGL to allow companies to create campaign settings from the vast resources out there. This allows for customation by the various d20 companies to allow for the demand placed by the readers, while giving them their own world to customize. For those with a sci-fi desire, fantasy or what have you, the numbers of various settings available are quite astonding. Whether you stick with the WOTC-settings (my personal favorite is Forgotten Realms), or you choose to pick from the other settings provided by the other great (and not so great) d20 companies, regardless of your ideas, there is something for everyone.

The flipside to this, is that I see all these settings coming out, and many of them do not get the support I feel they should. Prime example: the Wheel of Time Campaign Setting, produced by WOTC. I love the books and was happy to see someone turn it into a RPG. But, I was saddened to see that after all the trouble they went through, the line was not supported very well. Now, I know I am not privy to all the reason for this (financial, maybe not enough desire, etc) but from my little corner of the world, I was saddened. And, looking again to WOTC (not trying to pick on them, they are the best company around; just more familiar) they are now coming out with the Eberron setting. How much support for this will vary as well.

My question for all of you. What are your feelings on this idea? Do you think the number of settings out there is ok? To have the various choices? Or do you feel that more focus should be spent on the existing ones, to flesh them out?

Saber
Seeker95
02-01-04, 08:23 AM Wheel of Time suffered from the same drawback that any licensed product suffers -- the conept material is owned by someone other than the publisher.

If you license an existing world from another author, you basically get to make the first sourcebook and the initial two or three support materials -- whatever was in the initial contract. The creative end it outside the publisher's hands.

I doubt Robert Jordan is all that big into supporting a role-playing game when his primary income is writing fiction.

Eberron, being wholly owned by WotC, will get much greater support, at least for a while. But the Realms will always be the primary setting with the most support, and Greyhawk will always be the official setting, with no support.

I like it that way. I do not want WotC to do to my Greyhawk what TSR and WotC did to the Realms, where every supplement has to make things more powerful, more complex, more more more.

My Greyhawk uses the same setting material TSR published in 1980. Everything else is mine.
Ranger REG
02-01-04, 09:10 PM Originally posted by Saber

Here is an interesting question out there for all of you. First, I am a huge fan of the D&D world, and have nothing bad to say about it. I have, and always will, love the game. My question is this: does anyone see the number of settings out there currently, and those proposed, to be a problem?

Its a great thing with the OGL to allow companies to create campaign settings from the vast resources out there. This allows for customation by the various d20 companies to allow for the demand placed by the readers, while giving them their own world to customize. For those with a sci-fi desire, fantasy or what have you, the numbers of various settings available are quite astonding. Whether you stick with the WOTC-settings (my personal favorite is Forgotten Realms), or you choose to pick from the other settings provided by the other great (and not so great) d20 companies, regardless of your ideas, there is something for everyone.
AFAIC, there is no problem at all. "Variety" is the keyword here. It's like going into a supermarket and see the varieties of peanut butter (brand-name and locally-made) to choose from.

It may be a problem for the publisher who will find out whether their product is selling well or not. Suffering a loss or breaking even (when revenue minus expense equal zero) may be enough for some publishers to consider discontinuing the line.

The flipside to this, is that I see all these settings coming out, and many of them do not get the support I feel they should. Prime example: the Wheel of Time Campaign Setting, produced by WOTC. I love the books and was happy to see someone turn it into a RPG. But, I was saddened to see that after all the trouble they went through, the line was not supported very well. Now, I know I am not privy to all the reason for this (financial, maybe not enough desire, etc) but from my little corner of the world, I was saddened. And, looking again to WOTC (not trying to pick on them, they are the best company around; just more familiar) they are now coming out with the Eberron setting. How much support for this will vary as well.
Well, with regards to Wheel of Time, Wizards exactly fulfilled their contract agreement with Robert Jordan: design and publish one core rulebook and one supplement. Why they did not extend/renew the agreement to continue the line is anybody's guess (although some have heard that Robert Jordan did not like the way the supplement is made).

The same applies to Call of Cthulhu d20. Wizards and Chaosium agreed Wizards will make one core rulebook while Chaosium supports the rulebook.

My question for all of you. What are your feelings on this idea? Do you think the number of settings out there is ok? To have the various choices? Or do you feel that more focus should be spent on the existing ones, to flesh them out?
See my first first response above.

Honestly, you cannot predict the market nor the pool of customers (each having their own personal preference) to decide which type of setting the RPG industry should concentrate on and make a lot of easy money. Just as there are various gamers, there should be various products that cater to them.

Those devoted to a campaign setting could send feedback to the publisher on how to improve their products, which they can take into account in future developments. The more the publisher know what the majority of fan base want, the more they can serve them well, and in return get a strong sale revenue, which can be converted into profit.
Dop_Wiz
02-03-04, 03:21 PM I like to mix and match with the setting material, adding a whole lot of my own ideas. I guess I "homebrew" while borrowing stuff like towns or cities from print products. You should be glad that there are a lot of choices available, though I do understand why you're unhappy that none of them are really supported on a consistent basis.

Anyhow, if I were you, I'd get: Midnight, Freeport, and Hamlet of Thumble for starters and then see what else you need.

Oh yeah, Seven Cities by Atlas Games is really good, too. It has examples of seven different kinds of places: from a small village to a big city. Here is a link:

http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG3213.html

Lots of great ideas there. I generally don't like any Penumbra line books, but this one is good.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Saber 02-01-04, 07:30 AM	Here is an interesting question out there for all of you. First, I am a huge fan of the D&D world, and have nothing bad to say about it. I have, and always will, love the game. My question is this: does anyone see the number of settings out there currently, and those proposed, to be a problem? Its a great thing with the OGL to allow companies to create campaign settings from the vast resources out there. This allows for customation by the various d20 companies to allow for the demand placed by the readers, while giving them their own world to customize. For those with a sci-fi desire, fantasy or what have you, the numbers of various settings available are quite astonding. Whether you stick with the WOTC-settings (my personal favorite is Forgotten Realms), or you choose to pick from the other settings provided by the other great (and not so great) d20 companies, regardless of your ideas, there is something for everyone. The flipside to this, is that I see all these settings coming out, and many of them do not get the support I feel they should. Prime example: the Wheel of Time Campaign Setting, produced by WOTC. I love the books and was happy to see someone turn it into a RPG. But, I was saddened to see that after all the trouble they went through, the line was not supported very well. Now, I know I am not privy to all the reason for this (financial, maybe not enough desire, etc) but from my little corner of the world, I was saddened. And, looking again to WOTC (not trying to pick on them, they are the best company around; just more familiar) they are now coming out with the Eberron setting. How much support for this will vary as well. My question for all of you. What are your feelings on this idea? Do you think the number of settings out there is ok? To have the various choices? Or do you feel that more focus should be spent on the existing ones, to flesh them out? Saber
Seeker95 02-01-04, 08:23 AM	Wheel of Time suffered from the same drawback that any licensed product suffers -- the conept material is owned by someone other than the publisher. If you license an existing world from another author, you basically get to make the first sourcebook and the initial two or three support materials -- whatever was in the initial contract. The creative end it outside the publisher's hands. I doubt Robert Jordan is all that big into supporting a role-playing game when his primary income is writing fiction. Eberron, being wholly owned by WotC, will get much greater support, at least for a while. But the Realms will always be the primary setting with the most support, and Greyhawk will always be the official setting, with no support. I like it that way. I do not want WotC to do to my Greyhawk what TSR and WotC did to the Realms, where every supplement has to make things more powerful, more complex, more more more. My Greyhawk uses the same setting material TSR published in 1980. Everything else is mine.
Ranger REG 02-01-04, 09:10 PM	Originally posted by Saber Here is an interesting question out there for all of you. First, I am a huge fan of the D&D world, and have nothing bad to say about it. I have, and always will, love the game. My question is this: does anyone see the number of settings out there currently, and those proposed, to be a problem? Its a great thing with the OGL to allow companies to create campaign settings from the vast resources out there. This allows for customation by the various d20 companies to allow for the demand placed by the readers, while giving them their own world to customize. For those with a sci-fi desire, fantasy or what have you, the numbers of various settings available are quite astonding. Whether you stick with the WOTC-settings (my personal favorite is Forgotten Realms), or you choose to pick from the other settings provided by the other great (and not so great) d20 companies, regardless of your ideas, there is something for everyone. AFAIC, there is no problem at all. "Variety" is the keyword here. It's like going into a supermarket and see the varieties of peanut butter (brand-name and locally-made) to choose from. It may be a problem for the publisher who will find out whether their product is selling well or not. Suffering a loss or breaking even (when revenue minus expense equal zero) may be enough for some publishers to consider discontinuing the line. The flipside to this, is that I see all these settings coming out, and many of them do not get the support I feel they should. Prime example: the Wheel of Time Campaign Setting, produced by WOTC. I love the books and was happy to see someone turn it into a RPG. But, I was saddened to see that after all the trouble they went through, the line was not supported very well. Now, I know I am not privy to all the reason for this (financial, maybe not enough desire, etc) but from my little corner of the world, I was saddened. And, looking again to WOTC (not trying to pick on them, they are the best company around; just more familiar) they are now coming out with the Eberron setting. How much support for this will vary as well. Well, with regards to Wheel of Time, Wizards exactly fulfilled their contract agreement with Robert Jordan: design and publish one core rulebook and one supplement. Why they did not extend/renew the agreement to continue the line is anybody's guess (although some have heard that Robert Jordan did not like the way the supplement is made). The same applies to Call of Cthulhu d20. Wizards and Chaosium agreed Wizards will make one core rulebook while Chaosium supports the rulebook. My question for all of you. What are your feelings on this idea? Do you think the number of settings out there is ok? To have the various choices? Or do you feel that more focus should be spent on the existing ones, to flesh them out? See my first first response above. Honestly, you cannot predict the market nor the pool of customers (each having their own personal preference) to decide which type of setting the RPG industry should concentrate on and make a lot of easy money. Just as there are various gamers, there should be various products that cater to them. Those devoted to a campaign setting could send feedback to the publisher on how to improve their products, which they can take into account in future developments. The more the publisher know what the majority of fan base want, the more they can serve them well, and in return get a strong sale revenue, which can be converted into profit.
Dop_Wiz 02-03-04, 03:21 PM	I like to mix and match with the setting material, adding a whole lot of my own ideas. I guess I "homebrew" while borrowing stuff like towns or cities from print products. You should be glad that there are a lot of choices available, though I do understand why you're unhappy that none of them are really supported on a consistent basis. Anyhow, if I were you, I'd get: Midnight, Freeport, and Hamlet of Thumble for starters and then see what else you need. Oh yeah, Seven Cities by Atlas Games is really good, too. It has examples of seven different kinds of places: from a small village to a big city. Here is a link: http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG3213.html Lots of great ideas there. I generally don't like any Penumbra line books, but this one is good.