Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Uller999 01-23-05, 04:47 PM	Does anyone have any idea how well Eberron is doing compared to other early start Campaign setting. I know there has been a video game and all that announced but I'm wondering if thats more of a PR move than a move to facilitate demand. I really like Eberron and think it has a lot to develop (though hopefully they don't do as much development as forgotten realms, that has gotten so ponderous as to be disgusting). I would at least like to see it not go the way of Mystara or Ghostwalk, both which were discontinued not long after launch (I think :thinks: ). Anything anyone knows would be rad. Also since everyone seems to be putting it on here anyway (I did somewhere as well). Please explain why you like Eberron as a campaign setting and what elements of eberron you think well sustain it pass the launch date
Just Justin 01-24-05, 12:33 AM	alot of people in my comic book store love eberron.. with a passion people on the message boards are head over heels for any kind of eberron crunchy fluff. People anxosole (sp) waiting for the next dragonshard (might add that its great). heck people are arguing over what a female warforge looks like, and if the new book is going to have an Eberron Cover. i know alot of people that bought the 3.5 core rules becase of Eberron. on friday night roleplaying games at the comic stop around 70% are playing It. The only people that dont like it seem to be Forgotten Realms Extremes (sp)
james bierly 01-24-05, 02:28 AM	Yeah, I actually bought 3.5 because I liked what I had seen of Eberron...
nick012000 01-24-05, 04:18 AM	alot of people in my comic book store love eberron.. with a passion people on the message boards are head over heels for any kind of eberron crunchy fluff. People anxosole (sp) waiting for the next dragonshard (might add that its great). heck people are arguing over what a female warforge looks like, and if the new book is going to have an Eberron Cover. i know alot of people that bought the 3.5 core rules becase of Eberron. on friday night roleplaying games at the comic stop around 70% are playing It. The only people that dont like it seem to be Forgotten Realms Extremes (sp) Dude, a few things. Firstly, use correct spelling and grammar. It makes your posts much easier to read. Secondly, stop hitting the enter key every line. It's not neccessary, because the boards software will do that for you when your text hits the edge of the screen.
Bluebrush 01-24-05, 07:11 AM	Yeah, I actually bought 3.5 because I liked what I had seen of Eberron... Ditto.
Uller999 01-24-05, 09:43 AM	Is it really that big of a deal if someone mispells a couple of words here and there, I read his post and didn't have any difficulty understanding the meaning conveyed. I mean seriously people who cares. Not to mention the number of people on this board to whom enligsh is not a first language. Lighten up these boards are about a game not grammar class. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Raven Dark 01-24-05, 10:47 AM	...The only people that don't like it seem to be Forgotten Realms' Extremists. :D "I must now testify! So that no one can deny! That I was once a Forgotten Realms' Extremist! And now am converted to Eberron Supremist!" :D :P :P :P
Uller999 01-24-05, 11:19 AM	:heehee
James Silverleaf 01-24-05, 11:23 AM	true.... i loooove eberron... i have palyed a bit of forgottenrealm.. and i dopnt really like it.. i think it is to power.. ebberon is much more down on earth.. and i like that... and i like the pulp-action thoing.. i think its great..... '
Mr_Grimm 01-24-05, 02:02 PM	:D "I must now testify! So that no one can deny! That I was once a Forgotten Realms' Extremist! And now am converted to Eberron Supremist!" :D :P :P :P LOL. Preach it brother!
nyysjan 01-24-05, 03:16 PM	im not a very social person but when i saw the Eberron campaign setting for the first time i immediatly started to search my home town for fellow roleplayers and am now, after break of almost a year, back actively roleplaying
Puppy 01-24-05, 04:36 PM	I havehad a break from d&d (and roleplaying in general for that matter) that lasted 7 (!) years. I've been paying attention to what's been going on in the environment during that period. When I looked through the CS at the shop I just had to have it. This in turn led me to join the Games Society at my University to get back in the saddle. Now I'm a DM in Eberron and play other games as well. Needless to say, I think the setting is gorgeous and the best thing that's happened to D&D. Thanks Keith!
Shas'O 01-24-05, 06:09 PM	Me, and 2 other people really only know about eberron at my store, I gave the 4 out of 5 players (One, hopefully both of the poeple who know about it will play) an info booklet about eberron, and they all are stoked. so It seems eberron is pretty popular.
Just another user 01-24-05, 06:52 PM	Let's just say that Eberron's books are one of the few thing that make me still have some hope for the quality of 3.5 and D20 products in the future.
Dustin Fireblade 01-24-05, 06:54 PM	Yeah, I actually bought 3.5 because I liked what I had seen of Eberron... Same here.
LordAzathoth 01-24-05, 09:14 PM	I've been a big supporter of 2nd Ed rules for a long time. After playing about 16 yrs, the adventure seemed to get stale. I decided to try 3rd Ed for a change of pace. Oh it took my groups hours upon hours to make a character. And then it seemed to take forever to fit the group in the story because everyone seemed to pick some weird race that has an ECL. Well after a year or two, my group finally became used to creating characters on the fly (they liked to die alot). My most recent (and ended) campaign had them as starting out lvl 15 characters. I was using the Book of Vile Darkness to Monster's Manual 3 to keep them on their toes. We just recently started an Ebberon campaign and they are now looking forward to explore this world. There is alot of rich history in Ebberon. Some of it is in the Setting and some of it I believe will be made in the upcoming shards. All I can say is this...... Let the games Begin....
Bubba333 01-24-05, 09:42 PM	I started playing D&D again because of Eberron.
Edymnion 01-24-05, 09:58 PM	Lets put it in perspective. I'm on Amazon, and I'm looking at the rankings of the differant books. They are as follows: Eberron: 6,189 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: 7,066 Players Guide to Faerun: 20,904 Yes folks, Eberron is higher in Amazon Sales Ranks than even the mighty Forgotten Realms! Two words. BOO YEAH!
Uller999 01-24-05, 10:06 PM	:rant: I had noticed the amazon sale rank as well, Edymion. It did my heart well to see it. I played Faerun since 2nd edition and I found it to be so ponderous and so muddled with races, subraces, submonster subraces, sub demon arch monsters that are also half dragons, and the all might all powerful fiendish half-giant, half-black dragon, who is also a scion of Bhall blah blah blah. I like that Eberron seems to encourage more roleplaying and less templating (new verb :P ) I hope WotC continues in that tradition. So far I'm a little dissapointed with their marketing tatics as far as 3rd edition/3.5 etc and find them a little dubious but Eberron seems to so far be designed to maintain a certain amout of purity. I suppose after a gazillion people play it and 10 years from now when four dozen books have been written on it, we shall see if that purity is maintained :rant:
Raven Dark 01-24-05, 10:34 PM	LOL. Preach it brother! Okay. I will. *** I was once a boy. A boy who loved the Forgotten Realms. It must have been the evil lure of arcane power, or maybe it was the wood elf. In any case, I had fallen far into the darkness my brothers. When Eberron was released, I was like so many of the lost extremists - I condemned it before I knew anything. My clouded, judgemental nature had kept me from even opening the book! What a fool I was! And then...one of my friends drew me from the darkness. He told me that he wanted to start a new campaign, something he had not seen before. Knowing my dear friend's experience in ALL of the false campaigns of the time (including FR), I told him simply...grudgingly..."I heard there was a campaign called Eberron made by a roleplayer." And then the light came upon me my friends! My heathen friend, with my own words, grabbed the Eberron book without a second thought! Without even opening the cover he paid for it! And just like that my brothers and sisters...I was drawn into the light. I was immersed in my own copy the NEXT day! Rejoice! *** That is actually a true story. lol
Raven Dark 01-24-05, 10:36 PM	...I played Faerun since 2nd edition and I found it to be so ponderous and so muddled with races, subraces, submonster subraces, sub demon arch monsters that are also half dragons, and the all might all powerful fiendish half-giant, half-black dragon, who is also a scion of... And just imagine brother! The most complicated creature in Eberron is a Half-Dragon Lich! Oh, what great mercy has fallen onto us!?
Brastan 01-24-05, 11:26 PM	I like to think that Eberron stopped useing crazy templets because a 5th level Fighter/Noble can still make a great NPC villain with out being half-fiend too. The new insanity is one that I like, mixing PC Class, NPC Class and PrCs on villains an supporting characters. It gives something back to the NPCs and makes them dangerous and not to laughed at, unless your in my group and then you stab them before initiative is rolled :rolleyes:. Two of them can't stand villain monologs *sigh*. I'm particularly fond of NPC and PrC class combos, like Expert/Spy Master, with out any PC classes.
drasticale 01-25-05, 12:31 AM	Hey, those template-happy monsters are fun for the DM! But, yeah... I was sort of complacent about the Eberron setting to begin with, and my friend was absolutely riotous about it. I finally took the time to read it, and being the story-driven kinda guy I am, I extremely enjoyed myself at the deep and immersive storyline that didn't take thirty-two novels to explain out. The inclusion of a catch-all locale for adventures was great, so I didn't have to argue with my gamers about why it was happening where it was happening. <Which ultimately turned into me making my own campaign world, which made for games that didn't last because of the enormous amount of ideas I have> The fact that finally you aren't going to be hunting down goblins in caves, but are more apt to talk to one on the corner about how much you could buy some information for, made the world seem that much more real. And meanwhile, I'm the sort of player that wants to do anything, and everything because it sounds cool to me. So, all these new options piled with everything we already have was great. --- I have noticed though, that my other generic Dnd gamers, don't like some things, and it seems that where I'm from... that there are only a few here and there that are actually grasping onto it.
shemov 01-25-05, 05:33 AM	I played my 16th game session in Eberron last Saturday. I (DM) and my 5 players fall in love in this deeply considered and compact world. More and more people in Poland know about Eberron, and it looks like Eberron books will be translated starting end of this year. Thank you Keith Baker !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ps. i used to DM and play in Dragonlance (AD&D), Forgotten (D&D 3) and Alternity Stardrive
Jarlaxle_The_Rogue 01-25-05, 04:48 PM	*Also an ex-FR extremist.* My dear, brothers I hath been liberated from the scum of other campaign settings! Then I liberated my players!
Zalaz Mavi 01-25-05, 06:34 PM	Eberron gives off mixed messages to me. On one hand, it seems highly successful. On the other, it seems to be the prize of a very passionate minority of D&D gamers. The later sense originates from moves by WotC such as the Eberron Under Glass article, MMIII and potentially the Races of Eberron book. They seem to be trying very hard to bring gamers over to Eberron. If not for the setting itself, than at least to be attracted to how they can use Eberron in other settings. The energy devoted to this endeavor strikes me as a subtle statement that WotC doesn't like the numbers it's seeing. Simply, if Eberron were doing as well as we feel like it is, WotC wouldn't be pushing it so energetically? desperately? Rather, they'd be letting it drive itself... On a positive note, much like others have stated, D&D was as bland as a rice cake for me until Eberron came along. I haven't experienced the same level of excitement since 197? when I rolled up my first ever RPG/D&D character. I was a "Thief" back then. Now, I'm a "Rogue"...
Uller999 01-25-05, 06:47 PM	Perhaps WotC is trying to increase the amount of content for Eberron by dropping in references to things like the MM III. I guess a true crux to your point would be what Wotc does to the Races of Eberron book. But as it is I think they are just trying to expand the content with a bonus of appealing to potential customers as opposed to the other way around. I think eberron is doing better at launch than alot of other campaign setting that have come out in the last decade or so.
Korhal_IV 01-25-05, 07:11 PM	Simply, if Eberron were doing as well as we feel like it is, WotC wouldn't be pushing it so energetically? desperately? Rather, they'd be letting it drive itself... Uh, what school of business are you from? I'd like to avoid it! :P :D Seriously, the better a product does, the more they tie it into other things - look at how Hollywood pushes sequels to good movies (no comment on the sequels), and how good restaurants open up new branches, and so forth. Frankly, the only way you wouldn't see Eberron tie-ins is if Eberron were sinking like a rock. So - yay us! :D
Zalaz Mavi 01-25-05, 08:48 PM	Uh, what school of business are you from? I'd like to avoid it! :P :D Seriously, the better a product does, the more they tie it into other things - look at how Hollywood pushes sequels to good movies (no comment on the sequels), and how good restaurants open up new branches, and so forth. Frankly, the only way you wouldn't see Eberron tie-ins is if Eberron were sinking like a rock. So - yay us! :D Not necessarily. By your argument, Hollywood would be working on Citizen Kane II, not more Resident Evil and Riddick movies. Quality isn't necessarily an indicator of success. Else, anytime a Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare movie was released, it would be challenging Titanic and Star Wars for box office records. My instinct tells me that after the initial burst from Eberron, sales slowed considerably. Simply, those interested in the setting had already made their purchases in the early days. So either, with the core in place, they've begun working on everybody else; or, the core isn't enough and they need everybody else. Like I said, it's a mixed message coming from their efforts...
Blizzard_Bobsan 01-26-05, 02:14 AM	Personally, I'm sure that Eberron is a success and is making the biggest sales for WotC since PHB 3.5 (many people, even in this thread, say they bought 3.5 because of Eberron). If you remember, initially the only two confirmed publications were the ECS and Sharn and someone (Keith?) said that there will be other books only if those two are received well. Now we have 4 announced novels, each one a first part of a trilogy (and the LAST part of the FIRST trilogy will be published 12.2006), 3 more announced sourcebooks (if we count RoE), some other specificaly Eberron things (minis, DM screen, character sheets) and we know that they are working on even more unannounced projects. This is not what you do if a product is a failure - you just dump it and hope that you'll not sink with it.
Korhal_IV 01-26-05, 03:26 AM	Not necessarily. By your argument, Hollywood would be working on Citizen Kane II, not more Resident Evil and Riddick movies. Quality isn't necessarily an indicator of success. Else, anytime a Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare movie was released, it would be challenging Titanic and Star Wars for box office records. Who said anything about quality? Did I? Did you? Heck no. Eberron could be a steaming pile of bat poop like Resident Evil, or Riddick, or Britney Spears' latest CD. The question is, is Eberron a popular steaming pile of bat poop, and the answer is that it's the most popular steaming pile of bat poop since Bruce Wayne flushed! :D
Uller999 01-27-05, 07:32 PM	I guess another part to what I was wondering about, was if anyone thought Eberron had a quality of fadness to it. I'm not real sure what will constitute a fad in the case of campaign settings, but there has been a bit of objective clamour from folks suggesting that eberron is popular more or less becasue its what WotC is pushing rather than because its actually good. now that said, I like Eberron and I liked Faerun for awhile and before that I liked Planescape but I was just curious what people think. Obviously you all are fans but you know try to think outside of your own bias if thats possible (I do philosophy and I can tell you right now it is ;) ).
Jarlaxle_The_Rogue 01-27-05, 07:36 PM	Hmm. Thats an interesting possibility. I think thats why I liked Forgotten Realms, but not Eberron. Eberron I picked up the book not expecting to like it an fell in love with what I read.
okaynowa 01-28-05, 05:18 AM	I like Eberron the same way I liked Planescape (Torment is still my favorite PC game ever). It's got depth and its own style, but it's adaptable to a wide range of individual campaigns. I'm sure that there's an element of fad-ism boosting it right now, but just as Planescape still has devoted adherents keeping it alive (ask Shemeska the Marauder), I think Eberron will inspire the sort of loyalty that keeps it going after WotC moves on to other things. Something else to keep in mind is the change in how and where people play these days. When Planescape came out, MMORPGs and internet support for D&D weren't as developed as they have subsequently become. Now we've got Dragonshards, web enhancements, all that stuff. I found out about FR and Planescape through ads in Dragon Magazine-- I found out about Eberron through this website and Amazon. That's got to affect a campaign setting's dissemination and evolution, for better or worse.
Kid SixXx 01-28-05, 07:33 AM	Lets put it in perspective. Eberron: 6,189 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: 7,066 Players Guide to Faerun: 20,904 Yes folks, Eberron is higher in Amazon Sales Ranks than even the mighty Forgotten Realms! I'd actually like to see how Amazon categorizes these stats. Are they "all time sellers" or just top sellers as of recent data? If it's all recent data, the low selling of the FR books could also mean that everyone who wants a copy already has one after being out for more than 2 years, and that the sales of FR material are merely on the downslope of the bell curve. If it's rankings of current data, it means that Eberron is outselling FR on Amazon (Only for Amazon? I'd like to see other major bookseller data as controls for the Amazon data) because it's newer material, and after a couple years on the shelf, the FR sourcebook appears to be still hanging in there. Just saying is all. ;) The ranking for the PGtF is pretty sobering, though. I knew that was a piece of text that wasn't terribly well received, but didn't imagine it sank like that. I'll have to see how the Sharn sourcebook is ranked. To answer the core issue, yes, Eberron is well worth your time. IMO, it's the first setting where magic and psionics actually make sense in the context of the setting itself. Magic, for once, has been smartly applied and just not crammed into the setting just because magic is supposed to be in a fantasy setting.
Blizzard_Bobsan 01-28-05, 07:40 AM	The Amazon rating is recent data, not all-time sales. At the moment the N1 book is the sixth novel in the Harry Potter series, and N2 is some kind of a recipy book. And Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is #15,946 right now To answer your other question: Sharn is rated #30,002 But maybe there is a way to see the highest sales rating a book has acheived and this is what the others are quoting.
Lady Morn 01-28-05, 09:35 AM	Barnes & Noble has Eberron ranked 10,732, and FR ranked 34,231. I would say this has more to do with Eberron being new than a quality comparison of the two...
Euangelion 01-28-05, 01:29 PM	I guess another part to what I was wondering about, was if anyone thought Eberron had a quality of fadness to it. I'm not real sure what will constitute a fad in the case of campaign settings, but there has been a bit of objective clamour from folks suggesting that eberron is popular more or less becasue its what WotC is pushing rather than because its actually good. now that said, I like Eberron and I liked Faerun for awhile and before that I liked Planescape but I was just curious what people think. Obviously you all are fans but you know try to think outside of your own bias if thats possible (I do philosophy and I can tell you right now it is ;) ). When I heard that one of the PrC classes was called the "Extreme Explorer" I was a little worried that it indeed was "faddy." All I could think of was some crazy half-elf ranger sledding down frozen mountaintops with one hand on his snow board and the other holding a longsword. Treasure Planet, here we come! shudder However, I was soooo ready for a new setting other than FR that I was willing to move beyond my anxiety and take a look. I couldn't be happier (except if they had named the Extreme Explorer something else.)
Sharn Inquisitor 01-28-05, 02:30 PM	I am the DM for my group and have gotten all of my players weened off of my homegrown campaign and onto Eberron. For once, I don't feel like I have to contrive every little element of the world. I am provided with quality content in an exciting world. I find myself now looking at the DnD minis wondering when the next Eberron-inspired mini will come out. I think Eberron is great b/c I feel like I'm getting in on the ground floor. Even though I've been involved with DnD for ~15 years, I feel like I could never know nearly what I would need to run an in depth Forgotten Realms Campaign. I feel like I'm part of a fresh campaign community. I'm steadily bringing other players at my local hobby/comic shop onto Eberron as well. The music from Sharn: City of Towers is great, and really helps to set it up as being more exciting.
PoeticJustice 01-28-05, 07:23 PM	I was in love with the first time I saw Warforged in Dragon 318. The more I read, the more I liked. Eberron is much more distinct than other settings though; a player could, for the most part, pick up thier PHB and play a campaign on Toril of Krynne with little need for assimilating new info. My impression has been that Eberron doesn't work this way. All in all, for a blend of d20 modern pulp and high fantasy I doubt anyone could do better. Eberron fills a niche that nobody even realized was ther until it was published.
Nos-4-A2 01-28-05, 07:54 PM	The reason I like Eberron is because of its depth. The campaign setting gave us broad brushstrokes that mesh together, whereas FR depth is dependent on its word count. Hah, I still enjoy FR but it simply doesn't have the intruiging geopolitical complexities that Eberron has quickly developed. I feel that no matter how small the adventure my character is either affecting the balance of the world or being affected by it. There are no adventures in a total vaccuum in Eberron. Yet, there isn't much literature on Eberron and a lot of details are left as mysteries, which gives it the pulp feel. Also, it isn't afraid to wade through the gray areas of morality which FR avoids. There is no black and white, no character can follow his alignment forever. Is the Church of Silver Flame good, yes. Is this lycanthrope-slaying crusading cleric of the Flame good, yes. So what does he do when he confronts a good werebear? Does he follow his church dogma, which is generall for the best? Does he follow his heart and let him live, potentially dooming others to the curse? There is no right answer and it forces a player to REALLY roleplay and consider who their character is at the core. A good drow can kill a good elf in Eberron without angst, even with gusto. Why? Well that good elf could be a Valenar looking to reclaim lands in Xen'drik the drow's tribe has lived on for millenia. Its a tough situation but its the kind of thing people are really faced with in the real world. It certainly makes more sense than moping. (Haha, I'm joking I love Drizzt. I've read all of Salvatore's FR series and I can't help but read the next. Actually I don't even think Ellifain was good at that point... but he fought that fight to survive which is more than he can say for the way he's reaped orcs and goblins. You know what, let me not get into this.)
Ramses III 01-28-05, 08:50 PM	When WotC launched Eberron, they did so with every intention of it being the new big D&D setting; it's a matter of course that it gets as much mention and support as FR. This isn't a response to failing sales; quite the opposite -- it's called product support. It keeps up interest in people already playing the setting, and draws new eyes to it, in the case of MMIII. Also note that FR gets equal love from MMIII, and no poster here can honestly say they think WotC is worried that FR sales are in danger. To address the "fad" thing: there have been 3 D&D settings that broke the mold that 99% of fantasy was cast into by Tolkien. Those settings were Dark Sun, Planescape, and Eberron. That's the source of Eberron's popularity, and it isn't going away. This is a setting with its own logic, where orcs have an ancient Druidic tradition, where halflings are nothing like the hobbits of the shire and have never been. It's a setting whose politics are global and have a lot more in common with Europe between the World Wars than any medieval age. It's a setting logically influenced and shaped by the existence of magic in the world. In short, Eberron is a breath of fresh air to a veteran D&D player like me. You can only rehash Tolkien so many times before he gets stale. Bring on the legions of Warforged!
Doctor X 01-29-05, 01:43 AM	In short, Eberron is a breath of fresh air to a veteran D&D player like me. You can only rehash Tolkien so many times before he gets stale. Bring on the legions of Warforged! Exactly... that's why I liked Eberron. Forgotten Realms kind of bothered me when I first picked up the book... one of the first things I read in it was the story about how all elves feel the need to leave later in life, and journey across the sea into the West... Honestly, why didn't they just rip the pages straight out of those copies of the Silmarillion we all know the FR designers read. When I looked into Eberron, I saw how the Aereni and the Valenar both defy the "norm" for elves... They aren't happy forest-dwellers who only practice archery and swordplay for sport. They create their own immortal dieties and unravel the mysteries of the world through Deathless dreams... Either that, or they're brutal and war-like, and kill things just for the sake of living up to their anscestors... Combine that with all the other unique parts that Eberron has to offer, and you actually have a world that has it's own flavor... not just rearranged pieces of Tolkien...
Sturm Jaeger 01-29-05, 02:29 AM	Here, here. I have adored the uniqueness of Eberron from the start. I enjoyed the previews in Dragon magazine, learning more and more about this new world and how it differed from the "norm." Living golems, descendants of dopplegangers and lycanthropes as PC races? Death-worshipping elves, dinosaur riding halflings, and espionage-loving gnomes? God, I love this place.
KP91 01-29-05, 12:43 PM	I had gotten ebrron because I had some money and I had heard a few things I liked about it (mostly artificers) but now I love all of it. I believe DDO is going to use it too.