Being a long time player, I intentionally passed on Dark Sun when it first came out for a couple of reasons. The first was the fact I hated psionics since 1st edition. The system was always abused by my players, so I dropped it. My love for Eberron has since brought me around, though. (That and the changes to psionics. Heh.)
The second reason was because at the time, there were a number of game worlds out. I threw my money to PlaneScape. Limited funds and all that.
I also wasn't big on the idea of being required to start at third level for some reason.
Having said that, I did mine the setting for ideas and other gems. I liked the halflings of DS and used them for other games, for example.
I did pick up the first novel and it wasn't bad.
Now I'm looking forward to August. I won't miss out on the setting this time.
I also wasn't big on the idea of being required to start at third level for some reason
Darksun 4e you start at lvl 1
You start at whatever level the DM says, just as with every other D&D game, actually. If you want to start at 1, 3, 5, 13, 24 ... go for it.
Yes, but back in the day, starting a new character at any level other than 1 was unheard of. That's why it was a selling point. ;)
The first was the fact I hated psionics since 1st edition.
Tell me about it. I hated psionics to the point I didn't allow it in my games; it's not that I hate psionics, in fact, I LOVE Cyberpunk 2020 / Fuzion's version of psionics: it ROCKS!!!, but AD&D's version was just weak and no good: it wasn't metaphysical enough for me and too just plain weird. However, when I ran Dark Sun to CP2020, I included the, "Everyone's psionic rule".
Dark Sun's marketing ploy was you got to be stronger than your normal AD&D player, however, there was a GOOD reason for that (you die a lot faster).
We ran a few Dark Sun games for 3.5 (using the conversion in Dragon/Dungeon Magazines) but even before that, I typically bought the boxed sets to read up on the setting (didn't play any games though).
I'm anxious to see the new take on Dark Sun. One unique thing about the setting is the fact that life is cheap. The PCs might literally be slaves, they might be gladiators forced to fight to the death. Psionics was my least favorite aspect (but since I didn't actually play, it wasn't an issue ;)). Still, it did add flavor; I mean, imagine a monster trying to rip ya to threads with tooth and claw and all the while screaming in your mind.
One thing I did snatch from Dark Sun was the idea of starting at 3rd level; I'd often recommend it to whomever I was playing with and more often than not, they'd bite. I s'pose it helped us feel a bit more heroic and less like 1st level losers. Our current group did it all through 3rd edition.
4e is the first time in a very long time that we haven't started PCs above 1st level. Maybe it's a combination of extra hit points, at-will/encounter/daily powers that's made the difference, I dunno but we do feel heroic, even right out of the gate.