Wizards of the Coast Searches for the Ultimate DRAGONLANCE Fan
For a quarter of a century, the DRAGONLANCE setting has been engaging millions of readers in a world of magic and adventure. If you’re one of those special readers, now’s your chance to show the world that you’re the Ultimate DRAGONLANCE Fan!
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to show the world that you’re the Ultimate North American DRAGONLANCE Fan.
Fixed that for you.
Stupid non-international contest. *grumble*
Should we be reading into this that Wizards may be announcing Dragonlance as next year's campaign setting?
I can't even begin to tell you how much I hope so!
I'm am extremely excited today. Dragonlance 4e looks like a go, and Steve Rogers is being reborn as Captain America. Great day for me!
I had my money on Dark Sun as well, but it's not a total shocker. Dragonlance does have some solid support and a novel line that still sells well.
Dragonlance might be really, really tricky through. I can't see it doing well at all!
Mostly because which Dragonlance do you do?
Do you do the classic Dragonlance of the War of the Lance and the original novels? But that does tend to lock the future into what's already happened.
Or do you do the SAGA Dragonlance of the Dragon Overlords?
Or do you do the modern War of the Souls Dragonlance? But it's completely different from the classic novels new fans will likely start with?
Picking the classic seems the best way for new fans but alienates those who've been following the world for years. Picking the current incarnation or skipping ahead alienates the fans of the classic world and will cause cries of "FR nuking" from those unfamiliar with the recent changes.
There's also the big issue of MWP content (Margaret Weis Press, formerly Sovereign press).
They managed the 3e Dragonlance line with some of the best fluff the line has ever see (great, great books), but fairly terrible crunch. Average 3PP stuff.
Does the brand new official books acknowledge what has happened in that line (such as the death of the last Dragon Overlord)? Can they use the fluff from those books for shared continuity? Will the writers from that line have input in the new books or will it be generic WotC staff?
I envision the latter with Wizbro using in-house writers, which might annoy fans of the MWP line and its writers (who are quite active and popular in that community). I expect lots of new contradictions and breaks from canon.
Mostly because which Dragonlance do you do?
In an ideal world, you do all of them, much like the Star Wars roleplaying game. A sourcebook for War of the Lance, a sourcebook for War of Souls, et cetera.
Given that doesn't fit with Wizards' stated format, I think the way to go would be to have a Player's Handbook that covers all the player options from all the eras, and then have a Campaign Guide with a big chapter on the War of the Lance, a big chapter on the War of Souls, and so forth. So DMs can read the options, pick the version of the world they like, and go with it.
Because Wizards aren't releasing ongoing additional supplements anyway they effectively don't have to pick a horse; they can just say that "this is the world, through the ages" and leave it to the players.
In an ideal world, you do all of them, much like the Star Wars roleplaying game. A sourcebook for War of the Lance, a sourcebook for War of Souls, et cetera.
Given that doesn't fit with Wizards' stated format, I think the way to go would be to have a Player's Handbook that covers all the player options from all the eras, and then have a Campaign Guide with a big chapter on the War of the Lance, a big chapter on the War of Souls, and so forth. So DMs can read the options, pick the version of the world they like, and go with it.
Because Wizards aren't releasing ongoing additional supplements anyway they effectively don't have to pick a horse; they can just say that "this is the world, through the ages" and leave it to the players.
Better yet, they could release the books a lot like the FR ones, then release era material as supplements through the magazines. Go with the modern era in the hardcovers, and put era change materials in the mags.
Or they could also allow the DL Nexus/MWP people to do the era materials.
Of course, they could break with their original gameplans as well, and just release more sourcebooks for the campaign setting. Dragonlance is the one setting I'd buy more than just a player's and campaign guide.
There's also the big issue of MWP content (Margaret Weis Press, formerly Sovereign press).
...unless WotC hires MWP to write the new Dragonlance book. They wanted to carry on creating DL books anyway, so if they were hired in as authors (instead of publishers) they could access their own notes and use them to create a 4e DL book.
...unless WotC hires MWP to write the new Dragonlance book. They wanted to carry on creating DL books anyway, so if they were hired in as authors (instead of publishers) they could access their own notes and use them to create a 4e DL book.
Which would completely rule! MWP does the fluff, and R&D does the crunch. Best of both worlds!
...unless WotC hires MWP to write the new Dragonlance book. They wanted to carry on creating DL books anyway, so if they were hired in as authors (instead of publishers) they could access their own notes and use them to create a 4e DL book.
Considering the time it takes to write books and how far they do them in advance, I think it's likely they're already working on the books.
Yet the DL Nexus writers seem pretty sure there won't be a DL 4e, or at least not in 2010.
And, really, why hire 2-3 freelancers to do a book when you have an entire staff of in-house people already doing that job?
Considering the time it takes to write books and how far they do them in advance, I think it's likely they're already working on the books.
Yet the DL Nexus writers seem pretty sure there won't be a DL 4e, or at least not in 2010.
And, really, why hire 2-3 freelancers to do a book when you have an entire staff of in-house people already doing that job?
I'd say the motivation for hiring in the freelancers, would be turning out a product that would be free of the sort of "they nuked Forgotten Realms" fan-boy outrage and far more likely to pull in a quick profit.
Margaret Weis is a name that sells. If they could get her name on the cover (and if they could also get Tracy Hickman) they would have fans buying the book without actually knowing what was inside the covers.
As for the fact that WotC probably already have people working on the books...
...how do we know that they don't secretly have MWP working on the books (under a non-disclosure agreement). ;)
They might as well have called it Lance Lance Revolution.
What's with the crazy dance->lance contest title?
They might as well have called it Lance Lance Revolution.
Better than "America's Next Top Kender".
Looks like Dragonlance is a lock for the 2010 setting.
I had my money on Dark Sun as well, but it's not a total shocker. Dragonlance does have some solid support and a novel line that still sells well.
Dragonlance might be really, really tricky through. I can't see it doing well at all!
Mostly because which Dragonlance do you do?
Do you do the classic Dragonlance of the War of the Lance and the original novels? But that does tend to lock the future into what's already happened.
Or do you do the SAGA Dragonlance of the Dragon Overlords?
Or do you do the modern War of the Souls Dragonlance? But it's completely different from the classic novels new fans will likely start with?
Picking the classic seems the best way for new fans but alienates those who've been following the world for years. Picking the current incarnation or skipping ahead alienates the fans of the classic world and will cause cries of "FR nuking" from those unfamiliar with the recent changes.
There's also the big issue of MWP content (Margaret Weis Press, formerly Sovereign press).
They managed the 3e Dragonlance line with some of the best fluff the line has ever see (great, great books), but fairly terrible crunch. Average 3PP stuff.
Does the brand new official books acknowledge what has happened in that line (such as the death of the last Dragon Overlord)? Can they use the fluff from those books for shared continuity? Will the writers from that line have input in the new books or will it be generic WotC staff?
I envision the latter with Wizbro using in-house writers, which might annoy fans of the MWP line and its writers (who are quite active and popular in that community). I expect lots of new contradictions and breaks from canon.
The stuff MWP released follows the plot lines of the books as published before the RPG books and none of the novels since has done much to alter any information in the RPG books (except possibly the Minotaurs taking over Silvanesti, its been awhile since I looked through the MWP RPG books so I don't know if that has been taken into account) so if they took it all into account it would simply be following the current canon as laid out in the novels.
I guess I better say that I havn't read all of the Elven Exiles trilogy, the Stone Tellers trilogy, or the Echoes of Time (I think thats what they are calling the series) books yet.
I'd say the motivation for hiring in the freelancers, would be turning out a product that would be free of the sort of "they nuked Forgotten Realms" fan-boy outrage and far more likely to pull in a quick profit.
Margaret Weis is a name that sells. If they could get her name on the cover (and if they could also get Tracy Hickman) they would have fans buying the book without actually knowing what was inside the covers.
I can see them getting Weis and Hickman in to write some fluff and sidebars, like they did with Greenwood for the Realms.
But that's slightly different than the full staff of writers.
As for the fact that WotC probably already have people working on the books...
...how do we know that they don't secretly have MWP working on the books (under a non-disclosure agreement). ;)
Because they're not being quiet, they're saying they're not and that a DL book in '10 is unlikely. Refraining from comment is a NDA, saying it's not happening is out-of-the-loop.
You all should see all the people jumping off bridges in other forums because it's looking more and more like DL is the next setting, rather than Dark Sun or Ravenloft.
People are reading way too much into things, IMO. Yes, WotC is celebrating DL's 25th anniversary with Hourglass Mage and the contest. But an aurak draconian mini and Raistlin's stats do not a relaunch make!
I've stated my reasons on other forums, primarly DragonlanceForums.com and EN world, on why I think DL is a no-go. I think Dark Sun is more likely, with the re-release of the Prism Pentad and the inclusion of psionics in PHB3.
But, we know the setting has an "a" in it, so no Birthright or Red Steel. ;)
I'm am extremely excited today. Dragonlance 4e looks like a go, and Steve Rogers is being reborn as Captain America. Great day for me!
It was a foregone conclusion from his death that Cap would be back. They did it with Superman, they're doing it here too.
As for the fact that WotC probably already have people working on the books...
...how do we know that they don't secretly have MWP working on the books (under a non-disclosure agreement). ;)
Cam and I have both said that MWP is not working on DL4e.
I haven't been by the DL Forums in quite a while (except to see some updates by a guy who is working on DL for Neverwinter Nights.) I do check by the Nexus infrequently, and I still get your newsletter whenever you put it out.
Anyway, thanks for the update. Now I'm a little deflated, but such is life. I had hoped for MWP to be involved in bringing DL to 4e, but now I'm back to the same point I was a week ago, when I didn't think DL would ever get the 4e treatment.
Cheers,
Cam
I wouldn't rule out Dragonlance for 4th edition. I think WotC knows and appreciates how popular the setting is. However, they're also keen to bring new and fresh stuff to the 4E audience, so there's also a good chance 2010 will be something completely original and not just another updated setting like 2008 and 2009.
Cheers,
Cam
Well, as I've said so many times before, including in that DL in 2010 thread, I really wish WotC would allow MWP/DL Nexus to handle Dragonlance 4e. I love the work you all did in 3.5, and I think the same level of quality would continue if you were given the reigns in 4e as well.