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RodOdom
Senior Scribe
USA
509 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Oct 2008 : 15:08:00
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Looking back at the Forgotten Realms RPG products, the vast majority have been setting books. Maybe one out of five or six were actual adventure modules. Did this help split the D&D community into FR fans and haters? Between those who are more attracted to the roleplaying aspect of the game, and hence the rich history, culture and personalities of the Realms. And those who prefer the straightforward dungeon crawl.
Would the designers of 4E felt differently about the Realms if they experienced more dungeon crawls in that setting? Would it have led to a more familiar version of the Realms than we have now?
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3762 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2008 : 15:11:51
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| -I can't say that I'd agree...For most people, it's simply a matter of taste or experience, that they don't like. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2008 : 15:50:46
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| That sounds about right - and I think that would probably explain the "bare bones" FRCG.... |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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Vangelor
Learned Scribe
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2008 : 06:38:29
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| I do not know. I am definitely in the intricate-setting, plot-driven Roleplay faction, not that I dislike dungeon crawls, but I like them to have context. "Hey, let's go kill some orcs and take their stuff" just doesn't motivate my bard. |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2008 : 11:09:47
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| I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2008 : 13:36:47
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A problem for the Wizards was and still is the vast amount of lore that has been produced for the Realms. "Problem" in so far as much of what has been written is DM stuff and their number is limited. Even though these days players tend to buy as much material as DMs (curse'em!), a great deal of the fluff is DM material and thus will not figure as highly in selling figures as general stuff (like the Complete series) - which is interesting to all parties involved. So as far as I see it, they "spared" all new DMs from "having to read" all the Realmslore - which "was said to be" a necessity (garbage, but that is what you hear to this day), spared themselves from having to re-create books only a "minority" of the gamers would buy and instead produce stuff for all to have and buy - counting on the DDIs and the imagination of the future DMs to get the Light-weighted Realms into motion.
IMHO, the FR "haters" cried loudest and were heard, while the majority of content gamers and DMs did not take notice until it was too late. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gæð a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerûn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
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Pandora
Learned Scribe
Germany
305 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2008 : 16:44:51
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The result makes me think that the people responsible for the current edition and the state of affairs in the Realms are like car designers who have never ever sat inside one. The "workers" still produce a running car, but it doesnt make as much sense as the older ones.
quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
A problem for the Wizards was and still is the vast amount of lore that has been produced for the Realms. "Problem" in so far as much of what has been written is DM stuff and their number is limited. Even though these days players tend to buy as much material as DMs (curse'em!), a great deal of the fluff is DM material and thus will not figure as highly in selling figures as general stuff (like the Complete series) - which is interesting to all parties involved. So as far as I see it, they "spared" all new DMs from "having to read" all the Realmslore - which "was said to be" a necessity (garbage, but that is what you hear to this day), spared themselves from having to re-create books only a "minority" of the gamers would buy and instead produce stuff for all to have and buy - counting on the DDIs and the imagination of the future DMs to get the Light-weighted Realms into motion.
This has always been the problem and will always be a problem ... unless there is zero campaign information to be found and everything is simply modules, but even then the players can buy them and know what lies ahead. So less lore to read is not actually a way to solve this problem, because - to keep things interesting - every DM should adjust his style somehow. A huge load of lore is actually a good thing, because only the rarest people will know everything, so even though players may know some stuff they wont know everything the DM is focusing on.
Having some knowledge about the campaign isnt bad, because it gives players more choice and enables them to fill those knowledge skills they bought with skill points with life. What is needed is a way to prevent metagaming. Having knowledge, but ignoring it, is what is needed to be taught to players.
quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
IMHO, the FR "haters" cried loudest and were heard, while the majority of content gamers and DMs did not take notice until it was too late.
The internet has existed for some time now and we all should know no forum is ever going to give a representative picture of the state of affairs. People who are content and happy dont go there and say so about D&D, only the unhappy people start whining. Every smart person should figure this into decisions AND he should have his own experiences about it. As I have written above I seriously doubt the people who made the decisions to change D&D and change FR have any experience in a real roleplaying campaign. The had - at most - experience with single adventures loaded with encounters, but they also had a "vision" of greener pastures ... online. And thus the changes were made. |
If you cant say what youre meaning,
you can never mean what youre saying.
- Centauri Minister of Intelligence, Babylon 5 |
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Would things have been different if .... ?
