More zephyr hounds tomorrow, but I feel compelled to comment on the retreading of Dark Sun which is to be released for D&D 4e next year.
My comment: I don't give a shit and I feel bad about even saying as much, because even by spreading the news in my tiny corner of blogland, I am in some very small way contributing to the ridiculous atmosphere of giddy fanboyism surrounding WotC releases; it makes my skin crawl to read rpg.net threads and imagine grown men, grown men, typing things like "Hot Sex. Original boxed set timeline? Amazing win," and "Ohgodwantnow That is an amazingly hot and sexy cover," and not joking but actually being serious.
(I also feel a little bit bad about urinating like this over the genuine excitement of people who are probably very nice in real life. But, eh.)
Anyway. Dark Sun will be released for 4e. This is a little bit like somebody rushing up to tell me that the new Filtermeister(tm) pond filter Model FM 3000, specifically designed for koi carp enthusiasts, is about to come out. Which is to say, short of actually hitting me over the head with the campaign setting book, you couldn't do a whole lot to get me even slightly interested in its existence.
Prediction: they'll ruin it.
ReplyDeleteConsolation: at least they didn't decide to play corpse puppets with Planescape.
Ugh. I am in total and utter agreement with all points. You might call me an ostrich burying his head, but I've decided to completely ignore the whole thing. To me 4E is a game that doesn't exist in my small sphere of perception...kind of like GURPS or Champions. I know it's around but I focus my energies elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI guess for some people Dark Sun was the awesome entropic Jack Vance-type world it was clearly inspired by.
ReplyDeleteI, on the other hand, saw the cheesy covers with S&M leather gladiators on them and it never occurred to me that what was going on inside those books could be interesting in any way.
I still have all of my 2E DS books. It's one of the few 2E things I kept, along with Spelljammer. They should have done a proper 3.5 version of their 2E campaign worlds and they didn't.
ReplyDeleteThis? This is just one more monstrosity within the aberration that is 4E. WotC will never get another dime from me.
"Man Don't Give a F*ck"
ReplyDeleteI'll second that motion.
To be honest I never cared much about Darksun and am less than excited about this. I'd have much preferred Spelljammer, Planescape or Greyhawk. Still, now I'll be able to incorporate Muls into my 4e games, which has me pleased as the proverbial Punch.
ReplyDeleteman, why you got to go harshing on my koi? ;)
ReplyDeleteChris: I heard that they'll be releasing a book for each Plane over the course of the years, so I imagine a Planescape setting is out for good. Which relieves me greatly.
ReplyDeleteJB: Me too. I used to get hot and bothered about it, but now I just don't care.
Zak: Give the books a try if you can find them. Once you get past the cover there's a very imaginative setting underneath. Including for example cannibalistic halflings.
Tetsubo: I wonder if Spelljammer will ever get the 4e treatment?
Eric: We need to start a union, clearly.
Rach: Muls were pretty cool, eh?
mhensley: You bloody koi carp enthusiasts!!!!!
Actually my uncle is hugely into koi carp. When I was a kid and used to go and visit, without fail I would be forced to help him clean out the filters in the pond. There were always about a dozen dead frogs in those things.
It sounds cool to me, but then again, I like 4e. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteI've still got my original Dark Sun box set. I never ran it after I read it though. Dark Sun should have been further divorced from the core fantasy of Greyhawk and the Forgotton Realms than it was, I think. I wanted to like it, but I think it needed to be weirder, or more Sword&Planet, or something. Hmmmmm, maybe it should have an infusion of Carcosa!
ReplyDeleteGreyhawk is safe, and my dream of seeing it one day licensed to another entity or for another system is still far-fetched, but alive.
ReplyDeleteWith the psionics and whatnot, DS might work for 4e. I don't know. My liveblogging of the announcement yesterday was probably the last time I'll think of it.
Fan squee is a sad sad thing.
ReplyDeleteIs it their excitement or the way (and words) they chose to express it with that bothers you? Also, I like that they chose Dark Sun, and think it's a great fit for 4E. It's probably one of the more imaginative and interesting D&D settings to have been made for the game. The setting also has a Barsoom-like feel to it, even including 4-armed insect men as a prominent race. What's so bad about Athas as a setting for D&D, really? I mean besides the ill-informed, ranty sorts of reactions from people who seem to have looked at covers but never played it?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Is it their excitement or the way (and words) they chose to express it with that bothers you?
ReplyDeleteBoth. I don't have a problem with people who are 12 years old or younger being excited to the point of incoherence about something. Adults, on the other hand...
What's so bad about Athas as a setting for D&D, really? I mean besides the ill-informed, ranty sorts of reactions from people who seem to have looked at covers but never played it?
There's nothing bad about it, I just don't care it's been released and don't understand the excitement surrounding it.
For what it's worth I played Dark Sun pretty extensively back in the 2nd edition days, and enjoyed it. So I'm not sure whose "ill-informed, ranty" reactions you're talking about...
I'm pretty sure Planescape's not happening, considering Dungeon Master's Guide II is going to have a fairly long chapter on using Sigil in a campaign.
ReplyDeleteI was amused by my reaction to the news. "Oh, hey. That was the one I was hoping for . . . a year ago. Back when I played 4e. Huh. I don't actually care about this at all." I was sort of surprised by the fact that I didn't.
ReplyDeleteI too am sickened by people being excited about something that I profess to not particularly care about (even as I post on my blog about how *much* I don't care about it).
ReplyDeleteIvan: Wow, and I too like to go around posting sarcastic but ultimately meaningless comments on people's blogs. We have so much in common!
ReplyDeleteThe temptation to respond (hilariously) in kind is strong, but I'm going to refrain. Okay maybe not.
ReplyDelete"Oh yeah! Well I too like to be a big poopy head!"
Anyhoo.... I wouldn't say the comment was meaningless. I do think you're being pretty hard on people for no good reason.
I feel sort of bad, however, for making my first post on your blog an unworthy snipe. Can't remember where I found it, but it was several months ago, and I immediately spent the next couple of days reading every post (and even following the planescape game you were running). Had a excellent time. Damn good reading.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be using "Old Johnny of the Lake" with relish if I ever dust off the old DM screen again.
Also, the tables you churned out "back in the day" were brilliant. (More! More!).
All the best from the Pacific Northwest,
I
Ivan: Well I too like to be reasonable sometimes! So there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice comment. I am being a bit hard on people, maybe, but that's what reading rpg.net does to me. I think I should stop visiting that place.