FORGOTTEN REALMS - Quarta Edição

[Otherwise]

Será? Com a spellplague, talvez o povo de FR veja a tecnologia como uma alternativa...
"Poxa, o teleporte demora muito. Vamos de trem bala... Sai mais barato..."

[Khelben Arunsun]

Novidades do Rich Baker:

Originally Posted by Fingoldfin View Post
Hi Rich,

I would like to ask you and the design team to reconsider the scope of the changes in 4e Realms. I know that there will still be many changes, but do the changes really need to be so drastic?

We're pretty committed to the scope of the changes we're making at this point. We've got a number of projects underway (several novel series, the new FRCG, the FRPG), and we're just not going to seriously reverse course now. Adjusting the implementation of some things -- sure, that's still possible. Putting everything back? Sorry, we've got to see this through.

Viewed in isolation, no single change we're contemplating would really pass the "is this ABSOLUTELY necessary?" test. If we subject every change we're planning to that test, then nothing would change (which, no doubt, would please a segment of our audience). But we don't think we can stay exactly where we are forever.

In my opinion, there is a *minimum* amount of change that's desirable with a campaign update, and a *maximum* amount of change. Change too little, and you haven't provided that clear starting point needed to entice new fans... or reawaken the interest of old fans who have mastered everything we've shown them so far. Change too much, and it's not the same property anymore. Most of the arguments we're having are about where each of those marks really lies.


__________________
Rich Baker
Senior Designer
Roleplaying R&D
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
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[Khelben Arunsun]

Originally Posted by Roman
I am just reposting my questions so that they do not get lost in the backlog.

Originally Posted by Roman
Hello Rich,

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions here on the boards despite the oscillating atmosphere that trends to the hostile/negative. I have some questions of my own and would be very glad if you found the time to answer them:

1. a) My question is how does WotC plan to entice new gamers to Forgotten Realms if the proposed changes hamstring the network of Forgotten Realms enthusiasts - people who are crucial to selling Forgotten Realms to new players by word of mouth and by acting as repositories of knowledge about the Realms, excitedly passing it on to enquiring new souls seeking more knowledge about the game.

1. b) Making vast changes to the setting, you must have known you would alienate a large percentage of the existing Forgotten Realms fanbase. Apparently, the purpose of those changes is to open up Forgotten Realms to new gamers, but the design philosophy behind the setting seems to be moving towards the design philosophy underlying the Eberron campaign setting, which has ostensibly been more successful in enticing new gamers and generating sales than Forgotten Realms.

2) Is it really worth it to throw out the high-level characters? Apart from the emotional/story attachments many 'old' FR players have towards them, the absence of other high-level characters than the PCs, feels like it is not a living world, where things are happening in the background whatever the PCs decide, or don't decide to do.

3) In some ways, the changes you are implementing seem like they make it feasible to minimize changes in the future. I don't really have a problem with changes in general so long as I like the resluts, but for the sake of those disgruntled by this, can you commit that there will be at least 3-year time periods (measured in RL) between any further major storywise upheavals in the Realms?

A couple of good questions, Roman -- I wanted to wait until I had a few minutes to try to respond with some thought.

1a. I have a pet theory I call the "elevator" theory. Each year, a certain number of people enter our demographic and become D&D players. We want to make sure that there's an elevator with an open door waiting on the "first floor" to take them up to the Realms. It's been a long time since we put an elevator on the first floor for the potential Realms fans. Without a regular influx of new fans, pure "life friction" and attrition will thin out the number of Realms games being played and books being read. If there's a proselytizing network out there as you suggest, they're not proselytizing enough to fill that elevator for us. We have to do some work too.

1b. We're not moving Realms toward Eberron. In what way do you think we are? (Other than something cosmetic like the number of deities?) There's nothing driving us to make Realms more like Eberron.

2. When we ask gamers what turns them off of Forgotten Realms, one of the hits we keep getting back is "all those high-level NPCs steal the limelight." Whether the perception is an accurate reflection of how the setting really works is immaterial--it's a perception that stops gamers from trying out the Realms. We're not planning a campaign of wanton NPC slaughter, but I sure need to show the broader gaming audience that it's time to let go of that perception. Lecturing undecided purchasers about how NPCs *should* be used in the Realms doesn't seem like a winning strategy to me. How else could we tackle this problem of perception without real change?

3. No, I can't guarantee no upheavals for three years. First off, it's not up to me. More to the point: I can tell you right now that we don't have any planned, and that we'd like to avoid Realms-shaking events for a while... but if a Bob Salvatore or Paul Kemp or Elaine Cunningham some other talented author drops a truly kick-butt story proposal in our laps that happens to shake the Realms, we'd be foolish to tell them that we can't accommodate that outstanding story. If it's the *right* story, it's the right story.

[Khelben Arunsun]

Originally Posted by jdarksong View Post
Rich,

With all the troubles we've seen popping up in the Dales and Cormyr throughout third edition, will we see these areas getting a breather? Or are they in for more and more trouble? It seems the local non-adventuring populace would be getting tired of having their faces to the grindstone

. . . though it does keep us adventurers busy . . .

Well... yes, they actually make out pretty well. Cormyr regains much of its strength, and the return of a strong elven realm in Myth Drannor definitely improves the situation around Cormanthor. I'll say more about that when I can.

[Khelben Arunsun]

Originally Posted by TheLash View Post
Dear Mr. Baker,

I dunno if someone asked this before:

Will D&D 4e use the great wheel cosmology?
Will the Forgotten Realms cosmology return to the great wheel?

No, and no. We posted a Cosmology preview article a few weeks back that covered this ground pretty well.

[Khelben Arunsun]

Originally Posted by Karsus the Mad View Post
Hey, Mr. Baker, unlike others that for some illogical reason blame you (all those silly Baker must be stopped posts) for...everything really....I have an honest question.
Will the history of the Realms be modified?
The hisory of the Realms is pretty shadowy, but we DO know a lot. We know much of Netheril, some of the Crown Wars, some of Imaskari, some of everything. Will what we know be rendered obsolete?
Oh yeah, for tradition sake, will there be anything about Lantan? I know there won't, but I'm obligated to ask

No, nothing that you know to be true will be substantially altered. (Every now and then we find reason to tweak something, of course.)

Now, sometimes we take events that are known and spin much larger stories out of them... so a timeline entry from a long time ago might just be the tip of an iceberg, really. In fact, there are a couple of real jaw-droppers in that regard coming up. But nothing we add in way of detail, explanation, and heretofore unexplored or unknown events will "undo" existing Realms history. Your Grand History of the Realms is going to be honored as written for the foreseeable future.

[Khelben Arunsun]

Originally Posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin View Post
That's wonderful to hear, but when Chris Perkins mentions in a podcast that high-level NPCs will be "nuked", doesn't that leave the impression that there's going to be a "wanton NPC slaughter"?

Would it be unfair of me to suggest that loaded terms like "nuked" be avoided if the FR design team doesn't really want to ruffle anyone's feathers by leaving an impression of offhanded destruction?

Yep, I would agree that nuked = wanton slaughter to most folks. I think Chris used a shortcut he didn't really mean to use.

Many high-level characters will be exiting the stage in 4e, but many others will still be around. No one's getting killed off specifically because they're high level. Now, there are some Chosen who are getting removed from the stage specifically because they're Chosen; the Chosen tend to be the "poster children" in the wider D&D audience for the perception that Realms games are about a set of uber-NPCs.

[Khelben Arunsun]

Ufa, aí está. Abaixo segue o link para lerem todos os posts na íntegra (mas eu nem perco tempo com isso. 95% é reclamação, os outros 5% somente que são perguntas e respostas)

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=702942&page=52


Bom saber que Cormyr e Myth Drannor vão se estabilizar. Já estava na hora...

[Khelben Arunsun]

Mais uma:

Grewnwood postou ontem no Candlekeep que ele viu parte das mudanças que alguns dos autores estão fazendo nos cenários, e gostou muito do que viu. Isso pra mim já é um bom sinal...

[Eltor Macnol]

É... a aprovação do Greenwood não é exatamente algo que me deixa muito tranquilo, mas eu acho que tu já está familiarizado com a minha falta de simpatia pelo cara.

Mas gostei de saber que finalmente Cormyr vai parar de se f****.

E como já citado, quero mais é que os über-NPCs morram!

[ShinRyuu]

Eu acho uma comédia como a galera se alarma com as mudanças de um cenário. Ora, se já tem muita gente que não compraria os livros básicos de uma nova edição, ainda mais com as regras de graça em SRD, muito menos se deveria sentir necessidade de comprar livros de campanha se você já tem livros anteriores. Todo livro de campanha é base, não lei. Você vai escolher onde e quando iniciar a sua campanha. Pra que comprar um livro de campanha novo? O livro novo só vai adicionar elementos, não mudar os já conhecidos, e talvez adicionar opções mecânicas pra nova edição. Quem não gosta das mudanças, continue jogando no ponto histórico de sua preferência. Eu realmente não entendo essa galera que gosta tanto de reclamar...

[Khelben Arunsun]

É... a aprovação do Greenwood não é exatamente algo que me deixa muito tranquilo, mas eu acho que tu já está familiarizado com a minha falta de simpatia pelo cara.

Já, sim.

Mas gostei de saber que finalmente Cormyr vai parar de se f****.

Eu também. Agora, fica a dúvida: avanço de 10 anos na timeline, e Azoun V no trono, ou avanço de 100 anos na timeline, e a brand new Cormyr pra todo mundo?

E como já citado, quero mais é que os über-NPCs morram!

Olha, se for bem feito, como a morte do Khelben, por mim não tem problema. Agora, se for mal feito e desnecessário, como a morte do Halaster, aí eu fico chateado. Entendo que algumas das Sete Irmãs vão puxar o carro - afinal, eram filhas da deusa que vai falecer... agora, sei lá.

Jogar Forgotten sem alguns de seus ícones é como jogar Conan d20 sem a Ciméria. Ou, pior ainda, jogar em Rokugan sem os Crab!!!!

[Khelben Arunsun]

Eu acho uma comédia como a galera se alarma com as mudanças de um cenário. Ora, se já tem muita gente que não compraria os livros básicos de uma nova edição, ainda mais com as regras de graça em SRD, muito menos se deveria sentir necessidade de comprar livros de campanha se você já tem livros anteriores. Todo livro de campanha é base, não lei. Você vai escolher onde e quando iniciar a sua campanha. Pra que comprar um livro de campanha novo? O livro novo só vai adicionar elementos, não mudar os já conhecidos, e talvez adicionar opções mecânicas pra nova edição. Quem não gosta das mudanças, continue jogando no ponto histórico de sua preferência. Eu realmente não entendo essa galera que gosta tanto de reclamar...

Não são pelas mudanças, em si. Mas pelo nível excessivo de tosquice de algumas mudanças.

A treta dos deuses tá pior que novela mexicana. A Usurpadora tem mais conteúdo que a trama da morte de Helm.

Algumas das bagunças com as raças e personagens clássicos do cenário também ainda vão precisar ser muito bem explicadas.

Lembremos que os americanos, como consumidores, tem como costume reclamar do que não gostam, e exigir seus direitos. É aqui que a gente costuma "levar numa boa"...
E eles também têm o costume de comprar toda essa livraiada que sai (afinal, no bolso deles não dói)...

[Khelben Arunsun]

E eis que surge do limbo da Wizards, a capa do novo Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/218287200

Tio Drizzt na capa!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Maaas... espera... eles não estão matando os uber-npcs pq eles "intimidam os novatos a entrarem no cenário"???

Que diabos o uber-npc mais tosco de Faerûn está fazendo na capa do livro novo???

Khelben Arunsun, voltando pras aulas de lógica.

[Lune]

O Drizzt não é bem um uber-NPC. Ele é forte, sim, mas ele não costuma se meter no tipo de aventura épica e alteradora de cenário que Elminster e as Happy Sisters. Além disso, ele é legal

Mas de qualquer forma, tem grandes chances dessa capa mudar, como mudou a do PHB da 4e e a do Races and Classes. Eu pessoalmente estou achando essa diagramação meio feinha pros padrões da Wizards.