I'd love to see some of the more exotic settings reprinted like Dark Sun and Spelljammer. Honestly I'd be happy with anything that's not Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance.

Actually what'd be really cool is if they redid the 2nd edition historical settings. Those were some of my favorite books.

Quote from: Bobloblah;753982You know, I love those settings, but I'm torn about reprints. It'd be great for people who weren't around to be exposed to the stuff to have the chance to get into those settings. I, on the other hand, have pretty much all the AD&D 2nd material I want for the settings I like. The only thing I could see that could induce me to repurchase, so to speak, is if the new iterations were demonstrably better in some fashion...more material in a concise package, better maps, more usable adventure content maybe...it's hard to say, but there would definitely need to be that sense that, "Oh, yeah...this is definitely better!"

I am picturing more of an updated edition with new material, rather than a reprint. Smething that has the strongest material from the original but avoids some of the bad stuff. It would be like anytime they release a new core book for a setting under a new edition. Really what I would like is a solid core Ravenloft with full line of new adventures and supplments (some things like the Van richten guides are probbaly worth just reprinting with updated mechanics for the new edition).

Though I will say if they just updated the old material with the 5E mechanics, and I liked fifth edition, i would totally buy it. I still enjoy running ravenloft so it would be a great opportunity to generate interest in a new campaign and come at it from a fresh angle.

Realistically, I do not think there is enough demand.

I knew what you meant (sorry if that wasn't clear), so you can read my previous post in that light. What you're describing could potentially fall under my vague "better" rubric. I also think not reprinting them wouldn't be just an interest issue, but an issue due to the entrenched notion that splitting the customer base was the only outcome of multiple settings.

Quote from: Bobloblah;754039I also think not reprinting them wouldn't be just an interest issue, but an issue due to the entrenched notion that splitting the customer base was the only outcome of multiple settings.

I think as long as the settings draw from the core games, and core release books can be applied to the settings, there won't be a big issue with splitting the fan base (i have never been fully convinced it split the fanbase in the first place, but that is another discussino I suppose).

Another issue if they did do it, would be what to include. Ravenloft continued to be published under Sword and Sorcery and there has also been substantial development over at Fraternity of Shadows, where people have put out a ton of fan made setting material. They would have to decide how much, if any, of that would go into a new edition, plus they would also have to synthesize the stuff spanning the TSR ravenloft era (from the oriignal module, to the black boxed set to the material made during the Domains of Dread period). That all raised a lot of IP problems too I imagine. Plus there is the whole issue of what is going on in Sithicus and whether Lord Soth would be part of the setting or not. Most ravenloft fans i meet all have very different opinions on which material worked best.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;754050I think as long as the settings draw from the core games, and core release books can be applied to the settings, there won't be a big issue with splitting the fan base (i have never been fully convinced it split the fanbase in the first place, but that is another discussino I suppose).

Another issue if they did do it, would be what to include. Ravenloft continued to be published under Sword and Sorcery and there has also been substantial development over at Fraternity of Shadows, where people have put out a ton of fan made setting material. They would have to decide how much, if any, of that would go into a new edition, plus they would also have to synthesize the stuff spanning the TSR ravenloft era (from the oriignal module, to the black boxed set to the material made during the Domains of Dread period). That all raised a lot of IP problems too I imagine. Plus there is the whole issue of what is going on in Sithicus and whether Lord Soth would be part of the setting or not. Most ravenloft fans i meet all have very different opinions on which material worked best.

Yup, I pretty much agree with everything you're saying, particularly the part about splitting the fanbase. I'd be happy to see something the size of the core books (300-odd pages or so) released for each setting that updates, clarifies, and above all consolidates everything needed to run with a given setting at the table. Then give me some modules that aren't garbage to work with that highlight what's cool/different about the setting and why one wants to run a campaign there.

I'd also like to see Dragonlance IF it is retconned before all that chaos gem crap. I'd especially like to see a Taladas box set.

Quote from: elfandghost;754140. I'd especially like to see a Taladas box set.

I loved the Taladas box set. Great art in that one as well.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;754146I loved the Taladas box set. Great art in that one as well.

They had a Taladas box set?

Quote from: Marleycat;754157They had a Taladas box set?

Yes, it had a much different vibe from the other dragonlance material at the time: http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Advanced-Dungeons-Dragons-Dragonlance/dp/0880387734

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;754164Yes, it had a much different vibe from the other dragonlance material at the time: http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Advanced-Dungeons-Dragons-Dragonlance/dp/0880387734

Some of those reviews are harsh; it was one of my favourite 2E era publications!

Quote from: elfandghost;754168Some of those reviews are harsh; it was one of my favourite 2E era publications!

I generally ignore amazon reviews (especially for game related stuff). Different strokes i suppose. Pretty much everyone I introduced to the set loved it (and I really remembering it standing out as excellent to me at the time).

A glorious 220 page hardcover, fully illustrated, with Chris Perkins' reworkings of the entire "Against the Giants" series. He nominally wrote it for 4th edition, but it seems to me it was written with the Next adventure paradigm in mind (or at least, fairly close to it). So, if they update the stat blocks, they'd have a fairly strong campaign ready to go onto the shelves. (Saying that, I don't know if it would bomb, since it's already available as a collation of PDFs to DDI customers.)

And they could give away the 4e 'conversion' for free, as a PDF (like they did with Baldur's Gate) and it wouldn't cost them any labour either.

I'd really love to have strong campaign material for my 4e games again, and I miss buying these hefty hardcover adventures. I'll likely shell out money for Wolfgang Baur's efforts for Next, but come on.... 30 dollars for 96 pages each - and covering so many levels of play in fairly short space - is not nearly as great as their re-released adventure tomes for AD&D. And I do feel as ripped off as with Paizo, if they ask 60 dollars for 190 pages of adventure material, when they previously sold 160 page hardcovers at $30, or even larger ones under D&D 3.5 (authored by Baur, coincidentally).

In any case, I hope Next gets a really strong, nice series of adventures over the years - not just a re-hash of the old, but something that D&D players of all editions can enjoy. And I hope that if there's worthwhile content coming out, that dedicated 4e fans will convert it.

Quote from: Windjammer;754174A glorious 220 page hardcover, fully illustrated, with Chris Perkins' reworkings of the entire "Against the Giants" series. He nominally wrote it for 4th edition, but it seems to me it was written with the Next adventure paradigm in mind (or at least, fairly close to it).

I only recently started looking into and buying 4E adventures, and it's bizarre how ill-suited most of them are to 4E as a game. It's a shame to see Thunderspire Labyrinth and Madness at Gardmore Abbey pretty much squandered as 4E adventures, when they would make excellent 5E (or AD&D) adventures. I've only browsed the Against the Giants series on DDI, but I can see how they'd work very well for 5E as well. It would be nice if WotC did some conversion work on the better 4E adventures, as well as the B/X and AD&D classics.

Quote from: Windjammer;754174I'll likely shell out money for Wolfgang Baur's efforts for Next, but come on.... 30 dollars for 96 pages each - and covering so many levels of play in fairly short space - is not nearly as great as their re-released adventure tomes for AD&D. And I do feel as ripped off as with Paizo, if they ask 60 dollars for 190 pages of adventure material, when they previously sold 160 page hardcovers at $30, or even larger ones under D&D 3.5 (authored by Baur, coincidentally).

I have to disagree there. To me, $30 for all the adventure material I need to run 10+ RPG sessions is very good value in my books. Not to mention the hours of reading beforehand.

Quote from: Windjammer;754174In any case, I hope Next gets a really strong, nice series of adventures over the years - not just a re-hash of the old, but something that D&D players of all editions - from 1e to 5e - can enjoy.

Yeah, one of my concerns with 5E is that it will play the nostalgia card too often. Yes, we'll probably get a few Return To [iconic dungeon] adventures and other homages to the classics. But it will be nice if they have the ambition to publish new adventures that become iconic.

Quote from: Haffrung;754186Yeah, one of my concerns with 5E is that it will play the nostalgia card too often. Yes, we'll probably get a few Return To [iconic dungeon] adventures and other homages to the classics. But it will be nice if they have the ambition to publish new adventures that become iconic.

We can only hope. The fact that they're willing to sub-contract out gives me some hope, as do your and a few other peoples' comments on some 4e adventures. I'd come to think there was no one left at the company who could write a good, non-railroad module.

Quote from: Bobloblah;754191We can only hope. The fact that they're willing to sub-contract out gives me some hope, as do your and a few other peoples' comments on some 4e adventures. I'd come to think there was no one left at the company who could write a good, non-railroad module.

That's a tough call. Dragonspear Castle - also by Perkins - starts off as a complete railroad, and that was explicitly written for Next. I haven't read much beyond the opening 'scenes' however, so that could soften as the module goes along.

I agree with Haffrung on Gardmore Abbey, it's absolutely fantastic. But that wasn't mostly written by WotC staff as far as I understand. See also this set of comments, specifically the part that begins with what I take a stab at their 4e stuff,

"DESIGN CHALLENGE: VARIETY. An adventure needs to hold the interest of its audience.For an adventure to remain interesting, there needs to be variety. There needs to be variety because doing the same thing repeatedly gets boring fast. "

Here:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drdd/20110921