Greetings!
Back in the day, when Dragonlance was first introduced, and then became the darling campaign setting for many gamers in the hobby, I confess that I never got on that bandwagon. Number one, by that time I had developed my own campaign world just fine, so I wsn't eager to open a campaign in an entirely different campaign setting; Number Two--once I reviewed the Dragonlance Campaign, I honestly was not that impressed. It's a fine setting as far as that goes--everyone has different preferences. However, at the time, I just did not really gel with what I saw as a kind of overall flavour pandering to kids--say, the 14 and under crowd. Coming from a heavily Conan-influenced/Appendix N/Real World History influence, along with the beginnings of the hobby with D&D and AD&D, I was much more focused I suppose on "Adult Themes" even though I was a teenager at the time.
So, I'm not really a fan of Dragonlance. The novels didn't do anything for me, and the campaign modules put out at the time felt very much "Railroady" and *scripted*. I was also a big fan of history, war, blood & sandals action and gore, hedonistic sensuality and cheesecake, Roman Legions, the taboo Gor novels, Christopher Lee Dracula and Hammer-style horror. And Gary Gygax's "Gonzo-Style" approach to game modules. From all of that background inspiration, Dragonlance seemed like chewy bubblegum for kiddies that mommy would approve of. The whole Kender race and characters I found to be eye-rollingly ridiculous. They seemed like a race tailor-made to appeal to immature jack-ass kids that are far more interested in how they can fuck up a adventuring party and a DM's campaign than actually being a team-player and a productive member of the group. So, yeah. Fuck Dragonlance.
However, I have had personal meetings with Tracy Hickman. I attended a seminar he hosted at Gen Con. Brilliant guy, great designer and writer, and a top-notch gamer. Outstanding gentleman. I greatly enjoyed meeting him, talking with him and so on. As weird as it may sound, I have immense respect for him, his work, and his enthusiasm and overall approach to DMing, writing, playing, and game design, while at the same time, my critiques of commercial Dragonlance stand.
I don't have any confidence that WOTC won't fuck up and mangle Dragonlance beyond any recognition. Fucking up long-cherished campaign settings has been what WOTC seems to love doing in recent years, so I have no expectation of anything good being produced by WOTC. I lament and have condolences for gamers that are genuine fans of Dragonlance. While I am not a Dragonlance fan, I recognize that the Dragonlance campaign setting and books have many good elements, along with the negatives--but overall Dragonlance has been a significant and positive influence on the D&D gaming hobby through the years.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK