Jester of the FoS wrote:
How can something be continuous and living if it doesn't do anything new?
Given the number of domains that are
still underdetailed, the material that never got updated between editions, the secret societies, artifacts, NPCs and other material hinted at in previous books, and meta-plot developments that had been set up, do you seriously think there was a lack of possible new material that could have and should have been addresed before VRGttMists?
Forgotten Realms is continous and living, and is always coming out with new stuff, but they don't hobble the setting every other book.
Jester of the FoS wrote:
How does it contradict canon?
(Other than Sal which, as pointed out, would have been corrected before the book saw print.)
The garbled, impossible Mistways jump to mind.
Jester of the FoS wrote:
All it does -at worst- is break away from the traditional tenants of the setting.
No, at
best, it consciously breaks away from the traditional tenets (not tenants) of the setting - something I'd question in any case. At
worst (or, in reality, rather), it ignores or never noticed these design concepts, damages the setting in the long-run, gets a number of things flatly
wrong, provides nothing truly new, trampling previous work, and solidly defines setting elements that should remain mysterious.
Jester of the FoS wrote:
I can understand people not liking what is a different approach to the world, but this is tearing apart a book to the same extent as CoD!
Good. The books are in the same league.
Jester of the FoS wrote:
This is a very interesting thread, especially give how everyone loved VRGtMists when it was first released. There was some debate on whether or not power checks were failed but nary a negative word. And people raved about Oubliettes and the Fugued. Now they're jumping at the chance to sink teeth into it.
I agree that the initial reaction was overwhelmingly positive. I suspect that this was because, with the cancellation of the line, people were thrilled to eke out one last bit of Ravenloft material before the flow cut off. But, I read the PDF and was surprised no-one else saw any problems with it.
However, I think you overstate the amount of criticism in this thread. There's been just as much (if not more) continued support of VRGttMists as criticism.
Jester of the FoS wrote:
Personally I think the authors did the best they could. They were assigned the book and had to write it. Then an author dropped out and someone new had to come in.
This book could have very easily turned into a tome on Mist Horrors and Mist Ferrymen. Instead we get a book on powers that can be used to modify a variety of creatures -add spice to many a beast- and an explanation for Richten Haus (a domain without a lord that has been around for years!)
It’s not great, but it’s a testament to the writer’s that it’s as bearable as it is.
Yes, it certainly does say
something about the authors and editors involved that Van Richten's Guide to the Mists came out like it did. Just not something good.
Chris Nichols