Scarred lands come to an end

[Charney]

Explained here: http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?lin ... ticleid=85

Sounds like when RL died a few years ago. What worries me is that if this campaign is ended, RL could well be the next one.

[Charney]

Well I still find it sad that the setting is closing. I never really paid attention to it except when I read Relics and Rituals. It seemed to me a very good setting. The accessories like R&R and the Creature Collections were always well rated. So it's a pity a good setting is coming to an end

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Eh, the creature collections were all I read, and they seemed kinda boring and generic to me. But every world is somebody's favorite, so it's sad to see any of them go...

[Jester of the FoS]

I like how they say repeatedly that they had many great ideas still and had to cut alot from the book but also said that it was better to end now with a good book than publish future books of lesser quality.
Translation: "We had lots more ideas and had plans for at least three books of equal or superiour quality and a handful of kick-ass proposals that blew our minds but we were canned from the forces up high so we're pretending this was all we had so we can go out with some dignity."

Funny how the announcement came so close to the release date. Were they trying to stop an outpouring of fan support until it was too late or (more likely) they cut the line and this book was the only one too far along the production line to be halted.
That irks me. With the big money-maker lines they at least give them an opportunity to close off with a bang and have some closure. One book to wrap up the mysteries and loose ends and such.

I get the feeling a similar fate awaits Ravenloft unless it is greatly outperforming Scarred Lands. It has more name recognition but lacks the easy broad appeal of a generic fanatasy setting.

[Rucht Lilavivat]

Well, I haven't heard anything. Of course, that doesn't mean anything. I'll let you all know if I do hear some news. Unless I'm barred from doing so by pain of death.

I'm just hoping that I can get one more specific book in. It was an idea that I've been pushing since 2001, and if we keep going it think it'll be a pretty big shake up in not only Ravenloft, but the RPG industry as a whole. If I can just get that one project through, I'll die a happy man.

Anyhow, here's hoping.

[Jester of the FoS]

Well they can apparently cancel a line with as little notice as a month and it takes upwards of a year to get a book out from finished proposal to on the shelves...

We'd better keep our fingers crossed for the next year and a half.

No hints though?!?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I don't think we should be worrying just yet. Did Scarred Lands have other stuff on the schedule that got cancelled?

We've got DT&DL, VRGtM, and MotJD scheduled, at least. And I think being "generic fantasy" is what hurt Scarred Lands. Sure, it means you can use SL stuff in nearly any campaign, but it doesn't inspire the same kind of loyalty. If you want standard fantasy, you can buy SL, FR, GH, DL, or any number of other stuff. If you want gothic fantasy horror, your choices are a bit more limited. Yeah, there's CoC and VtM, but they're not quite the same niche as RL.

Plus RL has had a much longer history to build fanbase.

Of course, anything's possible, and I count each new RL book as a gift from the Dark Powers.

[Tobias Blackburn]

We don't have any dates on when these products will be out, but I'm apt to believe that this is more to the fact that they have a terrible track record at meeting their release dates and they finally gave up. We do know that three books are coming next year, so we shouldn't get worried.

On that note, there is no preview page in Legacy of Blood.

[Jester of the FoS]

Well, something to remember if that the Scarred Lands does have a few years on Ravenloft, but, as they've said, the market has grown more competitive.
There's alot of other companies in the market right now and it is hard to compete with the big boy WotC now. Eberron and the ressurected Dragonlance are probably doing a huge number on sales.
The new Dragonlance books also have higher production costs though (as do most WotC products). White Wolf books look almost cheap and amaturish by comparison with black-n-white pages and only limited borders compared to the full colour on detailed backing of the D&D line.

SL ended with 38 products under it's belt. Ravenloft has 18. I think the line is safe for a tad longer but being a niche setting it will end sooner rather than later.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Scarred Lands was solid mainstream fantasy, but it lacked of an unique flair, IMHO.

I just didn't feel appealed by it, although I consider it one of the best d20 products out there.

But just to use it as my default world, the books were too expensive and the setting's background was too weak.

As most D&D start with the Realms or an official WotC world, it's difficult to compete with that qualitity product lines.

Because to attract the players, you have to present them something the WotC worlds don't have (such as the Ravenloftian Gothic horror elements). But what had Scarred Lands that we didn't yet know?

*No offense please, I personally quite enjoyed a campaign set there in the city of Mithril.*

[Charney]

What I liked about Scarred Lands is that it was a fantastic medieval adaption of Greek mythology which hadn't been done before. The war between Gods and Titans that is.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Just another short note:

The question is not if SL was good or bad. Because, indeed, I think we all agree that it had good ideas.

The question, however, is: Would you pay the full price (30$ or €) for a SL book just to use it as a *generic* resource*? - I personally wouldn't... (Currently trying to get Burok Torn and Shelzar on ebay! but I can tell you: 5 € is my absolute limit, as long as I can purchase stuff for my fav lines for lesser money!)

[Le Noir Faineant]

Just as a note: I won that auction and have incorporated *Burok Torn* into my campaign. Works well...