QuotePtolus...

Really?  I thought people liked it -- why did you think it was a stinker?  Just too much money?

Quote from: StuartReally?  I thought people liked it -- why did you think it was a stinker?  Just too much money?

I didn't like the setting's foundational assumptions (which, admittedly, are simply those of 3e D&D; but I don't like 3e's assumptions regarding magic availability, etc., either).

Also, it's just 'too much'.  I dislike this trend in setting design.  Instead, I prefer a more minimalist approach: namely, one in which the author(s) provide an 'overview' of a setting, perhaps with a few detailed adventures, and leave a lot of room to DMs to introduce their own ideas, etc.

I just can't imagine how anyone would actually use a city product this big.  Necromancer's version of City State of the Invincible Overlord is about my limit in terms of detail for a city.

The fact that I so dislike products like Ptolus and the Book of 9 Swords (or whatever it is called) makes it clear to me just how far 'mainstream' RPG products have evolved away from my tastes.  Oh well.

Mongoose Runequest - poorly edited, and just glaringly mediocre, and released incomplete, as a flood of insufficient 96 page fragments, leaving old fans bitter (and expectedly so, RuneQuest grognards are prone to react vehemently to any change), and potential newcomers uninspired.

Quote from: ScaleMongoose Runequest - poorly edited, and just glaringly mediocre, and released incomplete, as a flood of insufficient 96 page fragments, leaving old fans bitter (and expectedly so, RuneQuest grognards are prone to react vehemently to any change), and potential newcomers uninspired.

And don't forget the lack of a credit for ANY of the original designers of the game, bar Greg Stafford (and then only because they can't afford to piss Greg off - they'd lose Glorantha) - even though some of their work ended up going into the game. Steve Perrin had to call Matt Sprange out on RPG.net to demand royalties for some portions of text in the Mongoose core book.

The only good things about MRQ are the Second Age Glorantha book and the inspiration it gave me to track down copies of RQ2 and 3.

Quote from: ScaleMongoose Runequest ...

Oh yes!  I forgot about MRQ.  

Very disappointing ...

Faiths of Eberron and Secrets of Xendrik. Both were major disappointments. The fluff was blah (Faiths was better than Secrets, but not much better) and the crunch was uneven. Luckily, Dragonmarked ended the year for Eberron on a high note.

Quote from: PseudoephedrineFaiths of Eberron and Secrets of Xendrik. Both were major disappointments. The fluff was blah (Faiths was better than Secrets, but not much better) and the crunch was uneven. Luckily, Dragonmarked ended the year for Eberron on a high note.

I haven't read Faiths, it's sitting on a shelf, waiting for other stuff to be finished before I crack its pages, but Xen'drik was blah - it was the first Eberron product that really made me feel I wasted my money.  About 20 minutes of interesting, useful reading, and then page after page after page of junk.

Dragonmarked is a positive sign though, some of the art is the best I've seen in the line yet (though some's pretty bad), and the information is useful.  Even the prestige classes are actually interesting (and I *hate* prestige classes).  Second best product in the line, after the player's guide.

Quote from: WarthurSteve Perrin had to call Matt Sprange out on RPG.net to demand royalties for some portions of text in the Mongoose core book.

I'd like to think that he'll be credited in future printings but haven't heard if that'll happen or not.

Forgotten about that, another reason I'm content enough with the free SRDs for now. Might pick up Glorantha 2nd Age but I'm no hurry to start another complex world campaign and I'm not sure what 2nd Age has to offer over the older Glorantha RQ products.

have to agree with others...

MRQ:  what a waste.  wasn't what i wanted/expected at all, rules are wonky, and it pretty much demanded the subtitle "RUSHED TO PRINT!"

Weapons of the Gods:  too goddamn complicated, too fruity in places. might be cooler if i was an anime nerd.

Quote from: ScaleI haven't read Faiths, it's sitting on a shelf, waiting for other stuff to be finished before I crack its pages, but Xen'drik was blah - it was the first Eberron product that really made me feel I wasted my money.  About 20 minutes of interesting, useful reading, and then page after page after page of junk.

Dragonmarked is a positive sign though, some of the art is the best I've seen in the line yet (though some's pretty bad), and the information is useful.  Even the prestige classes are actually interesting (and I *hate* prestige classes).  Second best product in the line, after the player's guide.

Faiths isn't terrible, but it's really blah, even the stuff on the Dark Six and the Blood of Vol. The info on some of the smaller, more interesting religions is too brief, or just not particularly interesting. It's got three good prestige classes, but not many good feats. I'd personally place it third, after Magic of Eberron, but I love the casters.

Quote from: AkrasiaOh yes!  I forgot about MRQ.  

Very disappointing ...

I quite like it all things considered. A couple of bits are a bit shonky but once I've kitbashed it back into shape I'll be using it for a few things. Needed less hammering than d20 to fit what I want to do with 'stuff'.

I haven't even read Xen'drick, but I'll qualify it as a "stinker" on the basis that it was supposedly the region that Wizards claimed it would "Leave for the GM" of Eberron.  Of course, like many other settings before it, that proved to be a lie, as greed and the need to cover new ground got the better of them.  But they sure did it relatively fast, it took longer before FR started going to its "forbidden zones".

RPGPundit

Quote from: kregmosierhave to agree with others...
MRQ:  what a waste.  wasn't what i wanted/expected at all, rules are wonky, and it pretty much demanded the subtitle "RUSHED TO PRINT!"

I am getting a serious, unsettling Serenity vibe offa this.

Quote from: Casey777Might pick up Glorantha 2nd Age but I'm no hurry to start another complex world campaign and I'm not sure what 2nd Age has to offer over the older Glorantha RQ products.

The advantage - to me - is an absence of crunch. There are no rules in the 2nd Age writeup, only setting details. That means that if you like both RQ and HQ you can use the game for either (although thanks to HQ's design it'd be easier to use it with HQ).

I can't help but think this was Greg's plan all along.

Quote from: kregmosierWeapons of the Gods:  too goddamn complicated, too fruity in places. might be cooler if i was an anime nerd.

I'm playing in a campaign of this at the moment. The basic combat and task resolution systems ended up being less complicated than we expected, although the magic is still puzzling us. (For example, while the game presents a huge array of martial arts styles, once you've chosen which class your character will be and what stats he'll focus on the choice is narrowed down a lot.)

What's really getting to us is how poorly the rulebook is organised. I'm going to have to get some post-it notes and put little bookmarks on all the pages on the rulebook I need to refer to frequently.