While I should be working: DragonLance Fan Rant #1
Actually, this is probably rant number 1,529 or so... But I've never posted one online. Add me to the enormous list of people sharing their unsolicited opinions on The Internet.
Let's quickly list off my credentials though. See my user pic up there? That's Tanis Half-Elven. It's from the new cover to Dragons Of Autumn Twillight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Matt Stawicki. Personally, I've always felt that Larry Elmore was the more definitive DragonLance artist, but I really like Stawicki's stuff and the way Tanis's hair is blowing back there is wicked cool.
I've been into DL since seventh grade. I started reading and role-playing in Krynn since then, at right about the same time. I am an obtainer and collector of DL artifacts and materials. I'm *into* it. Moreover, if I was in a metaphorical lifeboat with George Lucas, JRR Tolkien, Gene Roddenberry and Tracy Hickman, and there was only enough food for two of us, I'd push George, JRR, and Gene off the boat with no hesitation. I'd even strap George to the underside of the boat to ensure that Tracy and I had extra buoyancy.
Now... Wizards of The Coast, in their infinite wisdom, has moved onto a new edition of D&D. This means that the novel lines, which are intended to sell both novels and RPGs, are getting revamped. No new DL novels are planned past 2009. Some DL series have been prematurely closed, and the future of the brand in in question.
A number of (not ALL) DL Fans are reacting as if WotC just repossessed their imagination while having sex with their mom.
Here's a news flash... DragonLance was never going to last forever. Nope. It, like everything else in this world, is going to end one day. This isn't new. There will one day come a time when no DragonLance will exist. One way or another. If it's not Wizards of The Coast, then it will be the collapse of our sun. One way or another, it's will end at some point.
So quit whining. Quit it. If WotC is done with DL, then that's fine. It's their decision. They didn't DO anything to YOU. We're going to keep on being DL fans, and having our little fan sites, and our arguments about how Kitiara and Sturm could have possibly met a metallic dragon five years before the War Of The Lance (I'm looking at you, Darkness & Light!)
What's really annoying about all this is that everyone is arguing about how do we keep playing DragonLance with the new edition, how do we, "define", this or recreate that... Guess what? WotC already printed books that pretty much tell you all you need to know to do it. You just have to do it for yourself.
WotC is not The Devil. They're not out to get you. They have decided, good decision or bad, to move on. And considering how bloated the world of Krynn is with novels and products, maybe it's getting to be about time. Maybe DL should be this wicked awesome thing that TSR and later WotC and Margaret Weis Productions did. We already have tools to keep our own part of the shared world going. What happens after The War of Souls? I don't know... What did happen? How did you spin it? Quit waiting for some big publishing house to keep putting an official stamp on your flights of fancy.
What happens after The Battle of Yavin (now I'm jumping to Star Wars.)? Think. Imagine. Write. Read. If they suddenly stop making Star Wars books, did that, "kill", Star Wars? No. No, it didn't.
And the beautiful thing about DL is that if you're a role-player as well, YOU ARE ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF A VERY HANDY TOOLKIT TO CONTINUE THE STORY. If the DragonLance brand dies, which it very well might, that's OK. A bummer, yes. But you can keep going on in your own DragonLance way. Or, God forbid, you may have to read another story set in another universe. Then you might have to *gasp* grow and/or evolve your perceptions.
This is not The Apocalypse. Nobody has done anything to you. Stories end. They're linear. At some point, those publishing the stories are going to stop and say, "...And they all lived happily ever after." (Or maybe they didn't. Maybe they all died in flames.)
So chill out. I read postings by people everyday about how WotC is killing DL or killing D&D or betraying the fans. Sweet Angel of Mercy. Get a grip.
Let's quickly list off my credentials though. See my user pic up there? That's Tanis Half-Elven. It's from the new cover to Dragons Of Autumn Twillight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Matt Stawicki. Personally, I've always felt that Larry Elmore was the more definitive DragonLance artist, but I really like Stawicki's stuff and the way Tanis's hair is blowing back there is wicked cool.
I've been into DL since seventh grade. I started reading and role-playing in Krynn since then, at right about the same time. I am an obtainer and collector of DL artifacts and materials. I'm *into* it. Moreover, if I was in a metaphorical lifeboat with George Lucas, JRR Tolkien, Gene Roddenberry and Tracy Hickman, and there was only enough food for two of us, I'd push George, JRR, and Gene off the boat with no hesitation. I'd even strap George to the underside of the boat to ensure that Tracy and I had extra buoyancy.
Now... Wizards of The Coast, in their infinite wisdom, has moved onto a new edition of D&D. This means that the novel lines, which are intended to sell both novels and RPGs, are getting revamped. No new DL novels are planned past 2009. Some DL series have been prematurely closed, and the future of the brand in in question.
A number of (not ALL) DL Fans are reacting as if WotC just repossessed their imagination while having sex with their mom.
Here's a news flash... DragonLance was never going to last forever. Nope. It, like everything else in this world, is going to end one day. This isn't new. There will one day come a time when no DragonLance will exist. One way or another. If it's not Wizards of The Coast, then it will be the collapse of our sun. One way or another, it's will end at some point.
So quit whining. Quit it. If WotC is done with DL, then that's fine. It's their decision. They didn't DO anything to YOU. We're going to keep on being DL fans, and having our little fan sites, and our arguments about how Kitiara and Sturm could have possibly met a metallic dragon five years before the War Of The Lance (I'm looking at you, Darkness & Light!)
What's really annoying about all this is that everyone is arguing about how do we keep playing DragonLance with the new edition, how do we, "define", this or recreate that... Guess what? WotC already printed books that pretty much tell you all you need to know to do it. You just have to do it for yourself.
WotC is not The Devil. They're not out to get you. They have decided, good decision or bad, to move on. And considering how bloated the world of Krynn is with novels and products, maybe it's getting to be about time. Maybe DL should be this wicked awesome thing that TSR and later WotC and Margaret Weis Productions did. We already have tools to keep our own part of the shared world going. What happens after The War of Souls? I don't know... What did happen? How did you spin it? Quit waiting for some big publishing house to keep putting an official stamp on your flights of fancy.
What happens after The Battle of Yavin (now I'm jumping to Star Wars.)? Think. Imagine. Write. Read. If they suddenly stop making Star Wars books, did that, "kill", Star Wars? No. No, it didn't.
And the beautiful thing about DL is that if you're a role-player as well, YOU ARE ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF A VERY HANDY TOOLKIT TO CONTINUE THE STORY. If the DragonLance brand dies, which it very well might, that's OK. A bummer, yes. But you can keep going on in your own DragonLance way. Or, God forbid, you may have to read another story set in another universe. Then you might have to *gasp* grow and/or evolve your perceptions.
This is not The Apocalypse. Nobody has done anything to you. Stories end. They're linear. At some point, those publishing the stories are going to stop and say, "...And they all lived happily ever after." (Or maybe they didn't. Maybe they all died in flames.)
So chill out. I read postings by people everyday about how WotC is killing DL or killing D&D or betraying the fans. Sweet Angel of Mercy. Get a grip.