What’s old is new. 
I’ve been avoiding 4th edition D&D because, well, quite frankly it’s gone down a path that has changed it a lot. Everyone has said it — including the famous Kurt Wiegel — it’s just not recognisable as the D&D brand. The first set of rule books just don’t have the standard tropes we expect in D&D, and in fact, all Tolkienesque fantasy. More has been said about the changes being made to suit computer games.
A lot has been said, and I won’t rehash it, partly because I don’t remember what I hated about it when reading the rulebooks upon their release.
But now the game has changed.
Wizards have announced the next forthcoming campaign setting: Dark Sun.
Perhaps they know how fickle we old coots are, waving our walking sticks at every young slacker that walks across our lawn, but perhaps they also know that we geeks are suckers and will fall for anything if it’s shiny enough or reminds us of our youth. Games Workshop certainly know this better than most. And if Wizards didn’t know it before, this may certainly increase the chance of their enlightenment.
Dark Sun is not being advanced in time like Forgotten Realms. It’s not being reimagined like every show on television. It’s being left intact, released with its original intent. In fact, Wizards are re-releasing Denning’s Prism Pentad series and fully expect players to fully expect the setting to be instantly recognisable.
This is utterly terrible news for those of us who have been avoiding 4th ed as if it were a soggy, leaking rubbish bag.
But it’s also great news for those of us who have really missed playing Dark Sun.
