Gothic Lineages UA Release

So, if you haven’t gotten word by now I am Chaotic Opinionated.
That means when a new UA comes out (oh hey there) is released, I am gonna take a look and opine over it.
And so, without further ado, here’s the UA released today (26/01/2021) Gothic Lineages.

Now, looking at them I’ve got to say I am pumped to run a dark and evil adventure with these guys, this shouldn’t surprise anyone as it’s literally my M.O. in all things, lets get spooky.
I just bought a third party book as it allows creation of undead and ghostly characters for your players to enjoy.

But as much as I am enjoying what I have in my hands with this UA, I’m not excited.
With Wizards rumoured to be releasing more settings books this coming cycle, I cannot help but see this UA as a lean in to more Strahd.
As much as I know that Curse of Strahd is popular with players, and even tops the polls for best games to play for experienced and newbie players alike, I have to admit I am just not excited by it.

When Wizards polled last year to see what settings people wanted, the two things that I’d put my vote on were Greyhawk and Planescape.
Of course I would have been happy with Dragonlance instead of Greyhawk, but ultimately Oerth will always be my first choice.
And with the potential (and I admit, potential, Wizards also released a Dragon based UA of subclasses, and the development cycle can be way off) of an undead focus, I can only see more Strahd on the horizon.

If they took the initiative to write a full on Demiplanes setting book, with mini adventures similar to Saltmarsh, it wouldn’t be so bad, but I have the fear that Wizards will just pander to what is popular (and we all know Strahd is popular) letting their other content flounder.
It was argued early on that Wizards didn’t want to diversify too much with their settings, as having Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Planescape, et al, only split the playerbase.
I argue that as we’ve already got Forgotten Realms (with aspects of Greyhawk ported in), Ravenloft, Wildemount, Theros and Ravnica, they can’t really be too worried about any splits, so why not give us more?

Ultimately, I guess I just don’t get on with the development mentality at Wizards, I mean I would love to see books that are 75% setting information, with an adventure included for Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3/4.
I don’t even run much D&D (Only Frostmaiden currently) and I still find myself plumbing the depths of older editions to find inspiration for things I want so I guess Wizards don’t care as they still get my money through Print on Demand, but ultimately when I do run something I want something quick.

Will I still buy this? Heck yeah, aint no stopping me, but I still want more of the other D&D worlds to explore without delving into 3rd party content.
For now though, we shall see.

Also, give me Greyhawk you cowards.