I thought Planescape was better BEFORE the Faction War.
Just like everybody else, I went out and bought that adventure, but I never imagined it would completely change the whole setup of the Planescape game forever. So, even today, I stick with how it was in the original Planescape boxed set.... with all the original factions, all the old factols.... and I love it. I'm not knocking the new setup. I'm sure people love it, too.... but I don't feel the original Planescape campaign setting had a long enough run.
Currently, I've been role-playing on www.Aoyn.com in the Outer Planes board (under "rp²" in "REALMS"). We've got a Sigil board created, with subforums for each of the wards and the different faction headquarters in each war, too. It's awesome, and most people only role-play on the Prime Material Plane there.... but I'm trying to teach people more about Planescape and the different philosophies of the factions.
That's why I don't want those factions gone!!
This is just my personal opinion. I don't want to upset anybody. I just think the reason Planescape died, as a product, was because the Faction War adventure killed it off.... just like the factols all got killed off in it. It was like the terrorists had hit the White House or something.
I'd love to hear people's comments!! Please, let's stay constructive.
I used to share your feelings about the Faction War change. I was introduced to Planescape after 3e came out, but I was still introduced to the original 2e preFactionWar material. For the longest time, the changes in FW confused and disappointed me.
Recently, however, after thoroughly reading through the changes in both the Faction War book and the 3.5e Planescape pdfs I changed my mind on the subject. If after 20 years the planes remain exactly the same, then the setting becomes rather stale. After all, almost every single PS resource states that you shouldn't rely on any constant of the multiverse too much (except, perhaps, for the three cardinal rules) because nothing is constant and, the planes being infinite, you're bound to run into exceptions. By allowing a major change such as the FW to alter the daily lives of almost all citizens of the multiverse, the writers allowed a sense of realism, through the passage of time, into their fantastic setting. They also set the stage for more changes later on.
Most unfortunately, the official Planescape setting died out before any of the other changes could occur, leaving Faction War to seem as a world shattering conclusion to the setting. Very fortunately, however, Planescape was resuscitated by the fine folks at Planewalker. Perhaps, with time, other changes will occur in the setting, making FW seem less grandiose. After all, it didn't really change that much. Sure the old factols are gone, but new ones have taken their place. Most of the old factions are still around, in one form or another. Sigil's still on the spire and the Great Wheel is still there. It wasn't the end of the world, it was just a step into the next stage.