Option 2 does not preclude eventually coming back and adding on to the setting to expand it further with greater detail.
Option 3 could also be used as a base to then create a few settings (option 2) or even focus solely on one setting (option 1).
Exactly.
The question is what is the best place to start.
I would
start with option 2. To my mind it appears that it would be easier to tweak as necessary, adding and subtracting elements of 1 and 3, as both the product line and its market evolved, from the baseline of option 2 than from anywhere else. Option 1 at least somewhat commits you to that product line long enough for sales history to generate enough data to accurately judge that setting concept as a success or failure. Option 3 doesn't generate that data history for settings concepts at all other than by happenstance. This leads me to think that only option 2 allows you to keep improving the product and making sales
while at the same time allowing the customer base that actually wants to spend its money with you to tell you what they really want, not just in words from people on forums, but in terms of what puts money in the company bank account.
If it works the way I'm claiming it does, everybody wins. I won't claim to have the marketing experience to judge whether that line of reasoning works in the real world or not. To be fair, why I favor this option is because I'm too fully aware that at this point, I know
precisely zilch-point-nada about how markets work. Of course I'd want data.
Multiple settings would be great... but is it really feasible for ICE right now?
I dunno from feasible, I just know what I think would be good to see. Making the miracle
actually happen is the problem of the cast and crew, not the folks in the audience.
Adventures can be adapted to any setting and they are what, in my opinion, gives us the example of how the game mechanics can be used for a full adventure experience.
I think a big challenge, but worth it if you can pull it off, is to have things that fill out genre settings supported by ICE, but work easily outside of it as well. I mean, why
shouldn't other companies' gamers be deciding they like ICE's adventures ported into their system
better than the ones their company writes?