4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

I’m not sure if this is the appropriate catagory for this subject, but I can’t think of where else it would go.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought into my Gaea project over the last several years (12 if you count the first incarnation, which I usually don’t).  The recent advent of 4E has added some considerable problems to my thinking of late and I’m trying to resolve this question.
Now, it’s not really my intent to add a whole bunch of new stats and feats and powers to the game, but rather to add new elements of roleplaying as well as a thorough and developed setting that gives players and DMs a chance to explore various themes that are important to our time (such as government corruption, the argument between science and religion, etc) through their games.  That said, stats information is really not that important, nor is the matter of which “E” it’s played in.  So, with this in mind, I’ve had what I think is a brilliant thought, but that’s how almost all of them seem to be when I first have them, so I want to run this by the people and see what they think.
Would people be interested in buying a RPG setting book that was purely information on the world and possessed absolutely no stats itself?  The idea is that those who buy the book would be able to access content on the internet that shows the stats as I’ve written them for 3E, but would also be able to submit their own content for other editions (2E, 4E, or even non-d20 rules).  Each suplimental book (if the project succeeds enough to allow them) would follow the same format.  This way, the game is not limited to what I, as the creator, do, but actually reflects the way that the players are playing the game, which is much closer to what I am attempting to accomplish through my Gaea Project.

So, what do people think of this idea?

Kingdoms of Kalamar is stat light, Even more so in 4e. 

You could look at sales of that product to see how much is there. I typically like fluff books, but then I find myself having some trouble representing it mechanics wise.  Kingdoms of Kalamar is a book I enjoy for a setting.  They tend to list the levels and classes of the npcs that they note in the back of the book for 3rd edition. 

4e Forgotten Realms Campaign book is relatively rules free. 

Setting books are good for editionless rules, then a players guide usually follows with the crunch.  This could be what you do.  Sell the Setting and allow the crunch to be on the web enhancements.  If you partnered with someone who likes 2e and someone who like 4e then you could have each of you work together on the setting crunch for the respective editions.

Yeah, that’s basically what I’m going for.
Further, I ultimately want the gameplay to be more driven by the players than by me personally, because - as they said at the beggining of the 3.5 PHB - you can make all the rules you want, but the players are going to play it their way in the end.  Rather than create a situation where I have to keep updating the setting itself to milk my customers for money, I’d like the players to shape the gameplay aspects to make it fit their own style.  The supplimental material would therefore have to emphasize the quality of the books themselves rather than just making everyone buy the same books over and over again.
Furthermore, as I am trying to create a sort of folkloric feel to the game, players would be allowed to create their own materials and stories based on the setting which they can distribute over the internet.  After all of the initial supliments I plan on have been written, future books would be made to incorporate the best of the fan-made material into a sort of “cannon” for Gaea’s timeline.  Therefore, each new “edition” of the Lost Empires setting would be a continuing history of the planet, which would add more to the setting without rendering the older books obsolete.

Are you trying to make mechanics for how to roleplay or some mechanics for the governmental corruption?  My first question to those that want to do that is “Why?”.  Roleplay should never IMO have rules to apply to them, it only limits RP.  One of the things that I think was a leap forward for 4th over 3rd (and 3.5) was that they removed the rules that govern RP.  They left it all to the imaginations of the players and GM.  Many see this as concentrating on combat, which it does, but I see it more as getting the rules out of the way of letting me have the RP happen how I want. 

As for a setting book.  I honestly don’t use setting books as there is an inherent problem in that they will give either too much info and the players can (and often will) know too much that their characters don’t.  While this is not so bad with say 25% of the players out there, most I have found draw on that knowledge (either consciously or subconsciously).  The other problem is that it makes it so that a GM has to know the setting better than the players, not an easy thing with some players.  I say they have to know the setting better in that you can change things but going over what has changed requires you to know what there is, in the end I have found my ability to run involved campaigns is hindered by setting books.

No, that’s the thing.  I’m thinking of making the book completely free of mechanics and let the players decide what mechanics to use on their own.  I’m curious if people would buy a book like that.
As to your complaints about setting, I understand them completely.  I rarely use settings myself, except to draw occassional ideas from, which is one way the book could be used, but one thing about Gaea that I consistently note is that I intend for GMs to change the setting to suit their play.  You see, folklore varries; in one part of the world, Snow White is told one way, in another it’s told differently.  So, too, should it be with Gaea.  What I intend to give with the books is something that encourages them be inventive within the frame.
For example, much of Gaea’s history is shrouded in myster and although I give an “official” outline of what’s happened over the course of time, the narrator states that it’s heavily colored by myth and legend and no one knows for sure what really happened and that adventurers and explorers are constantly finding new evidence that shows things happening differently than the accepted history.  Ultimately, DMs should use what’s in the books as the generally accepted history of the world, but change it as suits the need of the story.
I also give a basic outline of what the governments of the modern world are like, but DMs should decide for themselves what the real motivation for the governments are.  Adun, for example, is very oppressive - very much like N azi Germany, but I give enough room for the DM to decide if the Furher is really an evil man, or if he’s actually got the best intentions of his people at heart.
So, ultimately, the players can know the setting inside and out, but they’ll never know it as good as the DM, because only the DM really knows what parts of the setting are how things really are.

Does that make sense, or was I too pedantic?