Here a Setting, there a Setting

Hey gang!

Well, here I am with some more random gaming-related thoughts.

Today I shall present you all with some ideas/ramblings regarding the most important (at least to me) part of any RPG, the Setting.  If there are one million different game systems out there then can you only imagine how many settings there are?  I know that there are many, many folks out there that love playing in the 'official' settings provided by most games... I have truly enjoyed a few of these nicely presented settings, with Mutant Chronicles, Shadowrun, and Deadlands being among my favorites.

That being said I am an unabashed fan of creating my own settings.  My first foray into Game-Mastering was in my own fantasy world and I still use parts of it today.  I guess it is my over-reaching ego that makes me thing would really want to play in one of my worlds, but I like to think that I have many fun ideas.  The problem is how to present those thoughts.

I have seen games that provide a small setting preview with their mechanics and others that hold off for specific releases all their own.  I am a fan of the first way of doing it... give them a taste and let them come back for more.  The question I would ask you is what is enough for a setting?  The second edition Earthdawn book, another setting I really like, only has about 50pgs of actual setting description.  Is that a good base to build on?

I wonder though, if the latter idea is good though.  Look at everything mechanics wise with the 3.0/3.x types of stuff.  My favorite setting associated with the d20 mechanics is easily Ptolus.  That thing is AWESOME.  I mean you could easily run a character and their families through years of adventure and never leave site of the city.  I would love to have the hardcover material for this, but even used copies are over 170 bucks on Amazon.

But I digress... as a new game designer, and a fan of a LOT of genres, where is a good place to start?  Should I get my mechanics alone... with a small teaser... or a large PDF of everything?

Thanks in advance!