D&D is Greyhawk. The spells, magic items, and artifacts are named for Greyhawk characters and deities. The generic D&D dwarves are Greyhawk dwarves (hill, mountain, etc.), not Forgotten Realms dwarves (shield, gold, etc.). The generic D&D elves are Greyhawk elves (gray, high, etc.), not Forgotten Realms elves (silver, gold, etc.). The generic planes are Greyhawk planes, not the variant cosmologies of 3e FR or Eberron.
The Known World/Mystara originated in a different, parallel ruleset ("classic" D&D) and so a lot of it is very different from AD&D/3e D&D; half of the iconic monsters don't exist there (no mind flayers, drow, sahuagins, yuan-ti, metallic dragons other than gold ones, etc.) and the assumptions behind the alignments, planes, and gods are completely different. A version of D&D based around the Known World would barely be recognizable - or else the Known World would barely be recognizable.
Core D&D is Greyhawk. That doesn't mean it has to be bland or generic - Greyhawk is actually a much richer, varied, and distinctive setting than non-fans often recognize. It has everything from buried spaceships to towering glaciers of ebon-black ice to surreal Fading Lands populated by sentient gemstones. But D&D should recognize and embrace its history, while at the same time looking toward the future.
Greyhawk is more flexible than the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or the Known World. It can be pretty much anything you need it to be.
The Known World/Mystara originated in a different, parallel ruleset ("classic" D&D) and so a lot of it is very different from AD&D/3e D&D; half of the iconic monsters don't exist there (no mind flayers, drow, sahuagins, yuan-ti, metallic dragons other than gold ones, etc.) and the assumptions behind the alignments, planes, and gods are completely different. A version of D&D based around the Known World would barely be recognizable - or else the Known World would barely be recognizable.
Core D&D is Greyhawk. That doesn't mean it has to be bland or generic - Greyhawk is actually a much richer, varied, and distinctive setting than non-fans often recognize. It has everything from buried spaceships to towering glaciers of ebon-black ice to surreal Fading Lands populated by sentient gemstones. But D&D should recognize and embrace its history, while at the same time looking toward the future.
Greyhawk is more flexible than the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or the Known World. It can be pretty much anything you need it to be.
