Yep, I'm using it.
I may be a little different than many posters here in that I'm not an FR veteran. I played in some 2e FR campaigns, but they were hardly world-spanning or got into too much politics. My group didn't use 3e FR at all, mainly because it felt like the world was too detailed (with stat blocks and backstory) and we couldn't really find a place for our characters to fit in.
Thus, 4e FR was written for me.
I like the fact that the Campaign Guide is more like a Gazette, with hints of backstory, interesting geographic features, key villainous groups, and little adventure ideas. I can turn to any of Region pages and get ideas for adventures or even starting campaigns.
There are parts that I do NOT like, however. First, some places that are mentioned in the Region write ups simply aren't on the map. I couldn't find Highdale last night (maybe my eyes were just tired). Also, some key elements of FR history are mentioned in passing, but no details are given (The escaped Phaerem of Netheril?).
I can give you a quick rundown of my current FR campaign:
I started the group in Loudwater (as the Campaign Guide suggests). My players fought through the goblin attack encounter in the book, and then traced the goblins to the Barrow of the Ogre King (also in the book). From there, I've used the ideas from the book to change things around.
-Lady Moonfire actually accompanied the group to The Barrow, and fought along side them as a Lvl 2 Feypact Warlock.
-I removed the solo goblin at the bottom of the Barrow and had a multi-stage goblin fight. I threw in a deep crevace splitting the room in half, and when the (weaker) goblin shaman cast a minor "earthquake" spell (re-skinned one of his normal attacks) the crevace lit up with lava seeping up from beneath. A round later, a host of leveled-down Firebats swept up and started attacking everyone. The players barely got out of there as lava started rising out of the crevace.
-The players fled the Barrow and lava kept seeping up. They escaped, but now part of the Southwood is a smouldering wasteland, as lava filled the Barrow and spilled out to the surface. Now I have a future adventure site for some Elemental baddies and a possible rift to the Element Chaos.
- The "earthquake" that cracked open the crevace of lava also affected Loudwater, but causing only minor damage. However, a rash of brutal kidnappings and murders led the players into the sewers beneath Loudwater, where they discovered that some Wererats had teamed up with a Ghoul to commit murders in the god Zehir's name. See, the earthquake had cracked open the sealed sewer entrances that extend past the city walls (since Loudwater used to be a much larger city than it is now).
- I used an undead lair encounter from Open Grave for the next adventure. The earthquake didn't only crack open the sewer entrances, but it also cracked the seal on an ancient tomb in the graveyard outside the city. The players just finished exploring the graveyard and the crypt where they stopped an evil ritual and obsconded with an interesting Obsidian Skull (thank you, Open Grave). As we left off, the players were leaving the graveyard, but were confronted by a host of Hobgoblins, demanding that the players hand over the skull. Will the players fight them (bad idea - severly outnumbered), hand it over (not likely), or demand that they accompany the hobs to meet their leader and negotiate directly with the boss (what I'm hoping they'll do).
-Inbetween all that, my players confronted some bandits that had been plauging the merchants of Loudwater by dragging a giant chain across the Grayflow river and stopping traffic. They defeated the wizard leader and his Wyrmling black dragon companion. When its time, they'll learn that the Wyrmling is decendent of an adult black that lairs in the Highmoor south of Loudwater. What were that wizard and wyrmling doing with all the stolen loot? The players only recovered some of it . . .
Where is the campaign going? My players are about to find out. Basically, a Cambion Warlord named Vesuvius has mustered a small army of hobgoblins from the wastelands to the east of the Gray Vale. Vesuvius has intentions to conquer the Vale in the name of Asmodeus. The players will find out that he has the nearby town of Llorkh (also in the FR CG) under seige and that he has his sites on Loudwater.
Assuming that my players don't join Vesuvius (a possibility!), they'll be able to find support from Luraur to the north, or negotiate with mercenaries from the Sword Coast. We'll see what happens. If it comes to actual military battle, I'm planning on running those as a series of Skill Challenges. It should be interesting. Long term, I've got the Shadovar in the background, as well as the serpent people of Najara to the south (which I've already introduced partially due to the Zehir cult and the black dragon wyrmling).
