D&D General Joe Manganiello: Compares Early 5E to BG 3 . How Important is Lore?

[Minigiant]

How much of that success is owed to the current lore of the Forgotten Realms?

Not much.

The success is mostly on it not being beholden to the the old lore and adapting the rules, ruling, and allowances to the new combined mentality.

The Forgotten Realms had to change to the new paradigm or be shelved.

 

[mamba]

As the IP holder, WOTC legally has to do things to make more consumers become customers of their product or they lose the IP.

what? how do they lose the IP if they do nothing with it?

 

[Minigiant]

what? how do they lose the IP if they do nothing with it?

It's mostly enforcement. If they don't enforce blatant cip infringement, they can lose it. But if they fight lawsuits but produce outdated or poor product, they would lose their standing in the industry and be usurped.

Especially if a lot of gaming can't be trademarked or copyrighted.

So a major game leader and publisher can't really afford to sit around and do nothing with their main IPs.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

But you don't hold the IP.
That's the difference between being a seller and a customer.

As the IP holder, WOTC legally has to do things to make more consumers become customers of their product or they lose the IP.

Legally they don't have to do anything. They could lock their IP in a cupboard forever if they want and just make money selling collectibles.

 

[jgsugden]

This is kind of an odd thing for him to talk about considering his statements about his Dragonlance show - how he'd come up with all new ideas on dragons, etc...

 

[Micah Sweet]

For the those 3 products implied in the OP it’s not about lore, it’s about lackluster execution.

CoS is one of the most successful D&D products of all time. It has plenty of updated lore, it’s just better.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of all the lore changes made in CoS either. Never the less it was a well-crafted adventure.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Not much.

The success is mostly on it not being beholden to the the old lore and adapting the rules, ruling, and allowances to the new combined mentality.

The Forgotten Realms had to change to the new paradigm or be shelved.

Yeah, I don't think so, and see no evidence that such a change led to any increased sales of the game, or popularity of the Realms. If all you offer is one setting (the case in 5e for years), people buying it is not a sign of the setting's popularity, it's a sign of a lack of options.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I run almost any form of D&D in the 2E era. 4E blowing it all almost ruined D&D for me.

As for 5E, their half-baked Dragonlance was the final straw for me. I was already to buy in, then the previews started coming out. Just flat ruined it for me.

Kind of done buying 5E stuff until 5.5E comes out. I did pick up Planescape because the reviews seemed to be glowing but I'm waiting to mess with it when 5.5 comes out.

See WotC, if the product isn't a bland turd, people will buy it!

But yes, BG3 used a lot of 2E lore to carry the story, which thank goodness for that. I mean it is a sequel to 2E era games so makes sense.

I'm willing to bet BG4 or whatever won't.

The Dragonlance Adventures has been pretty darn good for my group I'm running it for. They definitely despise the Dragon Army and the draconians! And the lore really didn't shift any - even the worries about the return of clerical magic aren't an issue as the timeline is fuzzy enough to have a Goldmoon-first option, or a PC-first option if the group so wishes.

 

[Divine2021]

5e is the most popular and successful edition of D&D.

5e FR let's you play a dwarven non-elven bladesinger master wizard multiclassed with a godless paladin.

That’s so lame.

 

[Zardnaar]

Why do people care so much about some crusty settings?

To me the lore is what happens at the table, or what is required to make the game better. It differs from campaign to campaign.

Sometimes WotC lore inspires me, sometimes it doesn’t, and I take what I like.

Are people who started playing in the last 10 years here who care about this?

Well BG3 has sold a metric boatload, broken a billion in sales.

I suspect the story is s large part of that and it draws heavily on FR lore, Gith, Illithids.