D&D 4E 4E Forgotten Realms Hopes/Fears ?

[Boarstorm]

So my fear is that the darn fans will strangle my enjoyment of a rich world with their possessiveness.

Well said.

 

[JohnRTroy]

So my fear is that the darn fans will strangle my enjoyment of a rich world with their possessiveness.

But if you can't get along with its fans, that's really your problem.

Without fans, the setting wouldn't do so well. Casual people may buy something, but fans keep it alive. They are the center of the core. If there weren't people with that knowledge the whole thing would fall apart.

That's what I fear about reboots. Reboots are usually done by authors who are egotistical, who think "I know better", many times without thinking about what made the properties great in the first place. Sometimes all they care about is "milking the trademark". I see nothing "broken" about the FR. A long-existing property will have a lot more detail than a new property.

My fear with FR is linked to my fear about the new D&D. A lot of it seems change for change sake, and threatens to alienate the die-hards, and sometimes I think people are listening to the non-fans complaints too much--I see many criticism about too many high level NPCs, for instance, but even when they said they de-emphasize it, they're mad that Drizzt and Elminster are not dead. I worry they might try to change too much of the setting without thinking of the consequences.

 

[Blackeagle]

That's what I fear about reboots. Reboots are usually done by authors who are egotistical, who think "I know better", many times without thinking about what made the properties great in the first place.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, by Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims, and Philip Athans.

The nerve of Ed Greenwood claiming he knows more about the Forgotten Realms than the fans!

 

[Dragonbait]

The nerve of Ed Greenwood claiming he knows more about the Forgotten Realms than the fans!

Actually, hasn't EG said that the setting has gone far beyond what he originally envisioned (both for good and bad reasons) and went down paths that he was not in favor of (amny of which the fans asked for LIKE the epic characters, super-high magic, and so on)?

 

[JohnRTroy]

The nerve of Ed Greenwood claiming he knows more about the Forgotten Realms than the fans!

First of all, I wasn't targeting Greenwood, or for that manner all reboots. Technically, a reboot would mean forgetting history and just restarting from page one, and FR is not doing that.

But let's remember that this wasn't Ed's idea. And I think Mr. Greenwood wrote something discussing the changes coming, saying that he wouldn't have done them if he was in charge, for instance--I know it's been discussed, I can't find the exact thread. He's always been gracious knew Wizards was in charge, buying FR lock-stock-and-barrel in 1986 and making their own changes. He can get along with them being work for hire that others like Gary Gygax could never do.

In fact, Greenwood is the only reason why I'm still involved. If Greenwood was ever shown the door or kicked out, I'd definitely leave FR and D&D altogether. I'm first and foremost a fan of authors--and a lot of the old guard has left and scattered to the four winds.

 

[The Little Raven]

But let's remember that this wasn't Ed's idea.

The Spellplague was actually his idea. He called it the Spellstorm and said he put some clues (some of which were cut in final materials) to point to it. He said he put it in there as an escape for himself, in case he ever needed to do a serious reboot to the setting, but never actually intended to use it (especially considering his personal campaign is composed of pre-Gray Box materials still).

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Was it Ed's idea that the god of loyalty murder the god of trustworthiness because the god of lies, er, lied to them? ;p

How about the neutral good god, who is the second most worshiped being in all of the world, deciding to become the complete opposite of himself as a lawful neutral god who isn't worshiped at all? ;p



For the record, I cannot stand the sword coast. I find it to be boring, overcliched fantasy. Maybe it was cool at one time, but it's been beaten and bludgeoned to death a thousand times by now.

Edit: Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it stated that the Sword Coast has been the LEAST effected by the Spellplague? Good lord, that's the one place I think needed the reboot the MOST!

 

[Evenglare]

FR as a book series.... great ... amazing.

FR as a campaign setting.. horrible. Im all for cannon and so many books makes it unmanageable. Everything has been fleshed out in faerun pretty much.

Im all for the reboot.

 

[Shemeska]

They hooked me on FR in 3e, but now with the 4e version looking so different (seeming to be change for changes sake IMO), they're losing me (and my entire group it seems).

There's a slim chance to get me back I suppose, but with only three books being planned (and with me having little to no intention of paying for DDI access), it's a pretty damn slim chance. Paizo, Catalyst, and White Wolf are likely to get the vast majority of my RPG money this year.

 

[JohnRTroy]

The Spellplague was actually his idea. He called it the Spellstorm and said he put some clues (some of which were cut in final materials) to point to it. He said he put it in there as an escape for himself, in case he ever needed to do a serious reboot to the setting, but never actually intended to use it (especially considering his personal campaign is composed of pre-Gray Box materials still).

I wasn't talking about the Spellplague per se, but in general the changes to the D&D cosmos, etc, and the need to make radical changes to the setting.

As an aside, I suspect Ed still uses 1st edition AD&D. I saw Salvatore on the local magazine show in Boston called Chronicle playing with the old 1st Edition DMG, the one with the Efreet.