D&D 3E/3.5 5e Forgotten Realms - should it be closer to 3e or 4e?

[Alzrius]

You can not apply today's logic to several decades removed business decisions.

At the time of 1st ed shift to 2nd ed there were some very strong market forces in parent groups that thought DnD meant satanic worshiping cultists that were going to corrupt the world.

The whole RPG movement and miniatures movement took the hit.

My understanding is that, while the management of a number of RPGs quickly bowed to the public perception of role-playing games as vessels of Satanic suicide among teens, the overall effect was to actually make RPGs more popular among younger audiences. I can't link to anything, but I've read statements from people who were at TSR at the time saying how game books were flying off the shelves because kids wanted something that their parents disapproved of so much.

Drizz't owes his existance to the change as he was a replacement character created in a five minute call as Salvatore was told that there would be no thief/assassins in the 2ed.

Factually incorrect. Drizzt was created before the 1E to 2E changeover. What you're recalling is the argument that R. A. Salvatore had with someone at WotC (I can't recall who) when they called and told him that he had to kill off Artemis Entreri, who was an assassin, because 2E would have no assassin class.

Salvatore won the argument by stating that Artemis wasn't an assassin; he was a fighter/thief who killed people for money.

The Time of Troubles was most importantly an attempt to 'blue code' the realms. The game that had originally been played by Bohemian college students was now being spread to high school and grade school students and an effort was made to clean up the 'objectionable' bits.

The Time of Troubles was the "blowing up" of the setting that let them make the changes inherent in the 1E to 2E changeover. By itself, it had nothing to do with erasing things people found objectionable (though a few of those, such as giving "demons" and "devils" other names were a part of the larger edition change).

 

[MooMan68]

Actually it's always kind-of annoyed me that the story never fits the rules. I wish they'd put much more thought into the impact of rules on a fantasy milieu. In fact, this is another popular topic amongst D&D nerds: in a magical world with Continual Light and Detect Lie, wouldn't we have a 24/7 society with no crime?

This kind of difference in priorities get's to the heart of what kind of game people are playing. To some extent I think it is why some people had such a hard time with 4e, and others loved it.

I don't want to argue the merits of your assertion about Continual Light and Detect Lie.
If you felt that way and didn't want to play in a 24/7 society with no crime, then just remove them from the game, or modify them in a way that seems appropriate to you. The rules are not sacrosanct, they exist to enable the group to have fun.

Edit: I don't mean at all to imply that people with different priorities are having "badwrongfun". I think it is an interesting example of differences in play style. One that illustrates how hard a unifying 5e design will be.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Was the Grey Box really that much better, or is just pure nostalgia speaking?

Nostalgia may be a part of it, but (speaking for myself) I think the Gray Box was just better.

When I break out books for my Realms games, I keep the Gray Box books at my side and leave the 2e boxes on the shelf.

People who wanted to use the new edition could just say, "Eh, it's always worked this way..."

That's actually how the 3E transition was handled.

The "Magic Television/it's always been this way" approach.