D&D 5E 5e isn't a Golden Age of D&D Lorewise, it's Silver at best.

[Parmandur]

That blog post on canon made no sense and should be ignored as the none sense it was.

It makes perfect sense, and is entirely reasonable. Lore is a resource that WotC feels free to pick and choose strategically, and isn't bound by precedent when making more material.

 

[MadArkitekt]

They can manifest from dreams or actually reproduce asexually with a beholder developing a placenta of sorts in their throat and eventually coughing it up when it becomes large enough. Nasty, right?

Beholders fascinate me because they are true D&D originals. Not borrowed from any myths or religions, beholder hold a special place amongst the pantheon of D&D monsters. I have a talk I’m rehearsing about the history of beholders from inception to Spacejammer.

 

[JEB]

I don't think it is required for them to explicitly state that you can and should mix and match different ideas, and having to state such a thing explicitly in order to give the playerbase permission is an insane request that has no basis in any rationale or logic.

You wouldn't think they'd have to tell folks they can make up their own canon either, but they did. Even though they already did that in the DMG. The key difference between the two is that the DMG policy placed different "expressions" into one official canon, while the 2021 policy draws lines.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They’re still xenophobic, the portion of the monster manual wasn’t redacted, to my knowledge. They removed that chunk to get rid of “wary of any creature that isn’t one of its minions, and is aggressive in dealing with perceived threats. It might react favorably toward creatures that humble themselves before it and present themselves as inferiors”. I’m of the opinion the line staring “It might react favorably toward creatures that humble themselves before it and present themselves as inferiors.” I think that struck
a chord with readers. But oh yes, they’re still paranoid, xenophobic, icky poo nasty floating blobs of evil.

So we're now removing references to the idea that a thinking creature clearly depicted as evil can believe other thinking creatures are inferior to it? Really?

 

[MadArkitekt]

So we're now removing references to the idea that a thinking creature clearly depicted as evil can believe other thinking creatures are inferior to it? Really?

No no, just rewording it to remove the creatures subjugating themselves to one and still being killed for fun. That’s what I’m thinking. It wasn’t the idea that was amended, but the text explaining it

 

[Parmandur]

And yes chicken and egg is an issue - it could be that WotC and you are just on exactly the same wavelength.

This has actually been kind of spooky for me since 2014 or so, when I started paying attention to what was up with D&D again. WotC "follow the surveys approach" found a playstyle that seems like they were wiretapping my 3E college games ("most players play like X and Y" when we were doing X and Y and thought we were weirdos based on forum chatter). Even when they've adjusted direction, it has consistently matched my own tastes and evolving sensibilities. That will probably change as I get further and further from the target audience (I'll be around 39 when the new Core drops).

It really isn't that WotC can do no wrong. It's that for whatever reason I natch their core demographic research to a Tee. Even down to the art direction has fit my personal aesthetic consistently (honestly part of why I may have bounced off of Acquisitions Incorporated, along with the specific humor style).

 

[MadArkitekt]

So we're now removing references to the idea that a thinking creature clearly depicted as evil can believe other thinking creatures are inferior to it? Really?

By all means, Beholders are MY JAM! They fascinate me as being the original D&D monster not borrowing from any external source. They’re still the same crappy evil blobs they’ve always been. There was just enough backlash on how that one excerpt was written.

 

[Mind of tempest]

This has actually been kind of spooky for me since 2014 or so, when I started paying attention to what was up with D&D again. WotC "follow the surveys approach" found a playstyle that seems like they were wiretapping my 3E college games ("most players play like X and Y" when we were doing X and Y and thought we were weirdos based on forum chatter). Even when they've adjusted direction, it has consistently matched my own tastes and evolving sensibilities. That will probably change as I get further and further from the target audience (I'll be around 39 when the new Core drops).

It really isn't that WotC can do no wrong. It's that for whatever reason I natch their core demographic research to a Tee. Even down to the art direction has fit my personal aesthetic consistently (honestly part of why I may have bounced off of Acquisitions Incorporated, along with the specific humor style).

we have finally found the guy who is lucky with wotc stuff, I wish I had your luck.

 

[Panzeh]

Honestly I think the lightness on lore comes down to a winnowing down of supplemental material to stuff that any table might want, which kinda obviates large quantities of pure lore content. It's a lot easier for any player/DM to justify spending on a product with more crunchy monsters, feats, classes, and spells than a lot of lore information on a particular setting.

They're probably right, sales-wise. 2e was putting out material to try to create ecosystems to sell novels, to the point where usability in game didn't matter that much(though there were some valiant efforts anyway), and a lot of it didn't sell at all.

 

[MadArkitekt]

This has actually been kind of spooky for me since 2014 or so, when I started paying attention to what was up with D&D again. WotC "follow the surveys approach" found a playstyle that seems like they were wiretapping my 3E college games ("most players play like X and Y" when we were doing X and Y and thought we were weirdos based on forum chatter). Even when they've adjusted direction, it has consistently matched my own tastes and evolving sensibilities. That will probably change as I get further and further from the target audience (I'll be around 39 when the new Core drops).

It really isn't that WotC can do no wrong. It's that for whatever reason I natch their core demographic research to a Tee. Even down to the art direction has fit my personal aesthetic consistently (honestly part of why I may have bounced off of Acquisitions Incorporated, along with the specific humor style).

The D&D crew is also such a diverse group and they listen to the players as you said. I mean, your have Joe Manganiello who’s more metal and unabashed, bringing the intensity and passion and acting as a fantastic ambassador, where as Chris Perkins strikes me as a touch more reserved and cerebral.