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

[Mind of tempest]

...now that I look, there are multiple posts on reddit with requests for / homebrew rules for playing a sentient hat in D&D, and a few with requests for a sentient hat warlock patron. There has to be some cultural reference here that I managed to skip.

I think it was a joke some years ago and like the large mammaries goth warlock patron someone made it.

 

[Jer]

...now that I look, there are multiple posts on reddit with requests for / homebrew rules for playing a sentient hat in D&D, and a few with requests for a sentient hat warlock patron. There has to be some cultural reference here that I managed to skip.

I'd say the sorting hat from Harry Potter or Mario's hat Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey are possible sources in pop culture you're looking for.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

At the risk of picking at a sore spot, I thought the British wren’t European any more?

Well, I mean geography begs to differ. Europe existed for a very long time before the EU, and Britain is, I'm afraid, factually a part of Europe, much as some fantasists in our right-party would like to believe it is the 51st state.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The AD&D sales history recently coming to light suggests that, indeed, people liked Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms more than other Settings. It is a feedback loop, because it gets more chances when it gets published more.often, but WotC keeps publishing it because it sells better. It's bith/and at the same time.

And it is pretty easy to get into the FR casually.

Yeah, but recent polls don't show that. There's this survey from 7 years ago that said that Eberron, the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and Planescape were all equally popular. And that was near the start of the edition. So if newer surveys show that the Forgotten Realms is the most popular setting when compared to all of those other ones it was on par with not that long ago, I'd say that the fact that nearly every D&D 5e adventure has taken place there has certainly had a major impact on its popularity. Which, again, isn't because people think the setting is superior to others, but because it was literally the only one that got official support for over half of the edition.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yes. Good lore isn't static, it evolves with the editions. And the evolving lore is something that for me is very enjoyable in itself, at this point a 50 year old meta story evolution that you can disregard or adapt to your own game to taste.

As I wrote, I can live with a D&D without lore or lore evolution, it just takes away a - for me - very enjoyable dimension.

Lore can evolve without a metaplot. Just look at Eberron. There's been quite a few lore additions/changes to the setting since its original publishing in 3.5e, but it has no metaplot.

So, yes, good lore isn't static and needs to evolve with the times, but a metaplot isn't a sign of good lore. It's a consequence of evolving the setting in the wrong way.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah, but recent polls don't show that. There's this survey from 7 years ago that said that Eberron, the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and Planescape were all equally popular. And that was near the start of the edition. So if newer surveys show that the Forgotten Realms is the most popular setting when compared to all of those other ones it was on par with not that long ago, I'd say that the fact that nearly every D&D 5e adventure has taken place there has certainly had a major impact on its popularity. Which, again, isn't because people think the setting is superior to others, but because it was literally the only one that got official support for over half of the edition.

Ah, no, that poll placed them all in a top tier together, but FR was more popular than the rest combined at the time.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Ah, no, that poll placed them all in a top tier together, but FR was more popular than the rest combined at the time.

That's not what the post says. It says that the settings I listed were "all proving equally popular".

 

[Parmandur]

That's not what the post says. It says that the settings I listed were "all proving equally popular".

They said it elsewhere, though theat may have been about what people actually played: about a quarter of tables were pure homebrew, another quarter were playing in the Forgotten Realms, a quarter were homebrewing but using official books (the other half of the mai audience for 5E books), and the last quarter was the rest. So, maybe "which do you like?" put them on equal terms, but FR was being played about 5 times more than number 2, Greyhawk iIRC with 5%.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Lore can evolve without a metaplot. Just look at Eberron. There's been quite a few lore additions/changes to the setting since its original publishing in 3.5e, but it has no metaplot.

So, yes, good lore isn't static and needs to evolve with the times, but a metaplot isn't a sign of good lore. It's a consequence of evolving the setting in the wrong way.

The wrong way if you don't like metaplot. I personally derived great enjoyment from the stories of D&D setting while they lasted, and am sorry to see them go. The new way is probably better for flexibility, but I still miss the story.

 

[Scribe]

Lore can evolve without a metaplot.

Very much so. I think the adherence to a metaplot does a major disservice to any setting.

It in fact ceases to be a setting, and is just a story you observe.