ChaosShard
Explorer
I'll be posting this in a few places, please forgive me if you see this in a few different forums...
Since the announcement of 4th Edition, I've taken to reading and posting on forums that I had previously just lurked. After years of playing, reading about, and enjoying not only Forgotten Realms, but D&D in its entirety. I don't think this is anything special, in fact, I'd wager that almost everyone reading this can say the same thing.
4E is bringing major rules changes, especially concerning magic, and that's fine. I have yet to play the rules, but what I've heard sounds good, so I'll remain optimistic. Of course, settings with a great deal of complexity around the magic system will need changes to reflect that, ergo, Mystra's death and the Spellplague.
As with any change, people are upset, scared, angered, excited... None of these feelings are abnormal, and none of them should have been unexpected. Not by the (as yet unnamed) FR Dev team, the Wizards staff in general, or their parent company, Hasbro. Especially considering the nature of internet forums, this is all in a days work, and (comparing Gleemax to the Blizzard forums) is positively tame.
Yet almost everywhere I go, I hear "The Realms are dead!", "WotC is butching FR!" and so on. Most, if not all of this is from uninformed speculation, as are the more optimistic posts. We don't know what's happening, and many of us feel powerless, left to fear for a world we've grown to know and love.
My request is a simple one, and hopefully, will reach the eyes and ears of people who will respond to it:
Please, give us some feedback.
Many of us realize that the FRCS is the last of the four books coming out next summer, and that you're all exceptionally busy. We also realize that you can't possibly have finished all of the story (let alone mechanical) work for the Realms. The latter will require a finished 4e system, and the prior, a great deal of time and effort. No one in their right mind would ask for a writeup, let alone a PDF of what you have.
We just want to know that you're listening, that you know what we're thinking, and what direction things are really taking. Even so much as a brief "We're looking at that." or "No, this won't be X." helps.
Mr. Greenwood, I realize you're under an NDA, please don't think that you're being asked to violate it. Everyone knows that you would love nothing more than to show us every last note you have, and we also know that you can't. I apologize if this has bothered you at all.
Mr. Baker, I must thank you, as your post about the Deities is greatly appreciated, and that is exactly what I'm talking about. Can we possibly get some Realmslore articles in that vein, or even know roughly when to expect such?
Again, I hope that I'm not putting anyone on the spot with this, I just feel that some info on the general direction of the Realms will help the general mood of the proverbial natives.
Thanks for your time.
Since the announcement of 4th Edition, I've taken to reading and posting on forums that I had previously just lurked. After years of playing, reading about, and enjoying not only Forgotten Realms, but D&D in its entirety. I don't think this is anything special, in fact, I'd wager that almost everyone reading this can say the same thing.
4E is bringing major rules changes, especially concerning magic, and that's fine. I have yet to play the rules, but what I've heard sounds good, so I'll remain optimistic. Of course, settings with a great deal of complexity around the magic system will need changes to reflect that, ergo, Mystra's death and the Spellplague.
As with any change, people are upset, scared, angered, excited... None of these feelings are abnormal, and none of them should have been unexpected. Not by the (as yet unnamed) FR Dev team, the Wizards staff in general, or their parent company, Hasbro. Especially considering the nature of internet forums, this is all in a days work, and (comparing Gleemax to the Blizzard forums) is positively tame.
Yet almost everywhere I go, I hear "The Realms are dead!", "WotC is butching FR!" and so on. Most, if not all of this is from uninformed speculation, as are the more optimistic posts. We don't know what's happening, and many of us feel powerless, left to fear for a world we've grown to know and love.
My request is a simple one, and hopefully, will reach the eyes and ears of people who will respond to it:
Please, give us some feedback.
Many of us realize that the FRCS is the last of the four books coming out next summer, and that you're all exceptionally busy. We also realize that you can't possibly have finished all of the story (let alone mechanical) work for the Realms. The latter will require a finished 4e system, and the prior, a great deal of time and effort. No one in their right mind would ask for a writeup, let alone a PDF of what you have.
We just want to know that you're listening, that you know what we're thinking, and what direction things are really taking. Even so much as a brief "We're looking at that." or "No, this won't be X." helps.
Mr. Greenwood, I realize you're under an NDA, please don't think that you're being asked to violate it. Everyone knows that you would love nothing more than to show us every last note you have, and we also know that you can't. I apologize if this has bothered you at all.
Mr. Baker, I must thank you, as your post about the Deities is greatly appreciated, and that is exactly what I'm talking about. Can we possibly get some Realmslore articles in that vein, or even know roughly when to expect such?
Again, I hope that I'm not putting anyone on the spot with this, I just feel that some info on the general direction of the Realms will help the general mood of the proverbial natives.
Thanks for your time.
