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Message: <blockquote data-quote="an_idol_mind" data-source="post: 6170166" data-attributes="member: 43749">I kinda see this criticism as akin to saying, "The hostile desert setting drives some people away from Dark Sun."I think the Realms is one of those settings where the mountains of lore are the big appeal. If you want a quasi-medieval fantasy setting without all that lore, there are many other options available.(Note #1: I say this as somebody who hasn't played in the Realms for about 15 years - not because I don't like the lore but rather because I enjoy building my own setting much more.)(Note #2: While I think the appeal is the huge amount of lore, WotC might decide that said appeal isn't getting them the customers they need, which seems to be their reasoning when they released the 4th edition Realms. The problem is that they need to clearly define what the new appeal of the setting will be and not pretend that they can recruit the same fanbase with a radically changed setting.)I'm personally of the belief that this is more of a player problem than anything else. Any setting that has a large canon is going to get folks like this, be it the Realms or Greyhawk or Golarion or even lesser-played settings like Birthright.I think the Avatar Triology modules are among the worst adventures ever (as described in my zillion part series <a href="http://screamsheet.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/the-worst-adventure-ever-shadowdale-chapter-one/" target="_blank">over here</a>). However, painting those horrible modules as definitive of the Realms is like saying that the terrible Castle Greyhawk module defines the Greyhawk setting.I think the big issue with the Realms is one of quality control. The 2nd edition products were largely a mixed bag, and the poor ones became notorious for how terrible they were. Most of the 3rd edition stuff was very bland, and the 4th edition stuff lacked a real direction. If WotC chooses what they want the Realms to be, sticks to their goals, and makes quality a top priority, I think they'll do fine.</blockquote>

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