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Message: <blockquote data-quote="humble minion" data-source="post: 3988973" data-attributes="member: 5948">Hmmm.Evil seems to be being made considerably more monolithic than it used to be - The Shades Did It All.  Thay is a ruin and the Red Wizards seem to be gone or at least largely nullified politically, there's no mention of the Zhentarim at all (they'll probably hurt from the pantheon realignment).  Myth Drannor is spoken of as a generally good-aligned place, so it seems the drow have been driven underground again (and with half the Underdark collapsing, they're probably much weaker).  I suppose this is a logical continuation from the gradually increasing significance that Shar and the Shades were given over the course of 3e, but I can't help but disagree with the choice.  Multiple competing bad guys are much more fun.The rationale for the Dragonborn turning up is as lazy and shoehorned as you'd expect.  Still, any change so rules-driven rather than setting-driven is going to be difficult to explain elegantly.  I wonder how new-model tieflings are going to be handwaved in?It's less points-of-lighty than some people were thinking it might be - Cormyr is strong and stable, Waterdeep is still around, and Luruar.  Still a fair bit of civilisation out there.I fear for the Old Empires, which sadly was one of my favourite areas of 3e FR.  Unther is gone, and Mulhorand isn't even mentioned when the borders of Tymanther are talked about.  Given the pantheon cuts, I reckon Mulhorand is no more, or is battered and unrecognisable at the very least, like Thay.'Changing Lands' seem directly analogous (because 'blatant copy' is such an uncharitable term!) to the Mournlands from Eberron.  Were the Mournlands that popular?  They always seemed nearly impossible to use in a game, from my Eberron readthrough.Everything i'm reading seems to imply that the setting is being heavily refocused on Cormyr, the Sword Coast, and the North.  Everywhere vaguely civilised outside that area has been hammered flat.  No Unther, Thay, doubtful Mulhorand, no Sepech, Chondath, Turmish or the Shaar.  Halruaa (with all its wizards) is almost certainly a ruin since the Spellplague.  Haven't heard anything about Calimshan yet, but if WotC is as intent on eliminating real-world-analog cultures from FR as they seem to be then that's got to be on the hit list too.  The heartlands are being redefined as less the 'default' PC homeland that they were in 2e/3e as almost the only plausible one, since outside there seems to be basically nothing surviving in terms of large human/demihuman civilisation - Tymanther excluded.  They're now places to adventure to, rather than genuine parts of the world where people live and go about their business.  Very 4e attitude towards things, for better or worse.</blockquote>

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