Future Forgotten Realms Novels: Canon or Not?

[Belorin]

So, according to at least 3 different designers the changes in the Forgotten Realms are set in stone, immutable. Take it or leave it.
The feelings about the changes are all over the map, some like the changes wholesale, others find them to be the antithesis of what the Realms are. And about every degree in between.
Some of the most frequently repeated problems are too many deities or deities changing portfolios, high-powered NPCs and clandestine organizations. The origins of which are more often than not novel based.
So I decided to post a poll; should future Forgotten Realms novels be considered canon or not? The poll has three choices:
Yes
No
Don't care.
Feel free to expound on your choice.
I feel they should not simply because what is happening now just proves the old saying "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

Bel

 

[Belorin]

You can post opinions if you wish.

 

[Treebore]

Even as little as I have read I saw them say that the novels, at least in the case of Eberron, is not considered canon for purposes of the setting. I would hope they have the same stance with regards to FR.

Either way, I never considered Novels as canon anyways, just like modules, another source to mine for ideas that I liked.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I do not really care about FR, but the general topic of games and novels interests me.

I played the Wheel of Time game back a few years, and I loved the novels, and the game was good, but the world did not make for a good game. Far too limited. And that was a one way street from novel-->game

With FR especially it is a two way street, which doubles the traffic and chances of fatalities.

You have players changing the realms around their tables every Saturday night, and you have novelists who have to make big changes to make their novels special. Since the novelists will never know what goes on around the table, and the players have no say in the writing and development process, you have a diverging world where one side or the other has to give a little or a lot to stay canon. Or just spend a lot of time ignoring the novels, which is want a lot of players do.

 

[Kunimatyu]

I read "Conan or Not?", and I thought to myself "now THAT's an FR novel I'd read."

 

[Dragonhelm]

So, according to at least 3 different designers the changes in the Forgotten Realms are set in stone, immutable. Take it or leave it.

Ask the book department what their opinion is, and I bet you get a different result.

Okay, the dreaded "c-word" - canon. What I've discovered is that we each make up what is canon for ourselves. If you like the books, they're canon. If you don't care for them, then they're not canon. If flying monkeys are in your version of the realms, then that can be canon too.

WotC's book and game design departments don't determine what is and isn't canon. They maintain a certain continuity between them, but in the end, it is up to us as readers and gamers to decide what we consider to be "official."

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

It should be canon. Plain and simple.

 

[PeterWeller]

FR has always been driven, in part, by its ongoing metaplot. FR source books should reflect events from the novels, so the novels should be canon.

 

[Fobok]

Yes. It's part of what separates Forgotten Realms from other settings in my opinion.

 

[Belorin]

FR has always been driven, in part, by its ongoing metaplot. FR source books should reflect events from the novels, so the novels should be canon.

But it seems that this is what led to the glut of super NPCs and the game of Deity musical chairs that leads in part to making the drastic changes in the Realms in 4E.
The other part being a change in the mechanics of how magic is used in the Realms.
I just hope if they do decide to maintain novels as canon they pay more attention to the effect it has on the metaplot.

Bel