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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 5961317" data-attributes="member: 59082">I was browsing the web for sandbox ideas and came across this badboy:<img src="http://images.community.wizards.com/community.wizards.com/user/jfigura/496ee774029d6c515b65616f27a5ba46.jpg?v=255930" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />(For a high res version click <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/Nerath_Map_HighRes.jpg" target="_blank">here</a>)I was one of the folks that was mightily disappointed when the Nentir Vale Gazetteer was cancelled; it was not out of any particular love for the Nentir/Nerath setting, but because I was simply curious. One of my favorite aspects of our dear hobby is getting to know a new campaign world, whether my own, another DM's, or a published setting. Consequently, one of the biggest disappointments for me with the 4E publication cycle was no new campaign worlds. Sure, the Forgotten Realms was re-fluffed, Dark Sun brought to new light, and there were glimpses of the Nentir Vale setting, and of course the new planes and the Shadowfell, but there wasn't really a deeply explored (new) setting. From what I've heard so far, WotC is (tentatively?) planning on, once again, making the Forgotten Realms the central campaign setting of D&D Next. Now I'm all for re-publishing old classics, and I'm quite excited to see the Greenwood iteration of the Realms, but do we really need another round of Forgotten Realms products? Which is where the plea comes in. Dearest Wizards of the Coast, please can we have a new campaign setting for 5th edition? My recommendation would be to have two parallel publication lines for setting:1) D&D Classic Settings - publish a book or (preferably) a box set for the classic settings, say two a year. If you do a box set then you don't need to do more than that: it could include maps (world and starting region), world book, player's book, and adventure book. If you leave the monsters and crunch to D&D Insider or core rulebooks you've got a lot of room to play with. 2) New Setting (or two) - start with either a box set as above or a hardcover as per 3rd and 4th edition, then fill publish something new every quarter - regional splat books, adventure paths, encounter books, etc. Do this for a couple years and then switch to something new, with ongoing support of the first setting via D&D Insider.I personally would love to see Nerath developed and explored as a kind of archetypal/iconic D&D world in which all published adventures are set as a default (and perhaps open it up via some kind of OGL so that 3PP can use the background for their adventures). I'd also be just as happy to see something new, but it seems from the above map that there has been some thought put into that setting and it is worth seeing more.This isn't either/or - either you stick with the tried and true classics or you risk something new. It accomplishes the best of both worlds. You publish the classics, starting with the Forgotten Realms, and you also develop something new. You don't really risk the law of diminishing returns with either product line because you don't go too deeply into either - just a box set for the classics (except in one or two cases where you might want to flesh it out a bit more), and just a half dozen or so products for the new setting(s) before moving on.Alternately you could have three lines: classics, Nerath, and a new worlds line that offers a new world or two a year and then community members vote on which ones they'd like to see further developed. Actually, while we're at it, how about a new setting competition with community member participation ala the playtest?What do you think, fine fellows and ladies of ENWorld?</blockquote>

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