D&D 5E Listened to latest "Lore you should know" and......

[Valetudo]

I presume you at least asked those people to find out if they cared or not? Or is the chance of that, as you say, a number approaching 0.

The fact that they seem to be making their sales quotas is really the only answer I can give you. Wizards was pushed into a corner this edition, and lost most of their staff. They have to worry about profits and I guess that meant pissing off certain smaller factions of the community. Trust me,I feel your pain. Im a warlord lover.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I presume you at least asked those people to find out if they cared or not? Or is the chance of that, as you say, a number approaching 0.

It doesn't matter if they care or not. WotC doesn't want to waste their time, money, or energy trying to cater to their desires any longer.

If any fans truly want it... they can piece together a "canon" themselves, and some absolutely do that in part over on the Forgotten Realms wiki. But of course... that involves "work", so there are going to be a number of players who are instead going to just complain endlessly about WotC not writing, designing, and publishing a campaign setting book that puts it all together in one cute little package so that they don't *have* to do that work. Which of course is their right. They're free to complain all they want (just like we're free to respond to their complaints.) But just like it took 3 years of endless complaining before the "We want more game crunch!" crowd finally heard that a book is being published for them (not that it stopped many of them from complaining because of course it's not the crunch they *want*)... the "We want a Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide!" crowd will have to wait at least another year if not longer before the possibility of one is put on WotC's publishing docket.

Of course... I'd put my money on the bet that we'll see an "Adventurer's Guide" style smaller book for one of the other settings before we ever see a huge Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide like some people keep clamoring for. But who knows? I've been wrong before. Maybe they'll get their wish in the autumn of 2018. Or 2019. Or 2020. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[MechaPilot]

And that eliminates basically 95% of what actually makes the Realms unique as a setting and not just another high fantasy one.

If the thing that made FR unique was that its history was actively being written and tracked along a timeline, then the setting really had nothing unique to begin with and was just a glutton for official attention.

 

[Shasarak]

It doesn't matter if they care or not. WotC doesn't want to waste their time, money, or energy trying to cater to their desires any longer.

If any fans truly want it... they can piece together a "canon" themselves, and some absolutely do that in part over on the Forgotten Realms wiki. But of course... that involves "work", so there are going to be a number of players who are instead going to just complain endlessly about WotC not writing, designing, and publishing a campaign setting book that puts it all together in one cute little package so that they don't *have* to do that work. Which of course is their right. They're free to complain all they want (just like we're free to respond to their complaints.) But just like it took 3 years of endless complaining before the "We want more game crunch!" crowd finally heard that a book is being published for them (not that it stopped many of them from complaining because of course it's not the crunch they *want*)... the "We want a Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide!" crowd will have to wait at least another year if not longer before the possibility of one is put on WotC's publishing docket.

Oh, I see so it is the "fans" fault now. Sure it is easy for someone that has never liked Forgotten Realms to sit back and give excuses. I get it "no one" likes Drizzle and Mary-Sue Elminster or they would be writing FR fan fiction.

Of course... I'd put my money on the bet that we'll see an "Adventurer's Guide" style smaller book for one of the other settings before we ever see a huge Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide like some people keep clamoring for. But who knows? I've been wrong before. Maybe they'll get their wish in the autumn of 2018. Or 2019. Or 2020. We'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, and maybe the new DnD movie will give the DnD department enough money to be able to afford to pay some fans enough to copy and paste a book together from their FR wikis.

 

[Shasarak]

If the thing that made FR unique was that its history was actively being written and tracked along a timeline, then the setting really had nothing unique to begin with and was just a glutton for official attention.

Luckily that is not the case then isnt it? Glutton for official attention? My eyes are getting such a work out this morning with all the rolling they have to do.

 

[MechaPilot]

Luckily that is not the case then isnt it?

I'm not the one who implied that was the case.

Glutton for official attention?

Can you name any other setting that gets the same level of attention from WotC releases as FR gets? Or that has a rolling timeline of canon fans insist must be brought up to a "current year" or else it's nigh unplayable (or seen as proof that WotC is turning their back on the setting)?

My eyes are getting such a work out this morning with all the rolling they have to do.

At least you'll finally win that staring contest with your neighborhood cat.

 

[darjr]

I really like their current approach. I can the bits they have in their adventures and if I want to I can take a deep dive for more, but I don't feel like I have to.

 

[Parmandur]

I really like their current approach. I can the bits they have in their adventures and if I want to I can take a deep dive for more, but I don't feel like I have to.

Yeah, and we can use whatever previous FR books we may feel like, without worrying about being "current."

 

[MNblockhead]

"Metaplot" is a...complex...topic, but essentially what we are talking about WotC deciding not to do: have an internally consistant ongoing canon set of stories, that crossover from RPG modules to books and other media, such as the Time of Troubles in FR. Earliest example I suppose would be the DL modules, but in 2E that really became the going thing.

Thanks. I can see why WoTC would make this decision. The books, movies, and comics should try to have some canon consistency, but the campaign materials for the RPG need to more skeletal so DMs can flesh it out as they see fit without worrying about being inconsistent with canon.

I've never read any books set in the FR, but it would bother me if the books were inconsistent. It ruins my suspension of disbelief. I treat the settings books like SCAG and the APs as seaparate from the book---easy for me to do because I never read the books. If I were a huge fan of the books, then I should be able to fill in the details of my campaign with canon, but i don't think it make much business sense for WoTC to spend a lot of time developing those canonical details.

And, again, to avoid getting into a flame war that I have no stake in, I don't know that the FR in 5e is inconsistent with canon or that WoTC doesn't care about canon (they sure talk alot about the history of the Realms going through decades of material on Lore You Should Know). I also have to special insight into the RPG industry. But what I have observed is:

* I've seen more complaints from people who do not like the FR at all and want different settings
* Most people are fine with the FR as the default setting and it is rare to see people upset about issues of canon
* Those who really care about FR canon seem to be small minority
* 5th Edition has been a great success for WoTC

They seem to have a formula that works, at least for now.

Assuming the D&D movie is set in the realms, if they don't screw it up, if it is a success, I expect we'll get lots more material about the Realms, much of it marketed for general audience who don't play D&D. This will be good for ensuring further development of the realms, but, again, I'm not sure that staying true to canon will be the top priority.

 

[Mirtek]

And that eliminates basically 95% of what actually makes the Realms unique as a setting and not just another high fantasy one.

And goes directly the opposite way of what the promised to FR fans with the Sundering and all that. There's a reason why the FR fan sites all died down again after getting a short-lived second wind when the plans for the Sundering were announced.

They're again marketing the realms based on what non-FR-fans used to dislike rather than on what FR-fans like