And here you misinterpret my position again.
No, you are continuing to state two different things as if they were one. So again:
Conan is a single entity. It has a specific style written into the stories by the original author.
Game of Thrones is a single entity. It has a specific style written into the stories by the original author.
D&D is not a single entity. It does not have a specific style. It does not have a single original author. Instead, it has two people who made some rules and lore and then hundreds upon hundreds of
other people who, over the decades, expanded upon that and made their own rules and settings, many of which completely ignored other people's rules and lore, even that created by Gygax and Arneson themselves.
Lots of influences does not = can't be given consistency.
You have yet to show that it
needs to be consistent.
The Default setting of 5e is the Forgotten realms, a consistent art direction could be done for the FR. ( An it seems I have to spell this out every time - the different kingdoms and cultures in the FR would each have their own unique consistent look within the setting of the realms.)
And again, you don't seem to know what consistent art direction actually means.
Here, look at the Dark Sun. They have a consistent art direction. It would be
inconsistent if you suddenly threw art by, I dunno, Larry Elmore in there. Take a look at the 5e MM. Digital artwork along with some of the original pencil sketches. It would be
inconsistent if they had a handful of done in the style LuisCarlos17f just posted, of the woman on the bike.
The same for ravenloft, the same for eberron. Each setting can have its own art direction.
And they do. You just don't like it because they look like "18th century fashion plates."
We obviously have very different definitions of what consistent means.
No, you simply don't understand what art direction means. You keep claiming you do, but all you're talking about is costuming, which is not art direction at all.
For instance, you talk about Ravenloft not having consistent art direction, but it's clear you don't understand how Ravenloft even
works. If you did, then the difference in styles would be obvious.
A refresher: Ravenloft domains come from across the multiverse. Some were pulled from different D&D settings (Azalin is from the Flanaess; Harkon Lukas is from Cormyr; Hazlik is from Thay; Vlad Drakov is from Taladas). Others were brought from unknown worlds, were born in Ravenloft, or were even taken from (Gothic) Earth (the Masque of the Red Death setting).
Some of the domains contain big, bustling cities. Some are almost nothing but forests and mountains. Some are countryside. Some are a mixture of terrains. Some are desolate wastelands.
Additionally, the domains cover a level of technology from "Stone Age" (like the Wildlands) to "Renaissance" (like Lamordia or Dementlieu).
The domains are
magically separated from each other, and all are built around the darklord's psyche.
There is
zero reason for their domains to be "consistent" with one another.
And my point has been that D&D has always been very inconsistent how it does that in its various settings.
So then the fault is yours for realizing that's what D&D does. You may not like it, but D&D doesn't do "consistent" costuming. It does fantasy rule of cool.
That is it's style, and it's pretty darn consistent with that. Like it or lump it.