D&D 5E (2024) Next issue of Game Informer will have details on the two upcoming Forgotten Realms books

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I don't think anyone was concerned that Sigil had a history of problematic content.

I think outside of aging Gen X and Baby Boomer players, there's probably a lot less enthusiasm for the old brand than the ENWorld population assumes. (See: all the threads on "hey, how come this art doesn't look like Larry Elmore stuff?")

Let me rephrase: I think there's a decent market for D&D to put out an East Asian inspired setting book, more in-depth than the micro-settings from Radiant Citadel.

The fact that Kara-Tur exists as the Forgotten Realms' East Asia analogue and they've continued to reference it as such periodically makes it a solid option for that, and the fact it has a history of problematic content and hasn't been meaningfully covered in 3/4 editions (multiple decades IRL and well over a century in universe) means that anyone who wants to learn more about Faerun's Far East have no option but to turn to that old, problematic content.

Which is precisely why I think a fresh, modern take on Kara-Tur could do well, if handled properly. Kara-Tur doesn't have to be D&D's big "fantasy East Asia" setting (I would certainly love to see more from the Radiant Citadel micro-settings) but it's still there as Faerun's Far East analogue, and it sticks out like a sore thumb to any Forgotten Realms fan who wants to incorporate some East Asian influence in their character/game.

If that's where people are going to look by default, why not give them a better version of the setting to look at?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This has gotten buried among all the posts, but to clarify on Calimshan:

"Calimshan was reworked with the help of Professor Shahreena Shahrani, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Culture at Ohio State University, to make a thoughtful new Middle Eastern version of the location. It is described as “tension between a city constructed on high magic and technology surrounded by desert filled with genies and their ilk.”"

So, it's still going to have the Arabian Nights flavor (but updated), but with the addition of magi-tech, presumably emanating from the capital of Calimport.

That feels like the Dead Djinn in Cairo universe, which is a very good thing.