Agreed; in all respects 4E Eberron seems to be of better quality than 4E FR (art, maps, appeal to the existing fan base, minimal changes to the setting, etc.).
The New Forgotten Realms - (About) A Year Later
- Thread starter Mercurius
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Agreed; in all respects 4E Eberron seems to be of better quality than 4E FR (art, maps, appeal to the existing fan base, minimal changes to the setting, etc.).
thecasualoblivion
First Post
I would argue that 4E FRCG missed the mark, and was a little too ambitious. It tried to do everything in one book and fell short. It was inevitable, as 4E is just too big to do in one book. Now that we have the 4E Eberron book(a FAR superior book), this is illustrated even more.
If the 4E FRCG detailed Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate(at this point you almost have to include BG), Cormyr and the Dales in an Eberron style fashion, and gave small teasers of the other regions it would have been a far superior book.
When I compare 4E FR to 4E Eberron, I really feel that Forgotten Realms shouldn't have been crammed into one book. The Eberron writeups for Dragonmarked houses and the Five Nations of Khorvaire are almost the perfect way to do a setting, and 4E Forgotten Realms would have been better to have given that treatment to FR's regions and organizations, no matter how many books that would have taken.
If the 4E FRCG detailed Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate(at this point you almost have to include BG), Cormyr and the Dales in an Eberron style fashion, and gave small teasers of the other regions it would have been a far superior book.
When I compare 4E FR to 4E Eberron, I really feel that Forgotten Realms shouldn't have been crammed into one book. The Eberron writeups for Dragonmarked houses and the Five Nations of Khorvaire are almost the perfect way to do a setting, and 4E Forgotten Realms would have been better to have given that treatment to FR's regions and organizations, no matter how many books that would have taken.
Alright, I wasn't totally certain of it; I *do* however remember that this announcement was connected to (or, at least suspected to be connected to) the rage at the FR previews. Before the announcement Rich Baker openly discussed about FR supplements (I think he even asked what the fans would like to see?) that were supposed to come out after the Spellgard adventure. There definitely were FR game books in development, but these were pulled after the outraged reactions from the online fan community.
JeffB
Legend
I mean no offense - but to them I say "oh well"
I've read several of the FR novels, including some by authors louded here in this thread as marvellous and find them...err..." not to my tastes" is the polite thing to say. I am sorry a fanbase has been alienated, as thats never cool, but they had 20 years of being catered to while game products suffered. I welcome the change (nor do I feel the initial 4E products -barring the module- are sub-par in the least. they are different approaches, and for all its small print and sheer word count, the 3E FRCS is much less useful to me as a DM. I prefer the 4E version)I think that the bottom line for me is that I am only concerned with FR as a gaming product at my table. I don't care about the LFR, or novels at all, feel they have done far more harm than good and I am actually glad to see there is minimal gaming product produced to be driven/affected by them (LFR/Novels).
Agreed; and it didn't help that they decided to waste so many pages on the Loudwater section and adventures, which, by Mystra's Lost Spell, contain some of the worst stuff I've ever seen in a WoTC book (and the maps for the town and the adventures were so bad that I almost wept when I saw them). They also dropped the ball with the world map, too. *Sigh*.
thecasualoblivion
First Post
I mean no offense - but to them I say "oh well"
I think that the bottom line for me is that I am only concerned with FR as a gaming product at my table. I don't care about the LFR, or novels at all, feel they have done far more harm than good and I am actually glad to see there is minimal gaming product produced to be driven/affected by them (LFR/Novels).
I agree with all of this. I find the 4E FR book much more useful as a DM than its 3E counterpart. Until I got my hands on 4E Eberron, I considered the FRCG to be an excellent and underrated book. After Eberron, I wish they would have done FR in the same manner they did 4E Eberron, even if it meant buying five or more books.
Mouseferatu
Hero
False.
The "three and out" model was the plan from well before the publication of the FR books.
I don't know what Rich asked, or when. (Maybe he was asking about DDI stuff.) I don't know exactly when the decision was made to do "three and out." But I do know it was before the FR books were published, or even heavily previewed, because that decision was in place by the time the 4E PHB actually came out.
Wonder why this "three and out" model was implemented in the first place.
I imagine if some of the 3.5E Forgotten Realms and Eberron books were not selling that well, it could make them think twice about producing more FR or Eberron splatbooks for 4E. More than a year ago, I remember seeing several FR and Eberron splatbooks in the "remaindered" bargain book section of several big box bookstores in stacks of 8 or 9 books per title.
Mouseferatu
Hero
Because where settings are concerned, it's a much stronger economic model than continued support. Every setting book beyond the first is drawing on a smaller and smaller niche market of potential buyers, far more so than even relatively narrowly focused core books.
I talked about that particular topic in a lot more detail in another thread a few months ago, if you're interested: http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...-thread-where-does-idea-come.html#post4859396
Campbell
Relaxed Intensity
I really think they should have done with the Realms what they're doing with Dark Sun - reboot it with the initial boxed set used as the base. They could have cleanly accomplished most of their design goals, and cleared the setting of its accumulated detritus instead of adding to it.
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