Vote for your Forgotten Realms!

[Desdichado]

The whole idea that people couldn't run the Forgotten Realms because it had too much detail or lore is just a cop out. You're the DM. Run it like you want to. Besides, the Realms was big and diverse enough to find plenty of place to be your "sandbox" if that's want you wanted. Why can't people be honest, and just say they don't like the Realms instead of acting like their hands are tied by the "massive amount of FR lore" so they couldn't run it.? Talk about hyberbole.

I don't think there's any call to say someone's being dishonest because they say that the Realms is overdetailed and over-exposed. There's been plenty of honest dislike of the Realms online. If someone makes a more specific complaint, i.e., it's too detailed and that the sourcebooks are big fat spoilers for the players all the time, then why wouldn't you take them at their word?

I think your characterization is more of a cop-out. If the "well, you're the DM; ignore stuff that's published and do it your own way" is your solution, then why bother calling it the Realms at all? Just call it your homebrew and borrow any ideas from the Realms that you happen to like. And hope that your players aren't steeped in Realmsiana so they'll be spoilered once they recognize the obvious borrowings.

 

[Nymrohd]

I like my own FR tbh. Played with 4E (and in my soon-to-come next campaign, using tons of custom themes), about 10 years after the 3.5 era, with the spellplague staying as an event but rather changed (as the merging of the shadow Weave with the Weave with neither Mystra nor Shar gaining sovereignty but rather both bount to its maintenance alongside an increased in strenght Greater Power Selune). With no future products to care about the metacampaign is frozen and that is exactly how I like it.

 

[Herschel]

ok...

If Amazon reviews actually are important to you then....that's your choice, I guess. They are what they are and generally not very worthwhile. Either their direct fanboy reviews (customer reviews) or their indirect reviews (supposed "editor reviews" by fanboy publications).

That's simply what they are, which is worth exactly what creedence you give a bunch of fanboys. Whether more in that group of fanboys likes something or not is not relevant to me.

 

[dead]

The 3e era was a gaping hole in the poll options, honestly. I think it would have gotten a lot of votes. The 3e FR book is almost universally held out as a gold standard when it comes to showcasing campaign design. It's a good book.

Everyone will agree that the production values and the depth and care given to 3e era Realms was great but that era isn't much different to the Gray box era except that the Time of Troubles occurred, Bane/Bhaal/Myrkul were killed and replaced by Cyric, etc...

Those great production values could go into a re-release of a Classic Era 1357 DR Realms. The 3E FRCS could be used as a model. I've never heard any scathing comments about classic Gray box Realms from FR fans so, if I were going to back-track, I'd go the whole hog back to 1357 DR rather than 1372 DR.

 

[fanboy2000]

They're still mainly fanboy reviews and not worth much as an indication of anything.

I've never reviewed the 4e FR books on Amazon.

 

[Primal]

I've never reviewed the 4e FR books on Amazon.

You're clone number #2000; Friend Computer could have assigned any of your previous clones to do that.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

greybox, ignore all after that point.

the original release was beautiful, the artwork etc gave it a grand "feel"
the third boxed set was ATROCIOUS, ye gods, it felt shoddy.

original had vast scope and mystery, it was still the FORGOTTEN Realms
then it became the "Detailed to death Elminsterized Realm of much boredom"

I loved the Waterdeep boxed set, hey, mapping that out was cool! but like, doing that for every damn square mile of the world...ick

 

[The Human Target]

None of the above.

Reboot the beast using all the best ideas from each area and ignore the stuff thats not great.

But heck, I want 5E to have an explicit core setting.

 

[Odhanan]

Grey Box FR, please.

 

[Herobizkit]

Believe it or not, I voted Have a world shaking event that returns Maztica and other lost lands. Advance timeline [c. 1489 DR].

As much as I dislike recurring world-shaking events to explain away radical changes in game direction, I think it would be fantastic to get away from the Drizzt, Elminster, and messed up sociology where Elves are the greatest gift to the universe but humans have the most God/desses... and go to a Realm that was... you know... Forgotten.

Also, it would be nice to see the Realms make a move to a more Victorian/Age of Reason society.