Part of the charm of the Forgotten Realms, in my view, is that it is such a jumbled mess...but it somehow works. It still carries the pure joy of a little kid named Ed Greenwood who first dreamt it up, but is also the result of dozens of different designers. It is a big heap of ideas, with names that would make John Ronald Reuel cringe, but the boyishness of its execution makes it just pure fun.
Greyhawk's charm is that it feels like a time capsule into both the mind of Gary Gygax and the halcyon days of D&D. It is dated, anachronistic, but that's why people love it. It is like an LP that is a bit scratched up, but the scratches work and are part of the music. That said, it seemed diminish when it was copied to CD, and further diminished as an mp3. Greyhawk is best enjoyed as that scratchy LP.
Golarion feels more like a set-piece, which makes sense considering that it was originally conceived of as the movable set for Paizo's adventure paths, but it does what it seeks to do quite well. In a way it is like the answer to the question: What if a bunch of experienced game designers got together circa 2003 and designed a kitchen sink for 3.x D&D, that incorporated the best of what came before, but without the inconsistencies and anachronisms? It might not have the same charm as the Realms or Greyhawk, or the distinct flavor of Midgard, but it makes up for it in that it was clearly crafted out of a love of D&D.
Midgard shows a greater degree of craftsmanship. Everything fits together, and it is clearly masterful in its execution. It is like classic ice cream flavors that harmonize so well together, or like that album of a prolific band that just comes together perfectly. In a way, it is kind of what you might imagine would be the "perfect" Earth-analogue D&D setting: enough earthiness to make everything recognizable, but enough magic and craftsmanship to make it no mere copy.
As for Mystara, well to be honest, I never was a huge fan but don't want to badmouth it, because I know for those who grew up on BECMI, it feels like home. If Greyhawk exemplifies the D&D of the 70s, then Mystara is the 80s. I never loved the bearded elves, but the incredible art of Stephen Fabian sure was a nice touch.
Speaking of the 80s, for those that started playing D&D after the 80s, it is hard to adequately explain the impact of Dragonlance on the D&D community. This was before the internet, yet there was a sense of connection: we were all part of this big story, mostly through the novels, but also through the adventures and the various supplements that came out. When those supplements expanded the world into Taladas and other places, it was like discoverng a surprise addendum that made the main story even better. It was also our first experience of a strongly themed D&D setting that broke from the traditional D&D tropes. New gods, the towers of wizardly, and Irda! Somehow Krynn seems like a lost world, but whenever I think about it, I am reminded of how good it was.
I must mention Spelljammer, which to me is the disco of D&D settings: you either love it or hate it (maybe not hate, but see it as ridiculous - which it is, but in a lovely way), but even if you're in the latter group, you grudgingly appreciate its over-the-top style. Whenever I think of the wonderful decade or so of setting experimentation that was 2E, I think of Spelljammer as the most outrageous, if short-lived, offering.
Dark Sun was a remarkable achievement in that it somehow captured the essence of sword and sorcery, but with flavors of science fantasy, Dune, and its own unique qualities, some of which were simply unsurpassed in the D&D canon (dragon kings? avangions?!).
Planescape, to me, was almost TSR's answer to the World of Darkness. You have factions, you have flair and style. It is the 90s: the decade bookended by garish fashion remnants of the 80s on one end, and the Matrix on the other. It was, in many ways, the quintessential Gen X setting.
Birthright...the red-headed stepchild of the 2E setting glory days? It was a nice accomplishment in its own, ahem, right, and almost certainly frozen in time.
I wasn't crazy about Eberron at first, and to be honest was a bit baffled that it won the setting contest, thinking the choice was a bit contrived. But it works, it has its place, and as I dived deeper into it, from Scarn to Xendrik to Sarlona, it carved out a special place in my heart and deserves its place at the table of core D&D worlds.
Which brings us to Points-of-light, or should I call it Nentir Vale? Or whatever the larger world is called? It was an unfulfilled promise, forever terra incognito as we'll likely always wonder what's off the edge of the map, and were merely teased with the larger map of that board game. Alas, it--like the edition it rose out of--was short-lived. We'll never really know you, Nerath world.
That was unexpected...I didn't intend to go that far, so will leave it at that. I know, I didn't mention Blackmoor, Ravenloft, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim, Council of Wyrms, Jakandor, Rokugan, Ghostwalk...but I've gone on long enough already.
