Of course there's more to it than that. That doesn't mean that we should dismiss anyone who eats at McDonalds as corporatists.
Though I spoke sharply, I'm not dismissing anyone as a corporatist. I'm a corporatist. One can hardly be a human being in these times without our thoughts and desires being shaped by one-sided commercial forces.
You can't share a world that you've patched together from other people's pieces, either. If you want to do more then put a world on the net, you need to make sure it's completely free of stuff like that.
That's true. I meant to say that the desire to be free to share my "legally derivative/plagaristic" contributions to D&D culture is a reason why I like the homebrew worldbuilding method.
In contrast, the mix-and-match method is half-homebrew, half-pre-published (using pre-published adventures and their overland maps, but not buying a layed out campaign setting). A reason why I like mix-and-match method is that I want to be frugal and use what adventures I already own. And I do like several of the published and classic adventures.
I don't see it. I haven't read the entire 5E book, but if that's embedding the pre-published mindset, that would be the first.
I see it. I have suggested in the past, and again recently, that all WotC-published adventures have a one-or-two-page "localization appendix" or web enhancement which includes two things:
1) Suggestions for placing and adapting that adventure to each of the other WotC-published worlds. (For example, Tiamat could be an aspect of the Immortal goddess named Hel in the World of Mystara. And there could be a little map showing a fitting way to fit the adventure onto the map of the Known World. Localization could likewise be done for Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Eberron, and Nerath.)
2) A table of alternate names for all of the main NPCs and places, to jog the imagination of the DMs who are using homebrew worlds. (For example, Tiamat might be just called "The Dragon Queen" or the "The Chromatic Dragon" or "Avarice" in someone's homebrew world.)
Those two bits alone would "dis-embed" the product from the pre-published mindset, as seen in the Tyranny of Dragons adventure path.
Granted, the rulebooks themselves do provide examples from all of the main D&D worlds, which is along the lines of suggestion #1. I like that.
Yet I'm also looking for #2.
All the versions of the game have provided support for rolling your own setting.
It was often lip-service. Sure, 4E could be used for any homebrew world. Yet the Nerath gods and geography and so forth were embedded into the 4E rules. Same for Greyhawk and 3E. Same even for Mystara and BECMI. Though the 2E PHB wasn't tied to any setting, 2E went wild with producing setting-dependent "collectorism".
I like those worlds, but I want them to flourish alongside a new generation of worldbuilders. The Worldbuilder Guides were just one product within a 60- or 100-product line. I'm asking for the meat of the Worldbuilder book to be included in the DMG, as a vigorous and clear way of initiating a worldbuilding, kitbashing culture into this edition.
Putting words in my mouth is not a good way of communication.
Fair enough.
Building a campaign setting takes a lot of work. ... Building a distinct setting will at least produce an interesting new setting for a game.
Okay. "My Own Fifth Edition" RPG is coming out soon, and it will show what I mean. I agree with you.