D&D 5E What is the future of the forgotten realms?

[Ath-kethin]

Related to the actual topic, highly doubt WotC would actually completely abandon FR. It's just becoming one out of several popular settings in an increasing release schedule.

That approach worked for TSR, why can't it work for WotC?

Unrelated: who do you think will buy WotC to save it from going under after it splits its fanbase for the umpteenth time?

My money's on Paizo, cause I like irony.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

That approach worked for TSR, why can't it work for WotC?

Unrelated: who do you think will buy WotC to save it from going under after it splits its fanbase for the umpteenth time?

My money's on Paizo, cause I like irony.

Well, TSR got bought out, so I don't think we can say it "worked."

And I swear, I can't believe anyone thinks WotC isn't swimming in money right now...

 

[ReshiIRE]

That approach worked for TSR, why can't it work for WotC?

Unrelated: who do you think will buy WotC to save it from going under after it splits its fanbase for the umpteenth time?

My money's on Paizo, cause I like irony.

As much as it would be awful to see, if either of those companies is at risk of being bought by the other, it's Paizo...

 

[Ancalagon]

the FR merchandizing marches on!

 

[Osgood]

Perhaps FR has begun to parallel Greyhawk.
Greyhawk was the setting for most of the early adventures (as FR is to 5E), so it was the default setting for a long time. Then there were a few new settings got added to the mix, like Dragonlance and FR (in 5E terms, that would might be Eberron and Ravenloft), but then the floodgates opened and there were a ton of settings and Greyhawk fell by the way. GH had a bit of a resurgence in 3E, only to be dethroned by the Realms. Maybe history is on the way to repeating itself and we will see less and less FR for a while.
Or it’s just a brief break while they work on a new Realms mega setting product.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Is WOTC planning to scale back or abandon the Forgotten Realms setting?

It feels like an Edition-long time out is coming up. A time out that consists of mostly what other settings have gotten for years: occasional paragraph-long suggestions on where to place adventures, or recognizable NPC quotes, and arguments on whether the future-edition hinted upcoming setting book will be set there.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

It feels like an Edition-long time out is coming up. A time out that consists of mostly what other settings have gotten for years: occasional paragraph-long suggestions on where to place adventures, or recognizable NPC quotes, and arguments on whether the future-edition hinted upcoming setting book will be set there.

I think it would be for the best, even an healthy thing for FRs. Having to sustain a whole edition in terms of AP and connected releases puts a strain on a setting if it is forced to accommodate every options from a whole edition!

 

[aco175]

Man, those costumes do not even come with swords.

 

[tetrasodium]

It feels like an Edition-long time out is coming up. A time out that consists of mostly what other settings have gotten for years: occasional paragraph-long suggestions on where to place adventures, or recognizable NPC quotes, and arguments on whether the future-edition hinted upcoming setting book will be set there.

I'm going to agree but for different reasons. Nearly all of the hard cover adventures would have been improved if they had actually been written setting neutral with motives and such spelled out in the Adventure plus a couple pages of localization notes rather than filling them with fr flavored plot armor /handwavium glue & trying to use them all as a vehicle to write a 5e frcs they couldn't justify writing. Thst would even apply for people who wanted to actually run them in fr.

 

[ECMO3]

Perhaps FR has begun to parallel Greyhawk.

Greyhawk was never as well developed as FR, and oddly enough FR was started before GH. FR was already a well developed continent when it was sold to TSR.