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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6023280" data-attributes="member: 37579">As much as I'm apathetic regarding the Realms it seems like the best choice. We've seen the "default setting in name only" with Greyhawk in 3e. Where we get some prestige classes and god information that isn't useful for most games, and a whole bunch of content that just doesn't fit with Greyhawk as WotC and the writers are doing their own thing. It's there but we get very, very little that's actually specific to the setting and no published material (other than the book the RPGA put out).We've seen the generifiic "Points of Light" world from 4e, where we get a whole lot of made-up-on-the-spot flavour by authors that aren't keeping track of what's been written and the only compiled information is being done by the fans.It's incohesive and unsatisfying as setting. While it's good in a modular respect, with people able to drop it into the world or take the default information and make it their own, it's not great for inspiriting ideas or people who want a more complete setting. We've also seen what Paizo has done with a dedicated single world, where every book supports both the product line and the campaign setting. Everything works with their world and is supported somewhere. Nothing feels superfluous or tacked on. It is a product of the game while also inspiriting and influencing the game and products themselves.  It's hard to write fluff and flavour for races and classes without thinking of the role of those options in the world. When you describe what an "elf" is you have to be generic yet broad, and there are bound to be preconceived notions in the mind of the author. It's hard to describe a "dwarf" in a way that uniformly works for every setting and world, even just the official published one. With that in mind, having the Forgotten Realms be the default setting makes a lot of sense. It's generic enough that most of the content can be used in other worlds. But it has enough unique elements that can be worked with and inspire game design. Instead of free rein of imagination, the designers will need to ask "does this really and truly fit the Realms? Can we add this class/race/option without a major retcon?" Because those are the options other DMs will need to answer regarding that same content. It adds a uniform and consistent feel to the material and the game.</blockquote>

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