overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Maybe. But the window you're suggesting is awfully tight. FF7 came out in 1997. Eberron came out in 2004 but it was submitted to a WotC setting content in 2002The only point I would add to this is that I don't think Eberron caused these changes; it merely codified trends that had already been brewing in the late '90s and early '00s in a mainstream D&D product.
This is speculation, but I imagine a root cause of the popularization of the magitech trope was the maturation of the generation weaned on JRPGs, most especially Final Fantasy VII.
ETA: Nope. In a few articles on his website Keith specifically states he started working on the setting because of the contest.
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