D&D 5E Why FR Is "Hated"

[KahlessNestor]

The thing is, is what he is doing active or behind the scenes? I like my Elminster like I like my Gandalf - behind the scenes, pushing and directing, but not often getting directly involved. Who's to say Elminster wasn't handling a horde of demons who got close to the surface somewhere off camera, or was helping organize the Five Factions to get to Bruenor's Hall, or perhaps he was off plane visiting Bytopia during that time? I don't need to know his actions in every game, nor does he need to be the one taking point whenever Dragons/Giants/Elemental Cults/Demon Hordes/Zombie Dinosaurs start invading.

I'm reading through the Elminster books right now (currently on Elminster Must Die), and this seems to be exactly what he does, other than maybe the first books (Making of a Mage and Elminster in Myth Drannor), and both of those take place hundreds of years before the PCs. In Elminster's Daughter he does very little of the actual protagonist actions, instead nudging the relevant powers in Cormyr (the Royals, the Royal Mage, etc) into handling a problem he discovered but they don't know about yet, or guiding them into a better path (like with Vangerdehast's scheme). He doesn't take an active part in foiling the Rightful Conspiracy or stopping Vangy.