Why the hatred towards FRCS?

[Dark Jezter]

Throughout my visits to different RPG forums, I have noticed that there is a very vocal group of people who slam anything to do with FRCS. This kind of surprises me, since I have always found it to be a very interesting and enjoyable campaign to play with.

Now, most of the attacks against FRCS seem to come from 3 different groups, they are:

A) Greyhawk fans who are upset because Realms got better treatment from WotC than thier favorite campaign did.

B) People who seem to hate FRCS solely because of it's popularity.

C) People who think that FRCS promotes munchkinism.

Now, none of these have struck me as being very logical reasons, but to each his own, I guess. So I am asking others here honestly why they dislike FRCS. Fans of FRCS are also invited to speak their piece.

 

[Neowolf]

Oddly enough, my problem with FR is that it's a bit too well defined for my tastes. I prefer a world that isn't set in stone and that doesn't have dozens of books written about it. I'll be honest: I'm not extremely familiar with the literature associated with FR. Sure, I read the first Drizzt novel (and frankly didn't see what the big deal was), but other than that... It also didn't help that one of my players knew more about the setting than I did, and was more than willing to break in during a game and say, "No, that's not right. According to <insert title of a book I've never heard of here>, this is such and such..." Granted, that's a side effect of the setting being so popular, but I don't dislike things just for their popularity.

My other problem with the FR setting itself was that it was just a little too...classical is the closest word I can come up with. It doesn't have much that dozens of other medieval fantasy settings (I'm not just referring to D&D, I mean in general) don't have.

All that being said, I can appreciate how much work has gone into FR, and I applaud its creators for their work.

No offense to those who like FR, but I've pretty much decided it isn't for me. I need a little more room to breathe as a DM.

 

[Reprisal]

It's been my experience that internet logic is very subjective.

In any event, though I have nothing against Forgotten Realms, I find that it does not speak to me like other settings do... I'm not sure if it's the collective experience, or one thing, that turns me off to the setting, but the fact is that it does not.

As irrational as it may seem, especially without any evidence presented, my dislike of Forgotten Realms makes sense to me.

Basically, its the flavour and the "baggage" that Forgotten Realms brings with it that hurts its standing in my eyes. And yes, while I am aware that each campaign is different, and that I could, in a utopian manner, look past my bias and actually run in the Forgotten Realms with contentment; the fact, however, is that these things are rather important in my eyes.

I do not see the flavour of Forgotten Realms changing any time soon, and I doubt that I can realistically look past the (perceived) baggage that comes with it, and therefore must come to the conclusion that I will most likely never run a FR campaign without special circumstance.

Anyway, I hope that helped you.

 

[Nightfall]

Definately NOT hateful

I just tire of seeing a lot of powerful mages AND a certain goodie two shoes goddess. I don't waste my hate on that. Slightly dislike, but certainly NOT hate.

 

[Rashak Mani]

I´ll go the "Its all done and set in stone" complaint too... Forgotten Realms has too much detail sometimes and some things really can make a DMs life hard.

Of course I prefer my own homebrew world were I can basically mold things... if I were to use a ready made world FR is neat and 3rd edition is better than 2nd Ed in my opinion.

Munchkin factor ? Yep that can be irritating... with super duper NPCs all over...

Something that puts me off is the Geography things doesnt make much sense sometimes... the kingdoms also lack reason to exist the way they do. The feeling just aint right... I should mention that I didnt get much acquainted to Greyhawk and it too felt a little strange. Better than FR but also not "my World"....

I do have to mention that the FR books are spectacular... the writing is good... the interior Art... the gaming concepts superb. Magic of Faerun too is good. I bought them because I am a player in a FR campaign... and havent regretted it.

 

[Psion]

Might I suggest that perhaps your view is skewed a little. Though I wouldn't deny that your cited reasons exist, I personally (and others I have met) don't like FR because:

D) Despite their claims to the contrary, the PCs are not well poised to play the role of the protagonist in FR. Instead, characters are always trapped in the long shadow of a weakly vieled Mary Sue character. The death of Elminster (or being made into a permanently ineffectual ghost) would do immesurable good for the setting.

E) Too many cooks. FR has some really good elements. Problem is that it has too many elements, all thrown in the pot just so it can own that characteristic. Planescape and Greyhawk in particular are heavily borrowed from. FR is a Morass that have glommed on to every bit that they could throw into the pot and as a result, it has no true distinctiveness of its own.

Which are perfectly valid reasons not to like the realms. That said, the realms are great to cherry pick from. Just wouldn't want to run or play there.

 

[Amrynn Moonshadow]

I like the realms. it's not w/o it's own problems, and some of the books are just so crappy. but i can edit it, and it works for me.

 

[Nightfall]

Speaking of FR stuff...

Any chance Psion you'd get to review Faiths and Panethons when it comes out? I'd be interested to see what you say about it.

 

[Poster Bard]

Smart money is on less than fifty posts. Anyone?

 

[Emiricol]

Me? Fan. I love FRCS. But as with all things, the DM and the PLAYERS are the two most important factors to whether a campaign is fun or lame. FRCS provides a ton of background stuff and detail (a LOT!!) so DMs can focus more on the campaign than on reinventing the wheel.

But of course, not every setting fits every DM or group of players, so YMMV.