See, I find the First World idea merely as the designers trying to put an in-game spin on something that has 100% been true out of game this entire time...
...that despite countless players continually insisting that THEIR D&D world is not connected to any other D&D world or universe or setting or whatever, their D&D world just happens to include the exact same monsters, monster abilities, races, race abilities, classes, class abilities, magic items, planes, physical abilities, mental abilities, attacks, defenses, armor, equipment, and every single other thing that gets taken out of the rule books that we all use to play D&D. Even if some things here and there get changed or removed by a player for their world, the predominant amount of stuff that shows up in a person's game is exactly the same as what shows up in everybody else's.
Which means like it or not, every player's D&D world * IS * connected to every other D&D world played by every other D&D player across the globe because we are all playing D&D. It is a single game and we are all sharing it. And that's why they've been trumpeting the whole Multiverse thing... to actually bring all of the players of D&D together. You might not want to admit it... but your D&D game has more similarities to every other D&D game out there than differences. And this First World fluff is just giving an in-story reason as to why its the case.
Now, did the D&D designers NEED to write in-game stories about why this is true? Nope. They didn't have to. It hadn't been done in editions past and everyone just sort of understood it at a baseline level even if it wasn't explicitly said. But now they've decided to actually write it down. Okay. But now that they are saying it... the question to ask is "does it actually change anything?" And to that of course, the answer is as always "No." Because those who refused to accept the idea that their D&D game was at all connected to any other D&D game is still going to say that. That will NEVER change. It doesn't matter whatever stories or fluff WotC writes for the game going forward because those who have their own way of doing things from the past will continue to do so regardless of what the books say. It's the same reason why it doesn't matter if D&D books going forward do not make all orcs Chaotic Evil by default-- because if you are a classical D&D player and you want all orcs to be CE, you can do it for your world as much as you want and ignore what WotC writes. Same as it's always been. And the First World stuff is the same way.
Fact is... if you don't want your game to be considered a part of the grand tapestry of Dungeons & Dragons... if you really need your game to be off on your own island somewhere and not a part of the D&D Multiverse... the answer is simple.
Don't play Dungeons & Dragons.
Play a different game. Then you never have to worry about it. Do that and you will never have to be considered part of the D&D Multiverse, with all the stories, ideas, and identities that it brings. You can be your own thing if that really matters to you and you'll never have to read anyone else saying you are a part of something you don't want to be.
Or just play D&D and not care what WotC writes down in their books. Which seems to me to be the easiest answer of them all.
...that despite countless players continually insisting that THEIR D&D world is not connected to any other D&D world or universe or setting or whatever, their D&D world just happens to include the exact same monsters, monster abilities, races, race abilities, classes, class abilities, magic items, planes, physical abilities, mental abilities, attacks, defenses, armor, equipment, and every single other thing that gets taken out of the rule books that we all use to play D&D. Even if some things here and there get changed or removed by a player for their world, the predominant amount of stuff that shows up in a person's game is exactly the same as what shows up in everybody else's.
Which means like it or not, every player's D&D world * IS * connected to every other D&D world played by every other D&D player across the globe because we are all playing D&D. It is a single game and we are all sharing it. And that's why they've been trumpeting the whole Multiverse thing... to actually bring all of the players of D&D together. You might not want to admit it... but your D&D game has more similarities to every other D&D game out there than differences. And this First World fluff is just giving an in-story reason as to why its the case.
Now, did the D&D designers NEED to write in-game stories about why this is true? Nope. They didn't have to. It hadn't been done in editions past and everyone just sort of understood it at a baseline level even if it wasn't explicitly said. But now they've decided to actually write it down. Okay. But now that they are saying it... the question to ask is "does it actually change anything?" And to that of course, the answer is as always "No." Because those who refused to accept the idea that their D&D game was at all connected to any other D&D game is still going to say that. That will NEVER change. It doesn't matter whatever stories or fluff WotC writes for the game going forward because those who have their own way of doing things from the past will continue to do so regardless of what the books say. It's the same reason why it doesn't matter if D&D books going forward do not make all orcs Chaotic Evil by default-- because if you are a classical D&D player and you want all orcs to be CE, you can do it for your world as much as you want and ignore what WotC writes. Same as it's always been. And the First World stuff is the same way.
Fact is... if you don't want your game to be considered a part of the grand tapestry of Dungeons & Dragons... if you really need your game to be off on your own island somewhere and not a part of the D&D Multiverse... the answer is simple.
Don't play Dungeons & Dragons.
Play a different game. Then you never have to worry about it. Do that and you will never have to be considered part of the D&D Multiverse, with all the stories, ideas, and identities that it brings. You can be your own thing if that really matters to you and you'll never have to read anyone else saying you are a part of something you don't want to be.
Or just play D&D and not care what WotC writes down in their books. Which seems to me to be the easiest answer of them all.
