WotC comes to you and asks you to pick a setting...

[trancejeremy]

Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms.

Most the other settings listed have changes to the rules. So do the above, but probably the least. How many on thost list don't add fairly major new core classes and races?

 

[Shemeska]

I have to go with Greyhawk, simply because well, it established what DnD is, and it has a long shadow that I doubt anything will ever truly be able to completely stand out of without being too far from the basics of the game.

I was tempted to say FR, but there's some subtle differences that I think put it out of contention for ever being 'core' in the same sense that GH is. And of course I'd choose Planescape, but it's too out there, even if it's the best. *wink*

 

[the Jester]

Greyhawk. It might be Eberron, but Eberron requires non-core stuff to work; GH is the core rules.

 

[Yeoman99]

1st ed. D&D was developped in tandem with Greyhawk, hence it became the setting most firmly associated with 'core rules' . 3.5 continued the theme albeit not the setting development, to the point where it is difficult to find anytthing Greyhawk that does not fit the core rules and vice versa.

 

[Sledge]

I'm agreeing that mystara would be better than greyhawk.

 

[Mercule]

For a straight RAW crossed with archetypal sword and sorcery fiction, Greyhawk is where it's at.

To push the envelope and really push what the rules can do, I'd pick Eberron. But, if you do that, it ceases to be a showcase, and you're left with a system that models only the outliers.

But, that just bring us back to Greyhawk, which really is the archetype of classic fantasy, as well as a good model for the rules.

(Oh, and, even though Eberron uses some extras, I don't think those are really necessary to relate the feel of the setting, so it wouldn't require a change to the RAW.)

 

[Alzrius]

You're all nuts. We obviously need to default to Spelljammer!

 

[farscapesg1]

I had to choose Greyhawk.

My only thing is, whatever "setting" would be chosen as default needs to have supplemental material produced. That is my biggest complaint about Greyhawk being the current "default setting" is that there has been very little information put out for it. Sure, you can rely on fan-based information, but having some actual "official" rule books (similar to everything they put out for FR) would be nice.

 

[Psion]

The way you phrase the question, I have to unequivocally say scarred lands. To me, it has the best rationalization of the way things are (frex, why druids are different that clerics) of any of the aforementioned settings. At best, even the most bog standard settings you have mentioned sort of wave this sort of stuff off.

That said, though I feel it is the best match to what the rules can do, I would hasten to emphasize that I think the rules could do more.

 

[howandwhy99]

When you say:

most effectively and most completely serves as a strong example of what D&D is and can do, and has the greatest opportunity to showcase the rules as written

I think you could only mean "iconic" D&D. With all the funny spells names, quirky magic items, and the unique little things (like why monks & barbarians?) that make up D&D, I believe Greyhawk is your best bet. It's the Gygaxian world and that is the type of Fantasy you are dealing with. If you do not want Greyhawk, as I presume you may not, I voted for the Known World instead. It best exemplifies the flexibility of the system, and has a pre-designed place in it for everything in the core rules. Wilderlands is another possibility, but that world sets a different tone than typical D&D.