Your least favourite setting

[radferth]

I'd like to pile on the the Forgotten Realms as well. The setting has its strong and weak points, and I am sure it could be a great place to adventure in the hands of a good DM. However, it has earned my ire above all others because players and prospective players in my campaign (not FR) will frequently approach me about using this or that feat or domain or spell from one of the FR books. I am of the generation that grew up with Greyhawk as the default setting, and those who grew up with FR as the default setting (which it still kinda is in terms of support) seem to think that anything in the setting is fair game for any campaign. Other setting I don't care for (Planescape, Dark Sun, Dragonlance) just sit there not bothering me, Forgotten Realms won't leave me alone.

 

[Blackthorne]

In AD&D times, the Forgotten Realms sucked really hard. This period is now known as the Era Of Disneyfying. Most complaints against the FR stem from this time (and were justified then).

Luckily, the 3E FRCS redeemed the setting. It is now my absolute favorite.

I dislike Dragonlance (love the novels), because it *still* is no playable campaign world.

Also, Planescape was (and is) terribly overrated. From the mediocre artwork by Tony "I can draw THREE different characters, pal!" DiTerlizzi to the wannabe cool slang, Planescape was a pain to watch.

Oh, and Eberron pretty much looks like the Realms on crack. Not sure if this was a good idea.

 

[Staffan]

There aren't any settings I hate the way some people in this thread seem to. There are a couple where I feel "Nah, that's not for me" (like Dragonlance), but it's not like I feel the setting is an affront to me personally.

I do prefer settings that go beyond the normal pseudomedieval thing that's been done to death two hundred times already, but I don't begrudge someone else their 201st kings & knights & castles & wizards in towers thing.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

My least favorite is Dragonlance (too much meta-plot), although I loved Taladas. Other than that, I'm actually pretty fond of most settings. Guess I'm just easy to please.

Nick

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Oh, and Eberron pretty much looks like the Realms on crack. Not sure if this was a good idea.

I like that, that is truly funny!

 

[smootrk]

I prefer FR because there is so much material and locales that you can always find a little someplace that can become 'your' locale, yet still have familiar areas for characters to visit occasionally. Much like the our real world, people know about most of the really important places but there are still countless hidey-hole places that are very interesting places to visit that don't even show promiently on maps.

Worst - Dragonlance. I could never even get into the books, much less the campaign material. Athas was another that I initially looked at with high hopes, but ultimately found it too strange. Ecologies just did not make sense to me. A world has to have at least some degree of believability to work for me.

 

[howandwhy99]

Generally I try and look for what I like in setting. Finding something I don't like about a setting, any setting, is a simple gut check. So I strip out the pieces I don't like. Often this means the setting is significantly different, but I'll likely never run an unmodified campaign world anyways.

Better yet (for me), is stealing from settings I like and throwing the whole of them into one big pot. There they can brew in my brain while things cook down to a nice thick sauce. One were everything complements each other.

That said, I think Spelljammer is my least favorite popular setting. It has so much I find distasteful and very little I find intriguing.

Another is the old Horde boxset for FR. I have a neat little campaign written up for that area, but when I read the boxset I could hardly believe how awful a job they did. I couldn't take anything from it lest some vile flavor seeped into what I was making.

 

[JoeGKushner]

There are some novels for the line that are due out about anytime if I recall correctly. Also, the supplement Lands of Conflict has an adventure in it that you may want to check out.

And don't forget the manga by manga giant, Tokyo Pop. Follows some interesting characters through the land after the Scourge.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Hard to say.

From WoTC/TSR, I hated all of the Buck Rogers thing. I had one edition of Gamma World that didn't do anything for me, but can barely recall it.

In terms of D&Dism, Dark Sun was my least favorite although I never actually played Birthright, so that might've won a "this stinks" award from me if I had.

3rd party publishers... Dragon Lords of Melnibone at first looked good but actually use showed it to be a poor translation of the original system... Diomin as others have mentioned didn't do a lot for anyone either.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

And don't forget the manga by manga giant, Tokyo Pop. Follows some interesting characters through the land after the Scourge.

Okay, I'm lost.