Grey box set and it's supplements for me. But I will be getting this 4E book. I'm interested in seeing what the new Realms looks like. Besides  whatever the edition - I have the core rule book(s) - I've always managed to steal stuff for my games.

Regards,
David R

While the 3e FR book was wonderful, I couldn't stand the setting.

My fave Realms is the 1e gray box, by far.  After spending some time with the mechanics-light FR 4e, I think it's my second-favorite iteration of the setting.

-O

Quote from: noisms;245046I mean, does anyone else find it odd that TSR managed to come up with Forgotten Realms, Mystara, Dragonlance, Birthright, Planescape, Dark Sun, Al Qadim, Greyhawk, Spelljammer, etc. etc... and all WOTC have ever created is Eberron (and that was developed by somebody else through a competition)? Get a grip, Mearls et al!

F'real!  If they can't come up with anything on their own, why can't we have more contests?  It brought them Eberron.  What, was it the only entry worth selling?  Are we to believe that they were so unimpressed with the runners-up that they aren't even going to bother asking for more submissions?  Pshaw.  This company isn't afraid to scrape the bottom of the barrel!

Quote from: StormBringer;245491Yeah, glossy pages and large fonts are part of why I won't be picking up and 4e books for a while.  I prefer a page to be rather dense with information, which is the style most books had years ago.  And charts and tables galore.

Christ, yes.  It makes me crazy to watch the price skyrocket and have people whinge on about the cost of the production when what's being produced gets glossier and glossier and actually says less and less.  We're nerds, damn it.  D&D is a game for nerds.  It's never going to appeal to non-nerds - it's becoming more mainstream because there are more nerds, and nerds are not afraid of dense data sheets and charts!  Or at least not any nerds I know.

Quote from: Seanchai;245493Wouldn't you have to purchase and read the new book to be impressed with it? I have it, but haven't read it, and thus am not offering commentary one way or another.

I think there's some confusion here - see, you're on the internet.  You're not supposed to let a lack of knowledge prevent you from talking about something!  What next, accountability?

Quote from: Seanchai;245495No, it's the cult of the brand. They remade Forgotten Realms rather than a new setting because Forgotten Realms is their best-seller. People will buy it because it's Forgotten Realms, not because of the actual content.

You know, I don't know if that's going to work.  I mean, I'm cynical enough to think it probably will, but personally I always get upset when they take something away from its creator.  Ed Greenwood conceived of the Forgotten Realms a long, long time ago, and he's been there throughout all of it.  So now he's gone, and he's publicly said that he doesn't care for any of the new developments.  I'm kind of surprised by R.A. Salvatore right now - anybody remember when he was suddenly no longer the go-to guy for drow, and there was talk about his characters being taken away and written by another author?  He was not too happy about it - yet here he is writing the bridge to the new world that Greenwood's sneering at.

But maybe Greenwood just doesn't have the cult following.  Everybody wants to play a Drizzt clone, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who actually enjoyed Elminster and the Seven Sisters and all that other Heinlein-influenced Greenwood craziness.

Quote from: obryn;245504While the 3e FR book was wonderful, I couldn't stand the setting.

I really didn't pay much attention to the 3e setting notes - as soon as I flipped open the book and saw that they had decided to cram Teiflings in there, presumably because they needed somewhere to put them after they got bored with Planescape, my eyes just kind of glazed over.

... I miss my grey box, dammit.

I have the book, and whilst I wouldn't dream of using the setting in it's entirety (the only version of the FR I truly enjoyed was the grey box) there are plenty of cool bits that I can see myself swiping for use elsewhere.

Quote from: Drew;245618I have the book, and whilst I wouldn't dream of using the setting in it's entirety (the only version of the FR I truly enjoyed was the grey box) there are plenty of cool bits that I can see myself swiping for use elsewhere.

Ditto. I can't stand the FR setting and can't really comment on how well the 4E book does or doesn't do on the official setting front, but there is a lot of stuff which seems pretty simple to rip out and insert in my own settings as and when I choose.

Quote from: pathar;245543You know, I don't know if that's going to work.  I mean, I'm cynical enough to think it probably will, but personally I always get upset when they take something away from its creator.

They can't. If WotC is able to use Forgotten Realms, it's because Greenwood sold it to TSR or because he created it on the clock.

Quote from: pathar;245543So now he's gone, and he's publicly said that he doesn't care for any of the new developments.

If you don't want to like the new Realms because Greenwood doesn't like, that's cool, but you don't need to create a thread, asking us our opinions if your mind is already made up.

Seanchai

Quote from: Seanchai;245698If you don't want to like the new Realms because Greenwood doesn't like, that's cool, but you don't need to create a thread, asking us our opinions if your mind is already made up.

Hell, that ain't so bad, is it? I'm pretty made up on who I'm voting for in the American election but I still ask people their political opinion about it. You can have your mind made up and still change it after hearing a compelling argument.

I had the 2e and 3e stuff for the FR but never held on to it for more than a few months. The thing I loved about the grey boxed set was that it felt like it was mine to do with as I pleased. So that's always been my FR of choice. That being said, I feel bad for homies into the 4th edition FR: only three books, and one is an adventure? Talk about getting the shaft on a rich world. They need a whole book just on the retcons and the who/what/where/why and how of them all.

-=Grim=-

Quote from: Seanchai;245698They can't. If WotC is able to use Forgotten Realms, it's because Greenwood sold it to TSR or because he created it on the clock.

Or signed it over back in the day so it could be published ...

QuoteIf you don't want to like the new Realms because Greenwood doesn't like, that's cool, but you don't need to create a thread, asking us our opinions if your mind is already made up.

Who said my mind was made up?  Hell, my mind still isn't made up.  Greenwood's displeasure is a factor.  The review I linked is a factor.  My take on the review Aos linked is a factor.  Most of the answers in this thread have been taken in to consideration.  But I still won't know my actual opinion until I read the book.  I'm probably not going to, thanks to the gestalt of all those things above.  But if I have opportunity to read it for free, and time to devote to doing so, I probably still will, at which point I will then make up my mind (and possibly change it a few times afterwards).

Also, this is a forum for the discussion of RPGs.  I started a thread about a specific RPG book and then proceeded to discuss my thoughts on the matter.  So bite me.

Quote from: pathar;245826Who said my mind was made up?

When folks start with the appeals to authority, it's easy to see that they're not so much looking for information as much as validation...

Seanchai

Quote from: Seanchai;245827When folks start with the appeals to authority, it's easy to see that they're not so much looking for information as much as validation...

Okay, well, you're wrong, but thanks for your input.

My favorite version of FR was the gold with black border boxed set.  However, the old grey boxed set is still holds nostalgia points with me.  I really don't like the meta-plot reason for world-shaking changes in FR, which is a change in the rules edition.  1st AD&D to 2nd AD&D had the Times of Trouble mega-game world change in FR.  I don't even remember the meta-game change for the switch to 3.0 D&D.  

Now, once again, there is a world-shaking cataclysm that changes the face of the FR more drastically than any other version of FR.

Off the top of my head, I can't remember ever reading about this sister world of Toril on which the Primordials were banished/exiled by the gods/powers.  I do remember that in the early days it was called Abeir-Toril.  

I was discourged with the lack of information regarding the other continents in the new 4e FR.  There are a couple sentences stating that Kara-Tur was just as affected as Faeurn, but no concrete information about the lands of Kara-Tur.  Also, Zakhara isn't even mentioned at all from what I read, but maybe I missed it buried somewhere.  Lastly, the whole continent of Maztica is wiped out in a sentence.  

IMHO, one of the major failings of TSR and WotC was to never consolidate the various continents of Toril (Faeurn, Hordelands, Kara-Tur, Zakhara, and Maztica) into one line of products.

Quote from: Drohem;245945My favorite version of FR was the gold with black border boxed set.  However, the old grey boxed set is still holds nostalgia points with me.  I really don't like the meta-plot reason for world-shaking changes in FR, which is a change in the rules edition.  1st AD&D to 2nd AD&D had the Times of Trouble mega-game world change in FR.  I don't even remember the meta-game change for the switch to 3.0 D&D.

I thought they'd specifically made a point of not doing so. Which made a lot of sense at the time; the system changes were large enough that all-new stats were needed, but keeping the fluff the same ensured that Realms fans could be assured that it was "still the same Realm you know and love".

I suppose this time they must have reasoned that they couldn't get away with not making any major setting changes twice in a row.

Quote from: Warthur;246128I thought they'd specifically made a point of not doing so. Which made a lot of sense at the time; the system changes were large enough that all-new stats were needed, but keeping the fluff the same ensured that Realms fans could be assured that it was "still the same Realm you know and love".

I suppose this time they must have reasoned that they couldn't get away with not making any major setting changes twice in a row.

Yeah, this was all off the top of my head without looking at any materials.  I thought that the 3.0 chanage had something do with nature of magic worked in the Realms.  However, I'm probably wrong or I am confusing it the Times of Trouble switch.

Greenwood's "displeasure" is probably being oversold here. He's still on the design team, and coordinates with content writers.

The reality is that its a very different setting from Greenwood's realms.  That in and of itself doesn't make it a bad thing: its just got very little to do with the world Ed created, and I happen to like that world better than the current WoTC version of the setting.
Fortunately, Ed's world is still very much around for the taking.  

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