| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| Gallameed02-01-07, 04:22 PM | So much has happened in recent years within this setting that it’s all rather a muddle. We faithful realms heads need a clear, concise and fully useable update/summary for the setting and its timeline. The 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms campaign setting book is so past its ‘use by date’ you can get salmonella just from reading the cover. Instead of putting out yet another Messteries of the Moonsea you should give us something that clarifies the realms as of 1375 including a brand new refreshed timeline taking us right up to date and include a recent history section explaining all the MASSIVE things that have happened (in a detailed reference style) and we want it NOW! If we invest time and money in this setting its only fair you should do the same, all these mega-events and ‘realms shaking changes’ combined with some novels being very unclear with specific times/dates has lead to the setting becoming a mess of twisted continuity and makes DM’ing in line with canon realms a nightmare. Get these problems sorted out for funks sake! What’s the point in having this huge living-breathing-shared-world-type-deal if it’s too hard to piece everything together in order to play it in all its glory? I mean, look at the Silvermarches so mucho upheevage! What the hell is going on up there now and which year/s did it all happen in? The Rage, the Shades, the silence of Lolth, the events in Blackstaff, the Mulhorand/Unther sitch, elf return, etc etc etc. Come ON! WE NEED A NEW BOOK WITH ALL THIS INFO IN ONE PLACE! The realms are now like a computer game that needs loads of patches, updates and obscure mods in order to play the thing properly –only the patches and updates are hidden and scattered all over the place and written in aardvark. It’s become user UNfriendly. And what of the people that don’t read the novels? They are totally left in dark. A DM’s guide to faerun is sorely needed now or I will nuke you in the face and then pour salt&vinegar chainsaws on the sore bits while mumbling: It’s for your own good, don’t blame me blame yourself! (In a smiley Kathy Bates/Annie Wilkes-character-from-the-movie-Misery-stylee.) (ps: PLZ!!!!111199 :P Love you all really. I’ll make you purr like a defrosting fridge freezer if you sit on my lap any day, I’ll even buff your edges with a moist chamois and sing Karma Chameleon to you sideways!) |
| maynardjkeenan02-01-07, 04:39 PM | I agree with the general idea of the previous post. |
| The ShapeLess One02-01-07, 05:14 PM | I agree with you. Though it seems WoTC does not want our money. I don't like to buy novels to get game info. There seems to be so much change that I don't really know what is going on in the realms. These new super adventures are lame. Seems WoTC wants to sink that realms and build eberron up. Sigh. |
| _SIN_02-01-07, 06:59 PM | Eberron...... *Shudders* :yuck: I think the revised format is nice. It looks good & it's interesting (more so than less). here comes the inevitable BUT..... 2nd ed was clearer. 2nd ed was created quite static, not something which, with the release of every new novel requires a realms update - or rather MORE OF MY MONEY!! I remember I had been playing for about 3 years before even hearing the name Drizzt!! 2nd ed was more about YOUR HEROS, not the NPCs that appear on every other god-damned page! 2nd ed, due to it's relatively static date, had more accessories (Drannor etc, etc). If they carried on, I'm sure we'd have source books for most of faerun by now! This RW/FR time-line thing CAN'T work, and eventually - after creaming us for all our money (:plotting:) - they'll probably go back to the ways of old. Why? because to keep everything in-line, we need constant updates for the entire realms. It's no good releasing a new book who's timeline runs upto 1375, when there are other older ones which only run till 1373! Can anyone else see the problem? They need to release ALL their books with the same date, then maybe once a year they can release an update. At the moment, one area of faerun seems to advance in time whilst the rest stays in limbo!! I'd rather see much less emphasis on the evolution of FR, it's lame-ass 'super' NPC's which just don't fit into my games (WHY would Elminster chat to a level 4 druid, when he can do ANYTHING himself???), and it's ever changing and far too confusing pantheon and more on it's depth, ruins, places of interest etc and other lore.... Maybe you should start giving us what we want, NOT what YOU think we want! :rant: |
| Evergreen_Aldaron02-01-07, 08:06 PM | I don't disagree....BUT..... As long as "we" keep buying the novels, hardcovers, and adventures - they will keep cranking them out and putting their hands deeper and deeper into your pockets. I don't know what the hard numbers are for Forgotten Realms sales data, but if they are still making a profit, they will keep everything status quo. It sucks....but it is reality.... EA |
| _SIN_02-01-07, 08:41 PM | BUT.... Doesn't that rule apply to pretty much everything? :thinks: TAXES in particular. :raincloud Are you suggesting we boycott Wotc products till they stop *issing around and give us something of equal value for our money? :plotting: If so I'll play no hand in it!! I already get 'value for money' wotc products.... ...from ebay :evillaugh |
| MessiahOmega02-01-07, 10:34 PM | i brought this up on the new releases bit quite a while ago, and i completely agree. even if it was done online, once a year, it would be THE most useful FR DM tool ever. the shear scope of the FR makes it difficult to run in a free roaming way. what if my characters decide to go vist cormanthor? im buggered because i have no idea about whats going on except for what ive read in the novels!! what if i havn't read the novels? GHAAAAA!!!! its so frustrating, all we get is the waterdeep news on wizards.com., which is useless unless your in waterdeep. SUPPORT A LIVING FR. |
| soulnova02-02-07, 01:45 AM | even if it was done online, once a year, it would be THE most useful FR DM tool ever. I vote for that. Please...do it WotC...PLEASE..... I played about a year without knowing Drizzt and Co. And just look at me now... I cant play because I dont know what's happening in The North with Obould. T___T |
| _SIN_02-02-07, 03:49 AM | I vote for that. Please...do it WotC...PLEASE..... You get my vote on that too!! Can't someone start up a poll (maybe @ candlekeep?) It's quite funny really. Wotc do away with (or try) the 'clunkyness' in the system to speed up gaming, then make the realms soooo detailed we have to spend silly amounts of time reading it, after of course waiting months (or years - Myth Drannor 2009!!!???) for new stuff!! So instead of pausing a game for 5 minutes while you look something up, we wait for weeks, read for weeks, then start the process all over again!!! |
| Bluenose02-02-07, 01:29 PM | If you're suggesting something along the lines of the old Poor Wizard's Almanac/Joshuan's Almanac then I'd be a certain buyer. All it needs very basic information about each country/region covering their geography and recent events something about really major NPCs saying what they've been doing in the past year, and in the back a timeline of events that are going to happen in the next year. Now, whether Wizards would want to do something like this or would make money doing something like this is another matter. I will say that I don't agree with the people complaining about the advancing timeline. My objection to it is that it's not being done in an organised fashion. There's certainly scope for advancing the timeline, but since it's being done in so many different places it's really hard for anyone to keep track of everything that's happening. A centralised resource, perhaps online but possibly not, would seem to be common sense. |
| Lord Karsus02-02-07, 07:13 PM | Instead of putting out yet another Messteries of the Moonsea you should give us something that clarifies the realms as of 1375 including a brand new refreshed timeline taking us right up to date and include a recent history section explaining all the MASSIVE things that have happened (in a detailed reference style) and we want it NOW! -WotC is publishing Brain James' A Grand History of the Realms as a 4th Quarter product. |
| MarkusTay6302-03-07, 01:42 PM | Seems WoTC wants to sink that realms and build eberron up. Sigh.So I'm not the only one who feels the headsman's axe? :( If you're suggesting something along the lines of the old Poor Wizard's Almanac/Joshuan's Almanac then I'd be a certain buyer. All it needs very basic information about each country/region covering their geography and recent events something about really major NPCs saying what they've been doing in the past year, and in the back a timeline of events that are going to happen in the next year. Now, whether Wizards would want to do something like this or would make money doing something like this is another matter.I've been asking for one of these on various boards since '95! The Poor Wizards booklets were incredibly useful and fun to read. They SHOULD do a Realms version, but hand it over to Paizo (so it will be done right). This will kill two birds with one stone; we will get a publication solely dedicated to keeping us up to date on the realms and giving us new insight into as-of-yet unreveiled lands, AND it will keep all of the Dragon magazine readers off their backs to publish Realms-specific articles. Can you imagine a bimonthly magazine-style format, like a RW magazine except totally dedicated to the world of Abeir-Toril? Information (gossip) on all of the 'Stars' of the Realms, marriage annoucements, war news, in-depth articles on the environment... maybe even a few archaelogical pieces a'la National Geographic. How cool would that be? And I bet it would make a fortune AND bring new people into the fold. Did you know about half of Dragon readers have NEVER played D&D? They just buy the mag because it's interesting! Just think of how popular a magazine who's story takes place in a fantasy world would be, with all the latest Harry potter/LotRs/Pirate movies churning up interest lately in the genre. too bad we'll never see it though, they are determined to have Eberron de-throne FR. :weep: |
| The ShapeLess One02-03-07, 02:29 PM | So I'm not the only one who feels the headsman's axe? No you are not the only one too feel the same. With the announcement of the history of the Realms. The scheduled Anauroch: The Sundering of the World. One could think that the Realms is comming to an end.:weep: I really hate it when I get paranoid. |
| Xavier_of_Cormyr02-03-07, 02:47 PM | I think at the very least, a web enhancement .pdf file should be compiled. Some kind of annual for us realms players & DMs (mostly for us DMs) I'm almost afraid of starting a new campaign without a clear picture of what's in store for the realms... |
| The Heretic02-03-07, 04:46 PM | For those of you that agree with the sentiments of this thread, there is a process going on over at Candlekeep.com to influence the kind of Realms lore (and thus Realms products) are published. If you want to get your input in, you need to hurry as the nomination process will be over Sunday. Here are the relevant threads: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8738 http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8739 http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8701 |
| The ShapeLess One02-03-07, 06:42 PM | I nominated an idea. Thankyou for the links. |
| MarkusTay6302-03-07, 06:53 PM | For those of you that agree with the sentiments of this thread, there is a process going on over at Candlekeep.com to influence the kind of Realms lore (and thus Realms products) are published. If you want to get your input in, you need to hurry as the nomination process will be over Sunday. Here are the relevant threads:Been there, done that. :D |
| The Heretic02-04-07, 10:43 PM | The Final stage of this process is under way at Candlekeep.com. The greater the participation, the more valid the results are! Get over there and vote! http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8810 |
| Azar_of_Faerun02-04-07, 11:14 PM | It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. |
| MessiahOmega02-11-07, 08:55 PM | i think that this thread represents an important issue to FR DM's and players. IMO, the FR canon is the leading factor in the popularity of the setting. to ignore a dynamic world is to stagnate, which in turn will lead to players leaving the setting, if not the game. |
| megeddo02-13-07, 01:32 AM | But, really. Who gives a flying leap if the novels have progressed the world so far here, and not so far there. How and why does this affect YOUR game, and YOUR plot? If you give in to all the released novels, thinking that because its canon you must follow the events, then you are in for a lapse into complete insanity, and I will say it was nice knowing you :p Treat the source books as a snap shot, and as the DM mix and match events as you see fit. That's what I do. I prefer my creative freedom here, taking events from novels I like and using them, while tossing the other events I don't like. A friend of mine who is big into FR has no complaints about this method. This is really unnecessary since in the end it is YOUR world, and this material is only here to give you an idea on how you will shape it. WoTC would have a **** if they found out some of the important NPCs my party has slain in my game lol. |
| AlorinDawn02-14-07, 11:04 PM | Listen up WotC...More Realms material, good realms material, and pronto! We are begging you to let us give you our $$$$ :) :) |
| Renvale99902-15-07, 01:09 PM | But, really. Who gives a flying leap if the novels have progressed the world so far here, and not so far there. How and why does this affect YOUR game, and YOUR plot? If you give in to all the released novels, thinking that because its canon you must follow the events, then you are in for a lapse into complete insanity, and I will say it was nice knowing you :p Treat the source books as a snap shot, and as the DM mix and match events as you see fit. That's what I do. I prefer my creative freedom here, taking events from novels I like and using them, while tossing the other events I don't like. A friend of mine who is big into FR has no complaints about this method. This is really unnecessary since in the end it is YOUR world, and this material is only here to give you an idea on how you will shape it. WoTC would have a **** if they found out some of the important NPCs my party has slain in my game lol. Exactly |
| Revenant0702-15-07, 04:41 PM | Messteries of the Moonsea? I thought that book was great. Saved me alot of time. |
| GothicDan02-15-07, 06:35 PM | If one's primary objective in running an RPG is to save time, I suppose the book was good. |
| MerrikCale02-19-07, 01:51 PM | If one's primary objective in running an RPG is to save time, I suppose the book was good. You make saving time seem like such a bad thing |