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- Oct 3, 2015
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Many people commenting on Baldur's Gate 3 and the Forgotten Realms generally seem to be under the misapprehension that the Forgotten Realms setting was ever a serious attempt at creating a fantasy version of pseudo-medieval Europe, as opposed to a RenFair LARPfest version of contemporary America/Canada, in which there is a vast "Heartland" area that is an American/Canadian monoculture with American/Canadian norms. TSR heavily sanitized Ed Greenwood's original setting and also made an attempt at altering and expanding it to be somewhat more realistic and historically-grounded, but it was inevitable that WotC would revert the setting to its origins in both respects. The demographics of Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms setting at its inception in the 1970s would naturally have been much different from the demographics of BG3, but it's consistent for the setting to reflect changing demographics in America/Canada. Similarly, the sexual fetishes on display in BG3 are not identical to Ed Greenwood's personal list of sexual fetishes established in the 1970s, but to complain about it being different is missing the point.
Grognards should have been astute enough to recognize even TSR's version of the Forgotten Realms as the worst D&D/AD&D campaign setting and rejected it at the time. With the advantage of hindsight, anyone should recognize that a CRPG would be better off with Greyhawk if it needed a generic setting, or with Dragonlance if it needed a Tolkienesque setting, or with the Known World / Mystara setting of non-advanced D&D if it needed a pulp fantasy setting, or with Kara-Tur if it needed a setting based on eastern Asia, or with al-Qadim if it needed a setting based on the Middle East, or with Spelljammer if it needed a gonzo space setting, or with Ravenloft if it needed a gothic horror setting, or with Dark Sun if it needed a post-apocalyptic setting, or with Planescape if it needed a bizarre planar setting, or even with Birthright if it needed a setting where player-characters could be rulers at low-level.
The Forgotten Realms was a mistake and has always been decline.
Grognards should have been astute enough to recognize even TSR's version of the Forgotten Realms as the worst D&D/AD&D campaign setting and rejected it at the time. With the advantage of hindsight, anyone should recognize that a CRPG would be better off with Greyhawk if it needed a generic setting, or with Dragonlance if it needed a Tolkienesque setting, or with the Known World / Mystara setting of non-advanced D&D if it needed a pulp fantasy setting, or with Kara-Tur if it needed a setting based on eastern Asia, or with al-Qadim if it needed a setting based on the Middle East, or with Spelljammer if it needed a gonzo space setting, or with Ravenloft if it needed a gothic horror setting, or with Dark Sun if it needed a post-apocalyptic setting, or with Planescape if it needed a bizarre planar setting, or even with Birthright if it needed a setting where player-characters could be rulers at low-level.
The Forgotten Realms was a mistake and has always been decline.
