So, the Forgotten Realms have NOT been forgotten?

Posts: 2689 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:50 am

The hobby seems to simply not like anything regarding the forgotten knowledge of the Forgotten Realms.

I am talking of the older stuff of course, mostly 2nd edition.
The FR books and adventures seem to be sliding into obscurity.

Any thoughts as to why?

Or am I wrong?

(EDIT TO CHANGE THE TITLE OF THE THREAD)

Posts: 3862 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:57 am

Gnat the Beggar wrote:

Or am I wrong?

I think the view here is very much more Greyhawk preferred rather than FR and as such FR doesn't get much discussion. But in gaming as a whole, FR is not forgotten - its following is bigger than Greyhawk. I know a number of gamers with 1st/2nd edition games/hybrid games that run in FR. Although since most newer gamers run 3e/3.5e/4e they buy the new FR books and not so much the older ones.

Posts: 301 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:05 am

Mars wrote:

I think the view here is very much more Greyhawk preferred rather than FR and as such FR doesn't get much discussion. But in gaming as a whole, FR is not forgotten - its following is bigger than Greyhawk. I know a number of gamers with 1st/2nd edition games/hybrid games that run in FR. Although since most newer gamers run 3e/3.5e/4e they buy the new FR books and not so much the older ones.

Yep. Amongst die-hard oldsters who would still play 1-2E, FR wasn't as popular. The people who used to play FR are more likely to have quit playing or transitioned on to 3-4E than those who didn't, I suspect.

Also, they pumped out a ton of FR product, which means that it's harder to collect it all and that there was a fair amount of filler/fluff crap.

Posts: 474 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:27 am

The Living City Campaign setting that the RPGA ran from 1987 - 2002 used the FR setting.

The Living Greyhawk Campaign setting was introduced by the RPGA in 2000 with the release of 3.0.

The LG campaign ended last year (2008), with the release of 4.0.

So yeah, might not be discussed a lot here, but it still has a huge following.

Posts: 3527 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:40 am

Also, the FR vs. GH---in terms of FR popularity and/or sales volumes being greater than GH [which is "why" GH was cancelled in the '90s, blah blah blah]---is an oft-cited old internet bit of misinformation.

Per Lisa Stevens @ the Paizo boards:

Lisa Stevens on the Paizo boards wrote:

Germytech on the Paizo boards wrote:

Or perhaps the fact that Greyhawk doesn't sell.

Don't get me wrong: I like Greyhawk, too. But when compared to the incredibly successful franchises Forgotten Realms, Eberron, or even the ordinary supplements that WotC puts out, Greyhawk cannot even carry a torch.

Well, I can tell you, as the last person who was the Greyhawk Brand Manager at WotC, that Greyhawk sold almost as well as Forgotten Realms. It was a really successful line of products. However, when we started 3rd edition, the manager of D&D at the time decided that we had too many campaign settings, so Greyhawk got put off to the side in favor of FR. It had everything to do with not starting the proliferation of game settings and nothing to do with sales. Just for the record.

Lisa Stevens
CEO

Original post @ http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/olderProducts/dra gon/compendium/aoWHCAndDragonCompendiumII (about 40% down the page or so).

Posts: 3527 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:47 am

And, for those interested in the old-school FR, there was a series of recent explorations of the setting on Mike Curtis' blog, starting @ http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/search/label/Forgotten%20Realms%20Week as well as some good ones @ Grognardia too: http://grognardia.blogspot.com/search/label/forgotten%20realms

Posts: 292 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:53 pm

Lisa Stevens @ the Paizo Boards wrote:

Well, I can tell you, as the last person who was the Greyhawk Brand Manager at WotC, that Greyhawk sold almost as well as Forgotten Realms. It was a really successful line of products. However, when we started 3rd edition, the manager of D&D at the time decided that we had too many campaign settings, so Greyhawk got put off to the side in favor of FR. It had everything to do with not starting the proliferation of game settings and nothing to do with sales. Just for the record.

So Greyhawk bites the dust because there were too many campaign settings, and naturally Eberron springs up because there are too few I suppose? Confused

Posts: 1974 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:55 pm

Eberron happened because of the contest to design a new setting as a marketing tool to get the "youth" attracted to the game and its new hip setting... after all, who wants your daddy's fantasy when you can have one straight from Anime Japan! Really. Geeze. Wink

That, and they felt like stealing Earthdawn.

Posts: 1303 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:19 pm

Talking of settings, did anyone ever really get into the Dragonlance setting? I've got the DL Adventures Sourcebook and enjoyed reading the fiction, but playing in that campaign didn't appeal to me.

Posts: 2689 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:51 pm

ashmire13 wrote:

Talking of settings, did anyone ever really get into the Dragonlance setting? I've got the DL Adventures Sourcebook and enjoyed reading the fiction, but playing in that campaign didn't appeal to me.

Yep.
I agree.
Never got into the DL D&D setting at all and like you I enjoyed the fiction.
I never went after any of the DL D&D Stuff and only have some of it now as I obtained the items through large lots I have purchased over the years.

I always liked FR and Greyhawk though and I have lots of both.
I have a lot of extra FR Stuff too but it does not seem to sell on E-Bay, so I never bothered to try.
Anyone want any of it?
Shipping plus a dollar will get it for you.
One item, two items, or all of it.
Same low price.

Posts: 7874 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:53 pm

if i ever use a campaign world (rare that i game that much tbh), i always use Greyhawk as thats what i am most familiar with, but i like to throw things in all the time. i have had little sojourns into Ravenloft, Spelljammer, Forgotten Realms and even Gamma World, during my games. i have adapted the adventures i have used in each setting to fit what i want within my ongoing game. it isnt hard and it is a lot of fun using some alternative stuff.

i really like the FR stuff for sure.

its certainly not forgotten thats for a cert!!

Al

Posts: 495 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:55 pm

Gnat the Beggar wrote:

Yep.
I agree.
Never got into the DL D&D setting at all and like you I enjoyed the fiction.
I never went after any of the D&D Stuff and only have some of it now as I obtained the items through large lots I have purchased over the years.

I have a lot of extra FR Stuff too but it does not seem to sell on E-Bay, so I never bothered to try.
Anyone want any of it?
Shipping plus a dollar will get it for you.

I'd be willing to take the any of the 1st/2nd edition area modules off your hands (missing a couple of them) Gnat.

Posts: 301 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:00 pm

Gnat the Beggar wrote:

I have a lot of extra FR Stuff too but it does not seem to sell on E-Bay, so I never bothered to try.
Anyone want any of it?
Shipping plus a dollar will get it for you.
One item, two items, or all of it.
Same low price.

Hell, yeah

Posts: 2689 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:00 pm

SoulCatcher78 wrote:

I'd be willing to take the any of the 1st/2nd edition area modules off your hands (missing a couple of them) Gnat.

Sorry should have clarified that statement.
I have lots of the FR setting materials.
IE. Loose Books from box sets and Loose Maps galore....
Plus a couple of the Box Sets (Complete) for FR. (The thinner ones).

The few FR modules I have are not extras and I want to keep them.

Posts: 301 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:02 pm

Gnat the Beggar wrote:

Sorry should have clarified that statement.
I have lots of the FR setting materials.
IE. Loose Books from box sets and Loose Maps galore....
Plus a couple of the Box Sets (Complete) for FR. (The thinner ones).

The few FR modules I have are not extras and I want to keep them.

Well, I'm not very motivated to incomplete sets.

But, if you're unloading accessories or boxed sets that are complete (or complete minus actual box), there's plenty I don't have.

Posts: 7874 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:03 pm

ashmire13 wrote:

Talking of settings, did anyone ever really get into the Dragonlance setting? I've got the DL Adventures Sourcebook and enjoyed reading the fiction, but playing in that campaign didn't appeal to me.

i actually played the group through DL 1 to 6. after 6, we had all had enough tbh (not DL5 i think it was that one thats the info thingy) and i think 6 is the tarsis one isnt it? (sheesh from memory)

even in my own off-the-cuff-style, i couldnt get them first ones to run well...it was really hard work, though the dungeon at the end of DL1 was cool (everyone enjoyed the combat with the black dragon). DL2 sucked...me and the group didnt enjoy that. DL3 was kinda ok but again youre directed all the time, so not enough scope to make something your own. DL4 was pretty good - the group liked that one but the only one they really enjoyed was DL6 because by that time, i was sick of the modules telling me what to do, so i changed it all and did it my own way and it was a blast.

shame really as some of it is pretty cool material but in general i think it sucked. DL7 which we didnt play actually would have been quite good as well imo.

Al

Posts: 495 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:03 pm

I think the only boxed set stuff I still need would be the Kara Tur boxed set stuff (not sure why I never picked that up, might have been living light *in the Army* at the time of release). Not sure if it would get used in game or not but it never hurts to have for informational purposes.

Posts: 1255 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:08 pm

I never got into the FR stuff, but I have lots of the Greyhawk stuff and like it if only for the nostalgia.

The DL stuff was mostly good in my opinion because of the cover art and Tracy Hickman. They were a decent read and a decent value for the money. Plus, it was pretty easy to collect them all at the time, even though DL11 is now fairly expensive. The dragonmen monsters were cool. I even purchased a box of the minis. I'd like to get the atlas and resource book one day, but I'm in no hurry.

I DM'ed the first adventure and the party liked it O.K. What they didn't like was using the pre-generated characters. The thief was just silly, and the cleric was a female who had no armor. As a DM, there were actually quite a few mistakes in the modules, and Dragon Magazine had to publish an errata of fixes. Overall, more good memories than bad. Confused

Posts: 3862 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:20 pm

I never played much outside of Greyhawk or original campaigns. But I have to believe that a lot of people who bought the RPG items also bought the books and vice versa. So, I'm sure that FR had a big following. Most people I knew had never heard of the Greyhawk novels.

Posts: 1303 · Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:29 pm

Mars wrote:

I never played much outside of Greyhawk or original campaigns. But I have to believe that a lot of people who bought the RPG items also bought the books and vice versa. So, I'm sure that FR had a big following. Most people I knew had never heard of the Greyhawk novels.

There were Greyhawk novels..!! Shocked