ddo campaign settings

[grrowler]

even though Severlin and Cordovan have mentioned pretty much that Ravenloft is the next campaign setting that ddo will be heading to, which Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting would you like to see realized in ddo?

here is a summary of each of these campaign settings (which I mainly took from wikipedia):

http://i.imgur.com/eHnEQkb.png
Dark Sun - the post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas, ravaged by the controlled use of defiling magic, where civilized city-states are controlled by sorcerer-kings; latent psionic abilities are common in all humanoid races; certain races have been exterminated ("cleansed") by the sorcerer-kings, and religion/divine magic has been abandoned.

http://i.imgur.com/rUpSfdD.png
Dragonlance - the world of Krynn, which is caught in a war between the forces of good and evil; arcane magic is derived from the power of the three moons: Solinari, Lunitari and Nuitari. metallic and chromatic dragons figure strongly in the campaign, as do kender, tinker gnomes, minotaurs and ogres

http://i.imgur.com/fM1uiwW.png
Eberron - the initial campaign setting for DDO, a world of pulp fiction with steampunk influences combining magic with technology

http://i.imgur.com/OpHJv4N.png
Al-Qadim - the land of Zakhara in Forgotten Realms inspired by the Arabian Nights mythos featuring holy assassins, sha'irs whose magic derived from genies, and elemental mages focused on the four elements of sand (earth), sea (water), flame (fire) or wind (air)

http://i.imgur.com/v2Mc2Jh.png
Kara-Tur - the oriental setting in Forgotten Realms, featuring advanced and mystical civilizations populated by martial warriors like samurai, kensai and ninjas with martial arts styles and a personal honor system, as well as the eastern magician class of the wu jen, and the shapeshifting race of the hengeyokai

http://i.imgur.com/tZdzT4o.png
Greyhawk - the world of Oerth, the original campaign setting by Gary Gygax, a medieval fantasy world, the setting for the Temple of Elemental Evil, and the home for the Circle of Eight: Mordenkainen, Yrag, Bigby, Rigby, Zigby, Felnorith, Vram and Vin, the original characters in Gygax's pnp campaign, as well as the wizards Bigby, Otiluke, Drawmij, Tenser, Nystul and Otto

http://i.imgur.com/nCwMCBE.png
Lankhmar - a setting based on the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber, in the corrupt city of Lankhmar on the planet Nehwon, where the true gods are feared rather than worshipped. The campaign featured human cannibalistic 'ghouls' whose flesh was transparent, as well as an underground sewer city inhabited by sentient rats.

http://i.imgur.com/xV90mGs.png
Mystara/Hollow World - a traditional fantasy Tolkienesque setting taking place in "The Known World", a central continent that included human realms similar to medieval Europe, Elvish and Dwarvish kingdoms, and a vast underworld sub-setting territory that took place INSIDE the core of the Known World's planet, inhabited by prehistoric animals and native tribes.

http://i.imgur.com/kF1rSZh.png
Planescape - a setting that crossed numerous planes of existence, with a surreal pseudo-steampunk and Victorian feel, featuring the city of Sigil, and linking the other Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings via inter-dimensional portals.

http://i.imgur.com/i0Gjf46.png
Ravenloft - a gothic horror setting originally based on the Ravenloft module, but expanded to the Demiplane of Dread, a pocket dimension in the Shadowfell consisting of island domains brought together by "The Dark Powers" which feed off the fear of its inhabitants. The campaign featured extensive fear/suspense mechanics in the face of horror/evil, as well as the risk of "dark power checks" from being influenced by or committing evil deeds. Each of the domains are ruled over by a Darklord, whose unfathomable acts of evil drew their respective land into the Mists, such as Vecna, Lord Soth and Strahd von Zarovich. This setting also featured the Vistani gypsy wanderers who reside in the Mists of Ravenloft.

http://i.imgur.com/uW5sJLk.png
Spelljammer - a setting based in outer space, in which fantastic ships powered by magical artifacts travel through the vast expanses of interplanetary space; the alien races inhabiting outer space included the bug-like neogi with their umber hulk slaves, the hippo-humanoid military giffs, and mercantile illithids



.. oops, I just realized I forgot to include Forgotten Realms in the poll. I had meant to include both Eberron and Forgotten Realms as options for those players that just want more content/settings to be explored in those worlds.

[Memnir]

http://i.imgur.com/Ab6iNgl.jpg

[dunklezhan]

http://i.imgur.com/OpHJv4N.png
Al-Qadim - the land of Zakhara in Forgotten Realms inspired by the Arabian Nights mythos featuring holy assassins, sha'irs whose magic derived from genies, and elemental mages focused on the four elements of sand (earth), sea (water), flame (fire) or wind (air)

http://i.imgur.com/v2Mc2Jh.png
Kara-Tur - the oriental setting in Forgotten Realms, featuring advanced and mystical civilizations populated by martial warriors like samurai, kensai and ninjas with martial arts styles and a personal honor system, as well as the eastern magician class of the wu jen, and the shapeshifting race of the hengeyokai


The fact that you listed 2 FR settings separately basically sums up why I really can't be doing with FR as a 'thing'. It's the 'everything realm' and its stifling - to me it the world itself has zero flavour, because it has every flavour. Eberron is by far the most inventive setting they've ever had, in my view.

[Gauthaag]

http://i.imgur.com/Ab6iNgl.jpg

this - only one logical extension to current settings

[grrowler]

The fact that you listed 2 FR settings separately basically sums up why I really can't be doing with FR as a 'thing'. It's the 'everything realm' and its stifling - to me it the world itself has zero flavour, because it has every flavour. Eberron is by far the most inventive setting they've ever had, in my view.

yeah, I know, I was debating whether to put Kara-Tur (Oriental Adventures) and Al-Qadim as options, but they were released as separate campaign box sets for Dungeons and Dragons, but they had their default setting in Faerun. The concepts for the classes/races and magic systems for both of those settings though seems to justify having them as a separate option setting. The later editions for Oriental Adventures had the default setting as Rokugan from the Legend of the Five Rings setting.

[FranOhmsford]

The fact that you listed 2 FR settings separately basically sums up why I really can't be doing with FR as a 'thing'. It's the 'everything realm' and its stifling - to me it the world itself has zero flavour, because it has every flavour. Eberron is by far the most inventive setting they've ever had, in my view.

Actually both of those settings were ADDED to Forgotten Realms because they weren't big enough on their own - They could have been added to Greyhawk or Mystara {as Blackmoor was - To BOTH!} just as easily had those been the default setting at the time.



Oh and the OP missed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_(campaign_setting)

http://gamerstavern.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/brlogo.gif

And

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackmoor

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Blackmoor_logo.png






My vote of course goes to Spelljammer even though I'd absolutely love to play in Dark Sun too.

[Aelonwy]

I've grown quite fond of Eberron since I began DDO but I also like Planescape, Greyhawk, and yes I admit to liking some aspects of Forgotten Realms but like dunklezhan said its a real mish-mash grab-bag of miscellany.

[FranOhmsford]

but like dunklezhan said its a real mish-mash grab-bag of miscellany.

Look I'm no fan of Forgotten Realms but.....


Kara-Tur {Oriental Adventures} = China and Japan {well actually Kozakura would be Japan} and are situated in that general area of the Forgotten Realms {Far East side of the Continent of Faerun - 1000s of miles from Waterdeep, Cormyr, The Dales etc.}.

Maztica {South America basically} is situated in the far SW of Faerun on its own peninsula if I recall correctly - It's basically a Dinosaur filled Jungle not that different from Q'Barra on Khorvaire - No Halflings riding them though.

Al Qadim is based on Arabian Nights and in Forgotten Realms is situated on another peninsula of the Continent of Faerun - This time Zakhara in the far south. {Again 1000s of miles away from the generally played in European Style zone from Icewind Dale in the Far NW to Thay in the NE, down to the border of Calimshan {which is similar to N.Africa} in the SW and across the South Bank of the Sea of Fallen Stars.



http://people.wku.edu/charles.plemons/dnd/badger/graphics/map_faerun.jpg

You can barely see Maztica in the SW of that map, You can't see Kara-Tur/Kozakura OR Zakhara!


Oh and here's the map of Khorvaire in Eberron...

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/eberron/images/f/f4/D%26D_-_4th_Edition_-_Eberron_Map_Khorvaire.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090819121531

[FuzzyDuck81]

Planescape.

With tieflings

Because Annah.

[Ulfo]

Dark Sun, of course!

Thri-Kreen Monk Psi-Warrior, yay!!! 8)

[vms4ever]

None of the above: Blackmoor

[walkin_dude]

Greyhawk still has the prime place in my heart. Adventured there for the first ... almost 10 years, I guess, of my pnp years.

[HastyPudding]

I want Ravenloft, just because I love the whole gothic horror theme. I love the Victorian era theme of Planescape, but Ravenloft is more my style.

[Gauthaag]

I want Ravenloft, just because I love the whole gothic horror theme. I love the Victorian era theme of Planescape, but Ravenloft is more my style.

heh, because gothic horror is best interpreted in DPS centered hack n slash DDO become

[Aelonwy]

heh, because gothic horror is best interpreted in DPS centered hack n slash DDO become

IMHO, Study in Sable is the best example of Gothic Horror in DDO but I really don't think of that quest as hack n slash.

[Gauthaag]

IMHO, Study in Sable is the best example of Gothic Horror in DDO but I really don't think of that quest as hack n slash.

Yeah, but if theres no golem heart dropping - how many times would it be run by most player? Couple times at most just to get the story. Once finnished most of the fun is gone.

Fear of the unknown and surprising discoveries are integral part of any horror - and theres not such thing in DDO anymore with all beans spilled even before release.

P.S. And dont také it bad, i love Ravenloft setting, but imho its one of things which will not fit well to MMORPG genre

[Aelonwy]

Yeah, but if theres no golem heart dropping - how many times would it be run by most player? Couple times at most just to get the story. Once finnished most of the fun is gone.

Fear of the unknown and surprising discoveries are integral part of any horror - and theres not such thing in DDO anymore with all beans spilled even before release.

P.S. And dont také it bad, i love Ravenloft setting, but imho its one of things which will not fit well to MMORPG genre

You have a point but only because the RPG part of MMORPG has dwindled greatly and has become more action rather than exploratory/discovery. On the other hand continuously developing the type of adventures that reward exploration, creative problem solving, branching dialogue paths, different experiences for different classes/races etc might not be cost or time efficient for the gaming industry which is why things seem to have evolved in this direction, unfortunately.

[dunklezhan]

Actually both of those settings were ADDED to Forgotten Realms because they weren't big enough on their own - They could have been added to Greyhawk or Mystara {as Blackmoor was - To BOTH!} just as easily had those been the default setting at the time.



Doesn't matter why. Matters that its FR they added it to, because it just furthers the disconnect for me.


Look I'm no fan of Forgotten Realms but.....



I don't understand your point here. That the areas the extra locations cover are small and off the beaten track and that thus it is somehow not part of the "FR is Everyflavour Fantasy"?

Again, I don't think it matters. If they could have put them on realms that needed more fleshing out, they should have. They didn't, because TSR/WoTC seriously love their FR setting (as their very company name was changed to suggest!).

Fair enough, more power to them I guess I mean it's made them a ton of money and is almost entirely responsible for DnD being as popular as it is - but it puts me off, in the same way that Limp Bizkit were apparently required before rock would be seen as just another viable style of music by hysterical media.

[Silverleafeon]

Voted, nice poll ~ +1

[FranOhmsford]

I don't understand your point here. That the areas the extra locations cover are small and off the beaten track and that thus it is somehow not part of the "FR is Everyflavour Fantasy"?

The point is that the Forgotten Realms is the World that closest mimics our own in having these admittedly cliched areas in it - Greyhawk is just generic Fantasy World #364, Krynn or more pertinently Ansalon doesn't allow for much in the way of Player/DM choices - it's all set out for us and the available play space is frankly tiny, Mystara/Hollow World is much more Original but got a lot less use probably because of that originality, Athas{Dark Sun}, Ravenloft - Niche Worlds for Niche Games, Planescape, Spelljammer - Games that interlinked all the Worlds {Apart from Athas that is}.

Forgotten Realms and the Super-Continent Faerun - It's basically one Continent - is VAST!
Cormyr is 1000+ Miles from Waterdeep and that is literally a thousand Miles of Wilderness which gives the DM and Players a massive amount of personal Choice!
The Forgotten Realms Novels that came out in the late 80s early 90s showed The Moonshae Isles, The Moonsea, Cormyr, Waterdeep, Icewind Dale, Silverymoon, Calimshan and Cadderley's story was set on the west coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars. These places are Hundreds and sometimes thousands of Miles away from each other.
The Sword Coast spanning from Waterdeep to Amn and Calimshan is another Wilderness.
The Sword Coast north of Waterdeep yet more Wilderness - Neverwinter was added later about halfway between Waterdeep and Icewind Dale.

I looked up Populations of Greyhawk {160k}, Waterdeep {130k} and Sharn {211k} - Basically the three Largest Cities in D&D - People constantly dump on the Forgotten Realms for reasons that are frankly WRONG!


The Realms has it's problems - I'm no fan of them myself BUT I'm also no fan of Greyhawk or Dragonlance and all the problems people complain about in FR exist in both Greyhawk and Dragonlance - Some of those problems are far worse in Greyhawk or Dragonlance!


And on to the Biggest Issue people complain about in FR -
"I don't feel like my Character can influence a World with Elminster and Drizz't in it - Funny how it's always those two - Cadderley is far more OP than Drizz't, The Simbul and Halaster Blackcloak are more powerful than Elminster!

Let's look at this though -
1) Have you not heard of Mordenkainen, Tenser, Bigby, Iuz, Vecna? The list goes on!

2) Par Salian is the most powerful Wizard on Ansalon and the Leader of ALL Wizards on Ansalon - Even Raistlin has no choice but to submit to the Wizard Tests - The Knights of Solamnia under Gunther Uth Wistan {Sp?} won't accept Sturm Brightblade as an actual Knight even though he's better than every last one of them!
The Main Characters - Tanis Half-Elven, Raistlin and Caramon Majere, Sturm Brightblade, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, Flint Fireforge, Goldmoon & Riverwind and Tika - in The Dragonlance Novels {and many Dragonlance games because they were the Default characters players were handed} were and still are LOW LEVEL! {ok Raistlin has been called the most powerful Wizard on Ansalon but as even Par Salian was only like Lvl 13-16 that's not saying much - Krynn and Dragonlance was a very low-magic, low-power campaign world!

3) Drizz't is NOT an adventurer! His stories have all been self-contained where he's basically surviving or protecting those he cares about!
Drizz't was a Fighter who became a Ranger - Even in later Novels that I've read he doesn't cast spells - which means that in 2nd Ed. terms he has less than 7 Ranger Levels {OK in DDO Rangers get Lvl 1 Spells at Lvl 4 but Drizz't was created during 2nd Ed.}.
Drizz't is not that powerful - He doesn't take jobs away from Player Characters and with the size of the Forgotten Realms the Player Characters ever meeting him would be a miracle outside of Icewind Dale!
IF Your campaign starts in Icewind Dale then make it at a point when Drizz't is not there! Drizz't actually didn't spend that much time in Icewind Dale!

4) Elminster regularly goes Planewalking - He cannot be everywhere at once - And even if the Campaign starts in the Dales {as a lot of FR Campaigns did} then at that point your Player Characters are just starting out and low level - Elminster has other much worse things to worry about!

5) The Forgotten Realms should be praised for its High Magic, High Power Set-Up where basically every major NPC is Mid to Very High Level - There's always a more powerful foe though!
You get your Characters up to Lvl 27-30 {Elminster was 27 when FR came out and is probably 32 by now} and Elminster will likely be an Ally {as he is in DDO - If only he'd stop piking and being a Glory-Hound!} at times and elsewhere at others - You don't ALWAYS have to be competing! Heck at that point you're probably playing an Evil Character and Elminster is the Enemy anyway!

6) I've heard people stating happily that Eberron is a low power world where your Player Characters are the Heroes they cannot be in FR {Or Greyhawk for that matter} - Uh NO! The Twelve, The Dragon Council of Argonnessen, House Phiarlan, House Deneith, House Lyrandar etc. etc. etc.
Eberron is a Super-High Power, High Magic {and High Technology} World! Far worse than Forgotten Realms - It's just the most powerful ALLIES {As opposed to Enemies like The Lady Vol or The Lord of Blades} were not named at the beginning! It was left to the DM to give them names and characters!
Let's face it though - That's not that different from FR - Where Khelben Blackstaff is in Waterdeep, Elminster 1500 miles away in Shadowdale and The Simbul another 1000 miles away in Aglarond}.
Elminster is the Right Hand of Mystra - He's constantly getting sent on missions for her - many of them having nothing to do with the Forgotten Realms!
Khelben Blackstaff spends most of his time administrating and politicking in Waterdeep - That's when he's not studying new Lore in his Tower - He's no longer an Adventuring Mage!
The Simbul is the Supreme Ruler of Aglarond and constantly defending that country against it's Neighbour - THAY! She cannot leave to go questing or her country will be torn apart by the Red Wizards!




Again, I don't think it matters. If they could have put them on realms that needed more fleshing out, they should have. They didn't, because TSR/WoTC seriously love their FR setting (as their very company name was changed to suggest!).

Uh what now?

Wizards of the Coast has absolutely nothing to do with The Sword Coast!
Wizards of the Coast are a completely different company from TSR - WotC bought out TSR!



Fair enough, more power to them I guess I mean it's made them a ton of money and is almost entirely responsible for DnD being as popular as it is - but it puts me off, in the same way that Limp Bizkit were apparently required before rock would be seen as just another viable style of music by hysterical media.

Limp Bizkit's first album - Three Dollar Bill Y'All - is an unsung Masterpiece! {Pestilence, Nobody Loves Me, Faith, Counterfeit!}.
Take a Look Around {which is off their THIRD album btw} is an Awesome Song and deservedly was a #1 Hit!
The rest of their stuff is meh to awful.

The Media that I've seen/read has done nothing but knock/attack Limp Bizkit for pretty much as long as the band has existed - Heck Fred Durst gets more vitriol aimed at him than Justin Bieber does!

I guess you've never heard of Van Halen or Whitesnake or Def Leppard or QUEEN or METALLICA or Iron Maiden or Guns N' Roses or Faith No More or Nirvana or The Foo Fighters or any of a number of other bands!
Heck Korn, Marilyn Manson and NIN all pre-dated Limp Bizkit!
We wouldn't have Linkin Park without Limp Bizkit.


And again - I'm NOT a fan of Limp Bizkit - I love their first album and Take a Look Around but that's it - They went downhill fast!
It's just that like the Forgotten Realms they don't really deserve ALL of the vitriol aimed at them.

[Rykka]

http://i.imgur.com/Ab6iNgl.jpg
Yep.

[dunklezhan]

stuff about FR being big


The Realms has it's problems - I'm no fan of them myself BUT I'm also no fan of Greyhawk or Dragonlance and all the problems people complain about in FR exist in both Greyhawk and Dragonlance - Some of those problems are far worse in Greyhawk or Dragonlance!



Yes, you are correct, it's huge and other realms have their problems. I'm simply saying I prefer my worlds more compact with distinct flavours. I am aware that our world is not like that, but it is one of the things I dislike about FR. Other people like it (clearly).




And on to the Biggest Issue people complain about in FR - - Funny how it's always those two - Cadderley is far more OP than Drizz't, The Simbul and Halaster Blackcloak are more powerful than Elminster!


Not me though! Them being in the game has zero impact on me. I just plain don't like mary-sues.



Wizards of the Coast has absolutely nothing to do with The Sword Coast!
Wizards of the Coast are a completely different company from TSR - WotC bought out TSR!



Fair enough. WoTC has a very coincidental theme then. So much so that I can't imagine it came without inspiration, quite honestly, but this is I realise now, speculation on my part.



Stuff about rock and metal


All that is entirely subjective and not the point of what I was saying at all (also you are not talking about the same bit of the media as I am, but this is a red herring to the point I was making so I shan't bother to elaborate, this post is long enough):

Perhaps I'm misconstruing your reply in which case I apologise but I am inferring from your impassioned response to what I said that you have interpreted my disliking something as being equivalent to me saying that those who do like that thing are 'wrong' and that therefore their position needs to be defended.

This is not really the case and it certainly wasn't intended to be implied as my position.

I'm giving my reasons for not liking FR, and noting that they are similar reasons to the reasons I don't particularly like that band (they are similar, not the same. FR has everything to the point where it loses flavour and becomes bland. I find the band in question just bland and samey, from the outset). I'm not saying that the band is terrible and I'm not saying the people who develop and maintain FR are terrible writers. Just that I don't like the product, and the reasons why. Other people don't find that product affects them the same way, and they buy it in droves. Go them.

In the OP the example of two mere expansions to a realm being cited as if they are genuine 'realm choices' is symptomatic of the reasons I dislike FR. That does not mean I think that the OP was wrong to include them: the realms is so big that it makes sense to include them. But they are not realms, and it's that very "bigness" and 'everything included within' feel to FR that allows the expansions to be seen that way which I don't like - not the OPs choices.


That's all.

Anything else, you're putting there yourself.

To the OP: apologies for the derail.

[Crexis]

Why do you list Eberron and parts of Forgotten Realms but not FR itself? I would like to explore more of FR since we have seen so little of it in DDO.

[grrowler]

Why do you list Eberron and parts of Forgotten Realms but not FR itself? I would like to explore more of FR since we have seen so little of it in DDO.

ugh, yeah, I know - sorry about this, I did intend to put Forgotten Realms as a choice when I set up the poll - I wanted to put both Eberron and Forgotten Realms as choices so that people that wanted to see more quests/expansions in the current ddo campaign settings had options to vote.

What happened was this:

when I set up the forum poll, it asks you how many poll slots you would like to have - I had originally slated 12 slots, including Forgotten Realms.

then after filling out all the slots, I realized I only had 11 of 12 entries submitted, when I was going through the list I overlooked Forgotten Realms because I was looking at the list which had Kara Tur and Al-Qadim as sub-entries.
So I thought I overallocated slots, and the forum poll allowed me to go back and change the qty of polling entries to 11.

After I did the campaign summaries, I realized I left Forgotten Realms out, but there is no option to go back and edit an existing poll to add an entry - it is something that Cordovan could probably do, but it is not worth his time to do that.

... but it is a major oversight on my part, so I am really sorry.

I actually would like to see more of the Forgotten Realms actualized in game, although my personal vote was for Dark Sun.

I also should apologize for not including other campaign settings that people felt passionate about - I probably should have included Blackmoor based on the forum replies. I was looking at the list of official Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings, and had made the decision to exclude some of the campaign settings that (I thought) were more obscure:

Birthright
Blackmoor
Council of Wyrms (this campaign setting had the option to play as dragons and half dragons)
Ghostwalk (this campaign setting I think had the options for undead player characters)
Jakandor
Kingdoms of Kalamar



obviously I should have put more planning into the poll, but I was excited about the forum polling feature itself. I was asking Cordovan about posting polls in the ddo forums a while ago, so I jumped at the opportunity.

[Sunnie]

6) I've heard people stating happily that Eberron is a low power world where your Player Characters are the Heroes they cannot be in FR {Or Greyhawk for that matter} - Uh NO! The Twelve, The Dragon Council of Argonnessen, House Phiarlan, House Deneith, House Lyrandar etc. etc. etc.
Eberron is a Super-High Power, High Magic {and High Technology} World! Far worse than Forgotten Realms - It's just the most powerful ALLIES {As opposed to Enemies like The Lady Vol or The Lord of Blades} were not named at the beginning! It was left to the DM to give them names and characters!
Let's face it though - That's not that different from FR - Where Khelben Blackstaff is in Waterdeep, Elminster 1500 miles away in Shadowdale and The Simbul another 1000 miles away in Aglarond}.
Elminster is the Right Hand of Mystra - He's constantly getting sent on missions for her - many of them having nothing to do with the Forgotten Realms!
Khelben Blackstaff spends most of his time administrating and politicking in Waterdeep - That's when he's not studying new Lore in his Tower - He's no longer an Adventuring Mage!
The Simbul is the Supreme Ruler of Aglarond and constantly defending that country against it's Neighbour - THAY! She cannot leave to go questing or her country will be torn apart by the Red Wizards!
The Twelve: A whole bunch of scholars.
Argonnessen: A whole bunch of dragons.
House P: A whole bunch of elves.
House D: A whole bunch of humans.
House Lyrandar: A whole bunch of Helves
etc. etc.

Elminster: One person.
Khelben Blackstaff: One person.
The Simbul: One person (or whatever).
etc. etc.

And Lady Vol has maybe HALF the levels that Elminster has, if that. The LoB is another couple of levels behind that, and he's basically a demi-god by Eberron standards already.

Do you see what the problem might be there?

It's not that there are powerful factions, allies, or enemies, it's that all the power in the FR is concentrated in very few NPCs that are pretty much untouchable. If you want to mess with one of the factions in Eberron you've got plenty of options. Take House D for example, you can infiltrate them, spy on them, sabotage operations, kidnap a loved one of some higher ranking member and blackmail that one. They're powerful taken together, but House D still consists of many relatively normal individuals and that gives you many angles to work from. Now consider messing with Elminster... yeah, you're s.o.l. None of the methods that could give you an edge against the oh-so-powerful house D is worth a wet fart against the powerhouses in FR. Depending on who you pick a fight with, you'll just find yourself utterly humiliated at best, or possibly have your soul trapped in a gem and traded to some fiend. In the FR there can basically be no other interaction with the powerful NPCs beyond "Do as you're told" or possibly "Grovel and beg for mercy", that's how the realms are written, and that's one big reason why I think they suck.



As for OP's question, I have an easier time ruling out things than pointing to the one I'd like to see. I'm definitely opposed to Al-Qadim, Kara-Tur, or Dragonlance. I'm very "don't you have better things to do" on Dark Sun, Mystara and Lakhmar, and Ravenloft (as someone said above, the mood of RL is just not very suited to the replaying of quests in an MMO).
Greyhawk might have some nice things to offer, and we already got the ToEE basically, though not the campaign for it.
Spelljammer sounds dope AF, there could be a whole expansion about house Lyrandar finding new business opportunities in spaaaaace!
Planescape, the setting where an eladrin and a devil can meet in the street and exchange no more than a "good morning", if DDO is going the way of multiple settings anyway, Sigil would really tie it together. And there's a huge opportunity for odd quests and questgivers.
And I'm always cool with more Eberron content. It's where DDO started, and I think it's where DDO should stay grounded.

[FranOhmsford]

The Twelve: A whole bunch of scholars.
Argonnessen: A whole bunch of dragons.
House P: A whole bunch of elves.
House D: A whole bunch of humans.
House Lyrandar: A whole bunch of Helves
etc. etc.

Nice try but no - Those Houses are massively powerful and full of High Level NPCs - It's just it's left up to the DMs to create those High Level Characters rather than having specific named ones ready like in other Worlds {Not Just FR either - Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Planescape - All of them have their major NPCs named}.


P.S. Lol at a whole bunch of dragons!

The Twelve aren't Scholars - They're Archmages and generally High Level ones!

Having read some Lore on House P and House Thuranni your DM is pretty lenient.


Elminster: One person.
Khelben Blackstaff: One person.
The Simbul: One person (or whatever).
etc. etc.

And each of those people have significant enemies and major requirements on their time that keep them from questing or interfering with Player Characters except in special circumstances like the Player Characters interfering with them.

An organisation like the ones listed is far far more powerful than any one person - Taking on the Dragon Council is literally going to end up with the destruction of Stormreach and environs!


And Lady Vol has maybe HALF the levels that Elminster has, if that. The LoB is another couple of levels behind that, and he's basically a demi-god by Eberron standards already.


By D&D's Rules Lvl 32 is what you have to be to become a Demi-God {That is - Start on the Path to becoming one!}.

Elminster was Lvl 27 in 2nd Ed, Granted he's higher now but 32? No!
{Admittedly you might irritate Mystra were you to take out Elminster but I for one absolutely loathe the idea of Evil Player Characters in D&D and so cannot see any reason for you to want to take out Elminster!}.

Khelben was Lvl 25 or 26 back then and IF he's still alive which I've heard he isn't he would be higher level now - But again Not Lvl 32 and likely not even beyond 30.

The Simbul was Lvl 30 back then and possibly given the supposedly 100 years that have gone by in FR since, she would be = to Lady Vol AND The Lord of Blades at this point - But somehow I doubt it! {The Red Wizards of Thay would definitely not want that!}.


The Lord of Blades is not "basically" a Demi-God by Eberron standards - At least not in DDO - In DDO he's a full God who's creating his own followers!
The Lady Vol I can accept as a Demi-God but again she's pretty close to being a full God with all her Worshippers.


Lolth was considered a Demi-God in some early D&D Rulebooks but it's quite obvious she is not just a Demi-God now and hasn't been for some considerable time - Things change and Eberron is not a low power World anymore - If it ever truly was one!

[Sunnie]

The Lord of Blades is not "basically" a Demi-God by Eberron standards - At least not in DDO - In DDO he's a full God who's creating his own followers!
The Lady Vol I can accept as a Demi-God but again she's pretty close to being a full God with all her Worshippers.
No.

The Dark Six are gods. The Sovereign Host are gods. Volkuur is a god.

Lady Vol and the LoB are not gods. They are worshipped, and may be on their way to becoming gods, but they're definitely not there yet.

If you want to argue their levels, it depends a bit on the source, but Lady Vol is somewhere around 16, and the LoB a bit lower.

Gods in Eberron don't show up on the prime material plane, they don't interfere in person. There's also no way you can pop over to their realm for tea and cake. The most you see of them is some avatar (as presumably in OOB). When those drow at the end of Vulkoor Spiral are turned into scorrow it's a godblessed miracle that could only happen because certain conditions were met. Maybe Vol and the LoB can eventually become gods and will then ascend to their own realms or something, but as things are they are "merely" very powerful. Call them "god-LIKE" by the standards of the common citizen, if you will.



So yeah, the powerlevel of Eberron's strongest indivduals is WAY behind that of the Forgotten Realms's.



And sure, House D has some powerful individual members, but are you seriously arguing that any of them are anywhere NEAR the power of a high-level FR NPC? If so, hook me up with your dealer, I want to try some of that stuff. The Houses in Eberron are powerful, yes, but they're powerful because they consist of hundreds or thousands of individuals who all add a little power to the whole. In the FR you get individuals who are as powerful as entire nations.
If you really don't see the difference between having a powerful ORGANISATION and having an equally (or even more) powerful INDIVIDUAL, I really don't know how to explain it to you any better. If you still don't see the difference, please elaborate on what is unclear so I can help you find out just in what way your opinion is wrong.

[The_Human_Cypher]

I would really like to see Kara-Tur, actually (I voted for Ravenloft), I just know it will never happen.

[bsquishwizzy]

I, and apparently a lot of others went Grayhawk. Although Planescape at the moment is way in the lead.

I've always been a fan of Grayhawk. Its the source of classic modules. It is the source of classic modules because the writing and the lore was so...frickin'...good. Iuz and Vecna. Jealousy and revenge. Ancient ruins of lost people. Strange relics to be wondered over and feared. All covered over with a shroud so that you are always wondering what is connected to whom. Sometimes wi****l, and something grim. A low magic setting still makes the arcane mysterious without removing it altogether. It's no wonder why, in that setting, is where some of the most iconic quests exist.

My problem is that, in many other settings, when you start putting power too up-front, you lose that shroud that keeps you pondering. You start explaining things, and that edges the reader out of the fun. Grayhawk never really did that, and I think that why so many people liked it. They could pour whatever they wanted into the gaps in between.

[Holleyz]

Ravenloft. If people I know that play this game would actually come to the forums you would see a massive jump in the votes for Ravenloft. Sadly though everyone but 2 of those people refuses to even load the ddo forums due to the high negativity.

[CPDK9]

I would really like to see just the village of Hommlet added as the starting point for Greyhawk adventures like we have with Eveningstar for Forgotten Realms. Plans could then be made for further expansion into Greyhawk to possibly include the city of Greyhawk. As for the Realms, it would be great to see an expansion in that area with options North and East: Dalelands, Moonsea, that huge desert region north of Cormyr, and the Underdark. I think you have plenty of content possibilities as well as published modules.

On a separate subject, I personally think the an opportunity was missed with not including the original aspect of A4. With all the talk about power creep, there was an opportunity to create an adventure that you had nothing on your person and would have had to rely on your skills and abilities. Perhaps the mechanics of stripping toons or suppressing gear would have been too problematic.

[grrowler]

Ravenloft. If people I know that play this game would actually come to the forums you would see a massive jump in the votes for Ravenloft. Sadly though everyone but 2 of those people refuses to even load the ddo forums due to the high negativity.

well, severlin and cordovan have all but confirmed that they will be working on Ravenloft for ddo - the question is whether it will be a standalone adventure quest or if they will take the time to outline a Mists/Demiplane of Dread/Shadowfell lands expansion with the Vistani and a few Darklords, and whether they would introduce any type of fear/madness and/or corruption/dark powers checks.. it would be really cool if they made character alignment play an important role in Ravenloft.

the reason that people might not be voting for Ravenloft in this poll is because Ravenloft is basically guaranteed at this point, and the voters are rallying for the next campaign expansion.


I would really like to see just the village of Hommlet added as the starting point for Greyhawk adventures like we have with Eveningstar for Forgotten Realms. Plans could then be made for further expansion into Greyhawk to possibly include the city of Greyhawk. As for the Realms, it would be great to see an expansion in that area with options North and East: Dalelands, Moonsea, that huge desert region north of Cormyr, and the Underdark. I think you have plenty of content possibilities as well as published modules.

Cordovan had addressed the issue of Greyhawk in a previous livestream, and had said that it would cost a lot of money to get licensing rights for Greyhawk; that is why when you talk to the questgivers for TOEE and Slavers, they only mention a mysterious distant land.

the expansion to the Sword Coast area in Forgotten Realms was asked in the DDO Players interview recently, and Cordovan basically confirmed on the livestream what Grandern had replied in the thread:
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/479776-Have-Questions-For-Nohbob-Or-Cordovan?



DDO will not be going to the Sword Coast, it seems there is an agreement that Neverwinter gets the Sword Coast and DDO gets eastern Faerun.
It's a little like when the Spanish and Portuguese divided South America for colonization except its Faerun and there are no colonies.




On a separate subject, I personally think the an opportunity was missed with not including the original aspect of A4. With all the talk about power creep, there was an opportunity to create an adventure that you had nothing on your person and would have had to rely on your skills and abilities. Perhaps the mechanics of stripping toons or suppressing gear would have been too problematic.

yes, that is what Nohbob had said was the main problem would have been implementing A4. can you imagine though the outrage if the game glitched when your backpack had been emptied out, and you never get back any of your gear?