Again, stop conflating Lore and Mechanics. The mechanics may currently come up short of the 5e detail desired, but the Lore is unmistakably Baldur's Gate, Sword Coast flavoring.
The question was "What about you guys, do you feel you're in the forgotten realms?".
As I said, when you play the game you experience everything - lore / mechanics / visual / (side) stories / ... - at the same time. Everything is a part of the world in which you're playing.
+1
And this is where I am coming from. This feels like a theme park that has been reskinned for a particular event. Like when Disney turned the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. Superficially it says all the right things and it looks gorgeous, but Forgotten Realms was written to feel like a real world. This absolutely doesn't. Some of it has to do with the proximity of locations, but some of it also has to do with how all these locations are tied to one another. Druids in FR are typically portrayed as reclusives who settle in the most inhospitable of wilds as far removed from civilization as possible in order to preserve the natural order in its natural state or as individuals on a mission to restore that balance. . .They don't usually make hippy communes off the side of the road between major trade routes and towns with No Girls Allowed signs around the perimeter. Even before the Snail Boat crashed there was no wilderness in this area left for the druids to protect or cultivate. Deer? Wolves? Bears? Well there is a single Owl Bear Just very little of this makes any real sense if you think about it. There are ruins on the beach that any novice can break into that look like they have been abandoned and unmolested for at least a century. There are self styled adventurers scavenging them about the same time the party discovers them, but they don't appear to be locals or else they would have been more concerned with the Gnolls and Goblins. . .And if they are not locals, then why would they push through all the obvious threats in order to raid that particular location only to haul their treasure horde back through those previously ignored threats, There are Harpy nests and numerous skeletons within eyesight of the enclave which noone seems aware of or concerned by. There are Absolute worshippers and parasite bearers literally everywhere you go. Is this a localized phenomena or global? How long has this been going on? It doesn't feel as though these things really have explanations. A lot of this feels hastily thrown together and just kind of lazy, which is not at all reflective of most FR content as it has been produced over much of its run.
Even the plot hook itself is kind of stretched in consideration of the setting. With Greater Restoration or the True Resurrection spells out there our primary motivation becomes pretty inconsequential. We are constantly told these won't work, but the only justification offered seems to be Because Magic and the only reason we don't have access to them is because of arbitrary levels caps which have been incompetently imposed. I am sure everyone here has seen the thread about the level of archdruids and dragons in EA.
It is a very pretty game and it is obvious some hard work has gone into it, but the writing is disappointing, and a little more hard work could fix that. It isn't personal its just an honest appraisal. Some people probably don't see it and I imagine many people don't care, but that is no reason to argue with the individuals who are sensitive to the flaws. If the people pointing out structural weakness in the game are are listened to then things may be improved, if not then things stay the same. Either way most people will never notice or care except for the truly invested. Arguing that things are fine as they are is sort of silly. The point of EA is to get feedback, everyone should be at ease to express their opinions. Discussions are useful in identifying individual elements but argument over it is ridiculous. Furthermore, I think most people are capable of distinguishing between those personal aspects which make up our own tastes and other other independent aspects which allow us to have a shared experience. Not all expectation hinges upon preference
