I think the key here is that they aren't making a Forgotten Realms movie, they're making a D&D movie. Those things do not immediately go hand in hand. They're leaning on the idea of D&D and what people think of whrn they think of that. And they're presenting the engaging, fun version of that rather than the mean-spirited, "for nerds" version. And I think that's on purpose. The Forgotten Realms seems almost vestigial to the game at this point based on what I've seen. The main books clearly expect you to make up your own stuff. It name drops a bunch of things but provides no details. Stuff likes Volo's guide, Tashaa's cauldron, etc, all are clearly meant to evoke names old fans will recognize, but fans who only got into 5th edition? Those names are meaningless. Speaking of sourcebooks, there have been more sourcebooks about Magic the Gathering settings than about Toril. Sure the adventures happen there, but there's no "here's an overview of the world" book. That lack of care seems to have rubbed off on Larian too for that matter, since act 1 just fails on a worldbuilding level in my opinion. They care about the big, iconic names and that's about it.
Which isn't to say I think the movie will be bad because of it. The trailer certainly captured my idea of D&D. It's just an issue I've seen with D&D as a whole. And on that subject of WotC only caring about big names, you know there's a D&D themed game of Clue out? It's about Zariel cultists in Baldur's Gate. Which is... interesting. It even references Elturel.
Last edited by Gray Ghost; 19/03/23 06:21 AM.
