Any Forgotten Realms fans?

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It's undeniable that I know that world through PC games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Those were very cool games (and I really find Dragon Age boring compare to them) and it drew me to know more about Faerun. Then I learned a lot of background settings, by reading stuffs like 3rd Edition Campaign Setting and various novels.

There was a time I spent much time to read FR novels in order to practice my English proficiency. I like Harpers series and it seems attractive at least to non-native reader like me. Empire series were also interesting for its attempt to recreate plots based on real history. However, the novel version of Baldur's Gate was a big disappointment.

I dislike 4th DND Edition as well as the 4th Edition FR setting because it destroyed almost all of its distinctive characteristics that its reputation lies upon. Frankly speaking I like BG and Icewind Dale's 2nd Ed. rule better but it's a pity it's after all in 2D. So I played NWN as well as NWN2 much more.

FR was destroyed for a reason. First and foremost it's a setting for dungeons and dragons, and once your adventures progress past a certain point you have to ask why the many near-godlike heroes of the realms aren't handling the threat directly. So you either up playing second fiddle to Elminster and friends, or they conveniently go on vacation every time something bad happens.

Look at the Star Wars books, practically everything in the galaxy somehow ends up relating to Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia in some manner and it's detrimental to good storytelling.

I agree and that is one of the reason that I begin to dislike Star Wars' extended universe. According to what I know it already became a story of Skywalkers' family problems after the empire no longer exists.

Despite that Chosen of Mystra were definitely the core of the Faerun settings, they did not seem to be an indispensable factor to make a good FR story, like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Pools of Radiance all did not seem to have much to do with Elminster and Seven Sisters (as well as some stories of Drizzit). FR's grandness once gave it a lot of potential, that stories can be created in any part of the world, and that's what I like.

D. All of the Above.

These and many other reasons are why I gave up AD&D to play Traveller.

i love the setting and the stories of elminster,

i dislike most class based rulesets though so my pen adn paper game of choice is alternity

After played a lot of Elder Scrolls recent years now I really miss experience points setting and BG and NWN's level designs.
I'm not attacking Elder Scrolls and actually I like this series fairly much too.
But I really think TES's skill and level system really sometimes made some really absurd things happen, like a level 10 character could be Archmage, while a level 20 could have done nothing in the world (if you just made thousands of "practices" to increase skills).

NWN1's level design could not be more typical and could almost be used as a standard pattern. You are treated as a commoner fighting thugs and brutes between level 1-7; treated as a hero fighting monsters like trolls and ogres between level 8-13; treated as a great hero while fighting dragons and giants alike and to save the world beyond level 14.