Since we have been asked by a moderator to focus on the potential reintroduction of lore books in future D&D products and not on the Orc Racism Controversy™, I’ll comment on the former.

I don’t think we’re going to get the lore from the legacy products reintroduced. I partly think this is the case because of the aforementioned controversy, but I don’t think that is the primary reason. I think the primary reason is that Wizards of the Coast doesn’t want to hire writers for lore, and will just put “I dunno, you figure it out” as they do for many things in most of their recent products, though they may adopt DEI language as a fig leaf like they did with the OGL controversy. This is likely a cost-cutting measure to save on having to hire writers who need to be paid and as well as to save on printing space in the books.

Honestly I do think the solution to this is more good sized setting books, which would also provide an opportunity for the art crowd to get move varied pictures instead of the one or two so many races are stuck with.

As long as they don't whitewash everything into uninspiring drivel, it will be fine.

That would be like Star Wars with no aliens and all the planets being the earth normal.

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >>

Honestly I do think the solution to this is more good sized setting books, which would also provide an opportunity for the art crowd to get move varied pictures instead of the one or two so many races are stuck with.

 
if they can properly support them, absolutely— give each depth, recognizing that they can build it up over time.  Use the old gazetteer format, maybe.

I think that a Lore, Rules, five to seven adventures (covering like five levels each, roughly), Trivia (little nuggets and clarifications of the previous), Bestiary, and a homebrew guide would all be very welcome by people for multiple settings.

they gotta do them, though. Say, six month lead, quarterly publication, gives time to build up marketing and set tie ins, get merchandising going with other parts if it takes off post release of the first adventure. Put a forum lead for each.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >>

Honestly I do think the solution to this is more good sized setting books, which would also provide an opportunity for the art crowd to get move varied pictures instead of the one or two so many races are stuck with.

 
if they can properly support them, absolutely— give each depth, recognizing that they can build it up over time.  Use the old gazetteer format, maybe.

I think that a Lore, Rules, five to seven adventures (covering like five levels each, roughly), Trivia (little nuggets and clarifications of the previous), Bestiary, and a homebrew guide would all be very welcome by people for multiple settings.

they gotta do them, though. Say, six month lead, quarterly publication, gives time to build up marketing and set tie ins, get merchandising going with other parts if it takes off post release of the first adventure. Put a forum lead for each.

 I am a fan of the the Gazetteer format for expanding upon campaign worlds. They should bring back box sets for introducing campaign worlds that contain a "lore" book, a bestiary and a player's book, as well as a fold up map.  Then expand on that content with an annual gazetteer (I think quarterly is too much).  That would be the perfect place for new lore.

However, I would not want them to over do it with new worlds the way they did back in the day. The worlds would have to have something that really makes them unique the way Eberron is distinctly different from FR.

Quote from Golaryn >>

Quote from AEDorsay >>

Quote from The_Ace_of_Rogues >>

Honestly I do think the solution to this is more good sized setting books, which would also provide an opportunity for the art crowd to get move varied pictures instead of the one or two so many races are stuck with.

 
if they can properly support them, absolutely— give each depth, recognizing that they can build it up over time.  Use the old gazetteer format, maybe.

I think that a Lore, Rules, five to seven adventures (covering like five levels each, roughly), Trivia (little nuggets and clarifications of the previous), Bestiary, and a homebrew guide would all be very welcome by people for multiple settings.

they gotta do them, though. Say, six month lead, quarterly publication, gives time to build up marketing and set tie ins, get merchandising going with other parts if it takes off post release of the first adventure. Put a forum lead for each.

 I am a fan of the the Gazetteer format for expanding upon campaign worlds. They should bring back box sets for introducing campaign worlds that contain a "lore" book, a bestiary and a player's book, as well as a fold up map.  Then expand on that content with an annual gazetteer (I think quarterly is too much).  That would be the perfect place for new lore.

However, I would not want them to over do it with new worlds the way they did back in the day. The worlds would have to have something that really makes them unique the way Eberron is distinctly different from FR.

 
yes, yes! Exactly!

I mean, remember when we had dark sun and maztica and Kara tur (before it was moved to FR) and I seem to recall like two others, all in that two year span, and it often seemed like it was here’s your dribble, here’s one adventure, yay you! Planescape was stand alone, too, iirc.

Dark Sun was incredibly different from anything else, but because it didn’t “take off”, they dropped it — and yet it is an amazeballs setting. Planescape sorta speaks for itself. But Kara-tur and Maztica (and ignoring other things for now) we’re really just the same kind of thing as FR — hence how they got added in so easily.

I bought the Eberron sourcebook because it was so different, even knowing I would never actually play in it. They could probably pull off one more roughly close to traditional one like Eberron, but I admit I like to see things from outside a western expression. Which may be a tall order and all, but that gives us the ability to move beyond the generic medieval fantasy. Krynn may have killed that slot out or simply been too much similar.

even better would be to do genre built settings. Still fantasy, still swords and magic, but a fuller gaslamp, or an urban fantasy, or a gangster set up, or a more broad horror (and for crying out loud, the have CoS right there). They need to branch out from heroic, high, and low fantasy.

those things exist, but none of them are able to be as fully supported as WotC can do it.

heck, they could hold auditions, do votes, the whole thing — draw the community into it like they did for Eberron. To help establish interest and build support. Even as they look back and really drill into stuff from the past with an eye to the present like they are already doing.

Not to mention they have a big company owner, that has focused on licensing. They could grab some game IPs.