So, I'm a completionist who spends way more money on RPGs than he should. As such, I purchased Wildemount on DND Beyond.

However, I've already got SCAG. I already run adventures in it because I've gotten lazier as I've aged and I no longer want to spend the time and effort creating a homebrew world where the players will either ignore or not care about all the cool stuff I think I've created. As such, I already have an "adventure world."

As far as being a Critter, I'm conversant with Critical Role, but I'm not a follower. If that makes sense. I listen to it on the way to work and back, but it's not the only podcast I listen to.

So, looking at this from the perspective of the two sorta points above: What does Wildemount give that Forgotten Realms doesn't? Why would someone want to switch to it? What's so cool about it? and other such questions.

Please notice the [+] in the title. Try not to rag on either one of the settings.

I don't have the book but I have watched abut half of CR season 2 so far. Both FR and WM are settings, so what WM gives you, like Eberron, is a different setting. It also gives you some house rules that may be different from how normal D&D plays (like custom classes or spells). It gives you a different world, history, politics, etc. These are not better, or worse than, FR's -- any more than Eberron's are. They are just different.

One thing it might give you (but probably not) is more "unknowns" than FR. If your players are familiar with D&D, they probably know FR backwards, forwards, and inside out -- it's hard not to, since most D&D materials are FR, and even the basic rulebooks (DMG, PHB, etc.) assume FR and have tons of text in them that is actually specific to FR and not general to D&D (and they do not do enough, IMO, to flag which things are FR-specific and not general to D&D, but that is a separate issue). Consequently, since WM is a "new" setting and your players probably haven't played in it before, you may be able to surprise them more than you can with FR -- and they may have more fun exploring more unknown places and meeting new creatures, rather than the same-old-same-old in the Neverwinter Woods.

However, WM comes from CR, so if you have players who have watched CR a lot (and if you're playing in WM you probably do), then the world will still be pretty familiar, and maybe more so for some aspects than FR would be, since there are certain locales and politics that the CR show has plumbed to depths that no mere book would cover.

Please notice the [+] in the title.

I'm not actually familiar with what '[+]' means, can you clarify?

As for the settings, Wildemount is just a different take on a generic fantasy setting. The gods work in different ways, there's different political structures and conflict, there's a different historical legacy. Basically if you're not into what Faerun does, but you kinda dig how it does it, then maybe Wildemount will appeal. 

I think [+] based on him asking not to rag on either setting means he only wants "positive" or non-critical comments about the two settings.

Quote from BioWizard >>

I think [+] based on him asking not to rag on either setting means he only wants "positive" or non-critical comments about the two settings.

 Right! It's forum code for "don't give me all them negative waves!" I'm looking to avoid a thread that devolves into either FR suxxors!!!1!! Or Critical Role stole a production slot that could have been used for a full FR campaign guide! ********!!

Just wanna keep the positive vibes flowing.

It's new, that's the real thing. FR is fine but it's been a standard setting for so long that  it's just baseline. Not only that but it's been so long that all the blanks on the map are filled out.  Wildemont is  a different setting, we don't have a book shelf full of source books and novels from the last 30 years. 

I'm not a critter, not even a bit. (I don't know I just can't do the listen to people play D&D thing). But I LOVE Wildemont, I love the setting and that it feels fresh and different. 

As was said above it's a completely different campaign world that has a unique and varied history, just as Eberron, Ravnica, Theros, Athas, Krynn, Greyhawk are all different campaign settings with unique and varied histories. 

If you already have a campaign world, just pull in some of the monsters and classes from the other worlds, keep your players on their toes. ;)

Personally, I'm a Critter, but I have no interest in playing in Wildemount because that's Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein's world and I'd always feel like I'm in their shadow. I also have little interest in Forgotten Realms because it's too big and too old and has too much history for any one person to remember and maintain.

Okay, I'm not a Critter, but I have seen Critical Role a few times, enjoyed it, and know a lot of info about it from the Critical Role Wiki, because I just don't have the time to watch the show. I also have Explorer's Guide to Wildemount and have read nearly all of it. 

So, what is the main thing IMO that makes Wildemount better than Forgotten Realms? Here it is:

It's newer.

Now, let me explain. Just because it's newer doesn't automatically make it a better setting, because the fact that Ravnica came to 5e less than 2 years ago didn't make it the best campaign when it came out. No, that isn't what makes a campaign setting good, but it is a huge advantage. 

So, what makes it better is that it has less expected of it. When a new Forgotten Realms book comes out, there's more to be expected of it. The Forgotten Realms has been around for a long time. Since near the beginning of D&D. It has a ton of lore. I recommend you go to the Forgotten Realms wiki and just look up the amount of things described. The future has been described. They have rules for outer space and all the comets, planets, and moons in the crystal sphere. They have names for thousands of characters. They have a chronology that keeps track of thousands of years, detailing everything that happened in each year.

Wildemount isn't like that. It's not super filled with lore. In my opinion, it has a great balance between lore and lack thereof. It leaves enough things open and a mystery to encourage others to fill it in with their own information. (That's why Eberron is so popular.) If you want to know something about the Forgotten Realms, you just search the wiki, or ask Ed Greenwood or Chris Perkins online. That's not how things work for Wildemount. You can search the wiki, but it has less information on the world than the book does. There's a bit of info that exists only on the wiki, but not much. Anything else, you make up. Matthew Mercer has encouraged people to make Exandria their own.

There are many things that Wildemount has that are better than the Forgotten Realms, but the main one is the lack of lore. It seems backwards, but it's true. There's simply too much on the Forgotten Realms to draw many people to it. Exandria doesn't have this problem. Greyhawk has this problem, so does Krynn, so does Ravnica and Theros, and so does Eberron to an extent. (Eberron is different. You're highly encouraged to make Eberron your own, but there is a lot of lore to take in from all the books on Eberron.)

Wildemount has many things that draw people to the setting. Critical Role has the biggest impact on this. Tons of people watch the show, which makes it a very popular setting. There's a simplicity to it that makes it also drawing. Additionally, the lore of the world is very good. The conflict between the typically evil races and the typically okay humans in the war between the Kryn Dynasty and Dwendalian Empire is very drawing. People play Eberron to deal with the fallout of a large war in an unexplored world. People play in the Forgotten Realms to get into the lore and grand adventures with world shaking events. People play in Krynn because they loved the stories in the Dragonlance books.

People play in Wildemount for the fresh new setting. It's largely unknown. This is good. People like new things. 

This is why I think Wildemount is drawing. I might be wrong, but this is what I've observed. 

I hope this helps!

One thing I'll pitch in is that Wildmount has a number of other PC races in it that the prospective buyer may or may not have.  For example, I know Wildmount has the Tortle PC race in it.  If you didn't want to buy the Tortle specific book, then Wildmount is a great way to get the Tortle race for DnD:B.  I'm certainly not going to buy the Tortle specific book...  but at some point I will definitely buy Wildmount.  And this is in addition to the added subraces for Dragonborn, and the extra for Halfling, and probably a few others I'm not thinking of.

As a self-proclaimed completionist, the Tortles might not be interesting, but to my knowledge the Dragonborn and Halfling subraces are only present in Wildmount.  So that's a thing.

As someone who has watched all of Critical Role, loves it, and has the book, let me throw in my opinion. When Wildemount was announced, there was a lot of negativity, even from the Critter community, about it. Many people wanted their legacy settings, and didn't like that this was coming before it. I saw some people who were a lot more respectful, saying that they have nothing against the show, but it's not their cup of tea, and I respect their opinion. Critical Role and by extension Wildemount, isn't everyone's cup of tea. I saw several people say that Exandria was just another cookie-cutter high fantasy setting, and that there wasn't anything different from settings like FR or Greyhawk. And that is true... to a certain extent. Exandria and by extension, Wildemount, has a lot of generic fantasy tropes. There's a lot of similarities with other settings. The first campaign's continent is very fantasy-esque, and has a lot of similarities with other settings. However, when you look at other continents is where things get more unique. Some of the best things about Exandria, is not the fact that it copies fantasy tropes, but takes them and turns them on their head. For example, the dark elves in the Kryn Dynasty aren't necessarily evil. They just have that projection put on them from the Dwendalian Empire. If you're looking at things like fantasy tropes, then yes, Exandria has a lot more in common with things like FR than something like Eberron or Ravnica. However, some of the fun of Wildemount is looking at tropes turned on their heads. Something to also take into account here, is the lack of lore. Now I don't mean to say that it's a badly built world. Exandria is exquisitely built, and there's a lot of things in that world that I've stolen for my own. There's so many interesting facets to explore. However, worlds like the Forgotten Realms have timelines that go back thousands and thousands of years. You know every major event that's happened. You also have to dig through years and years of sourcebooks or browse wiki articles to learn some things that you don't quite understand. Exandria has the benefit of being fairly light on lore you have to dig through. You just pick up the Tal'Dorei or Wildemount books and it'll give you the broad strokes of Exandrian history. The Tal'Dorei book will provide you with enough information to play in that continent for a year at least. Wildemount is so jam-packed full of things that you won't know what to do with it. Just one book, the smaller one, will give you at the absolute least, a year worth of things to play around with. With Wildemount, if your group takes things slow, I could see five or so years worth of stuff. On just one continent. Exandria has a lot of benefits, and I hope I helped.

I agree with all of the above posts. One of the main reasons that Wildemount is excellent is that it is so unexplored. With the FR, you quickly get overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at you. Everything is fleshed out entirely, and that can be boring. Wildemount, on the other hand, is shiny and new and doesn't have tons of lore. It's easy to adapt and play with. The book is also incredibly written. Everything has just enough details to give you an idea of how to adapt it to fit your campaign. The factions in EGtW are well described and dynamic. The political intrigue in Wildemount is fun to play with. The characters can ignore the war entirely, or go with it. I also find dunamancy fascinating. It's really fun to play with, and there are some cool spells. Wildemount has some new, unconventional ideas, and it's very adaptable.

I guess I'll be reading this! Thanks everyone for staying so positive!