Diggy here with an answer,

TLDR: It is speculated that WotC wanted to have a fresh start in the Realms not burdened by past lore and expectations. I have nothing concrete for you both. The Spellplague was the means to that end. As we know, this was not well-received. I kid a bit, but caution to anyone who utters the word "Spellplague" in any Realms community.

I don't know why WotC jumped the setting of the Forgotten Realms one hundred years in the future. There is definitely speculation around it. What is concrete is that in two preview books for 4e, the design team explained their reasonings and directions for the edition. The names of the books are: "Wizards Presents - Worlds and Monsters" and "Wizards Presents - Races and Classes."

In Worlds and Monsters James Wyatt explains his dislike for the Great Wheel. Why the World Axis was going to be the model going forward (even though the Realms did not use the Great Wheel in 3e but that's a tangent). From a creative standpoint there appeared to be a dissatisfaction with how things were currently established. Indeed, that is reflected with how often 4e lore conflicts with established ideas and lore from 3e back.

I have seen it speculated that by jumping the setting so far forward, you essentially got a reboot on the setting. A fresh start. A new canvas. Folks coming into the setting did not have to be burdened with the weight of lore from 3e back (not to mention the novels). It was bad enough that the 4e mechanics and framing were making grognards and past fans hot under the collar. Now you've gone and drastically shifted a beloved setting to such an extent that all you ended up doing was truly pissing Realms fans off. In the Realms circles I frequent, hardly any old fan is willing to give either 4e (the game) or the Spellplague era a fair shake.

Real ones have seen this notification twice.

4TH EDITION EPISODE!!! 4E FANS OUT TIME US NOW!

Hell yeah! The episode we've all been waiting for.

I am incredibly surprised D&D Miniatures weren't mentioned. I played during the 3.5 turning into 4e days; and I will still shout from the hills that that's the reason why they made 4e how it was. They were pushing out a mini game with Wizkids that was a lot of fun. They wanted to tie the constant stream of new minis to their book company for more incoming money. As y'all mentioned, once everyone has the core rule books, where do you go? Minis, the answer was minis; that could be used in the tabletop game; as well as having a mini battle game on the side.

Ooooh, I betcha William gonna love explaining this one. 😉

At last the 4th edition explained episode !!! Been waiting for this

There are boss fights I cooked up for 4e games many years ago that I still cannot quite get right in 5th. I  miss the d&d raid bosses 😢

One of the best sessions I ever played in was 4E. We came upon a dilemma fight where we were supposed to choose to save children or a merchant. We split the party and did both. It was the first time I ever got to do wizard stuff without interfering with the paladin and we rocked both encounters simultaneously.

The reason they got rid of the Elemental Planes was because a lot of the time, they were too limiting. Until you're higher level, three of the four were basically instant-death.

That said, getting rid of the planes was a bad move, I would have kept them and just made them the extreme ends of the Elemental Chaos.

This is a moment, y'all! I was here for it

AT LONG LAST! Fill my brain with the 4e knowledge!

I would pay money to have this done for all the other D&D editions and who knows, maybe a pathfinder

Still my favorite edition! Love the system to bits.

Don't mess with the OLG

Sick double notifications. One for each of Demogorgon's heads. SHOUTOUT to Demogorgon. Shoutout to the Spellplague.

As always, great episode! I can't see anyone I know being willing to learn 4e for a campaign, but I'd definitely give it a try if the opportunity arose! And Illian and Beern entering 4e was very entertaining! It was also awesome being a patron and getting to vote for this topic!

I think there's a lot to love in 4e, especially varied statblocks of increasing strength for creatures. If it's not your jam, don't play. DnD is a broad enough church for everyone, I think.

its finally here!!!!

I even converted the Alexandrian's rules for Hex Crawling to good success.