Editing Kara-Tur (section)

===It's Dated===
This is probably the major issue facing the setting in the modern era, aside from the political bullshit. The simple fact is, Kara-Tur represents an idea of "what do players want from a Japanese D&D setting?" that is no longer relevant to modern audiences (and was frankly probably starting to look kind of out of touch in the 90s!) Kara-Tur was inspired by and intended for an audience whose "oriental" media consisted of Samurai movies and chop sockey martial arts films; it was a setting for those who wanted to play sagas inspired by The Seven Samurai or Flying Guillotine Master or any Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movie you can name here. 

In the modern era, though, fans have grown beyond that historical fiction/low fantasy mold. Waves of anime, manga, videogames and media inspired by all of those have offered a far more fantastical depiction of Japan (and to a lesser extent China and Korea), and the [[Heroic Fantasy]] and [[High Fantasy]] fans have eaten this stuff up for decades now. If asked to play "Japanese D&D", such a fan would be far more interested in the crazy shonen action-magic [[ninja]] of Naruto or the yokai-infested Sengoku Japan of Inuyasha than re-enacting Lone Wolf and Cub. Same goes for "Chinese Fantasy" as the current fans would be more exposed to well-made and high-budget Chinese-themed works ("Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), along with the proliferation of Three Kingdoms' adaptations (such as Dynasty Warriors 2 in 2003 and Total War: Three Kingdoms in 2018) among western audiences that allow Fantasy-China to be run in other themes besides just Kung Fu.

The simple, sad truth is that Kara-Tur has gone from a "best-selling" campaign setting to just coming off as bland. It only really appeals to the [[Low Fantasy]]/Historical Fiction crowd as-written, and even they find fault with its contradictory internal lore.