What a a pointless, ad ridden mess of an article. The popularity of Forgotten Realms stems from the fact that it was aggresively market ed during the 2e era, since the creator of the setting was on board, unlike Gary and his Greyhawk. The author mentions the (terrible) tie in novels that were also a major factor in its omnipresence, but they also drove the metaplot which diluted the setting into its curent “generic fantasy kitchen sink”. Personally, if you’d put a gun to my head and told me to run a game in it, I’d probaby avoid the Sword Coast in favor of the east/southeast, Dalelands or The Sea od Fallen Stars being the most likely canidates.