A few things before I get started.
1) Yes, I posed a question that I wanted to answer. Yes, if you know me through discord you have probably read me making fun of people who do that. Yes, I am shameless. But I also really am curious as to what people think of when people mention the setting.
2) The inspiration for this post actually came from something Irongron said during his development stream over the weekend, where he mentioned that the strength of both Arelith and the Forgotten Realms actually stem from the vagueness of the setting (paraphrasing here), and I actually agree with him there. I think having flexibility in concepts is a huge part in why arelith enjoys such a large population.
But that also doesn't touch on what I mean when I have said Arelith needs to strengthen its setting. And that's a good jump off point into what I really wanted to say.
A setting in regard to a NWN server should be a collection of shared truths. They shouldn't be oppressive to the point of being daunting toward newer players or players who don't want to read a novel just to play the game, but they should be truths that become apparent to anyone with a little time in game.
Some easy examples, not suggestions (to me what the shared truths are doesn't really matter, only that they exist).
Guldorand is a much more dangerous city than Cordor. Therefore, the pvp rules in Cordor are a lot stricter than they are in guldorand.
Paladins need to follow the oaths, or risk losing their god's favor. Warlocks get similar treatment on the other end of the spectrum with their patron demon/devil, as well as a more befitting punishment.
The Cordorian king actually hates elves and wants to steal the mythal for Cordor. The Zhenterim embassy rivals the church of ilmater when it comes to good works around the island while preaching through tyranny everyone is taken care of.
-Race specific quirks that represent the npc population of said race pertaining to their views. That doesn't mean that they have to be the trope, Arelith is bound to have a lot of unique perspectives thanks to geographics, and it doesn't mean that a character of that race needs to share all or any of said views. Just a little something that gives a player a choice, am I with or against the grain.
That pretty much touches the three pillars of what makes a good nwn setting I think, while adding a fourth that only works with a server that has race specific areas like arelith does. Variation from place to place, balancing certain classes/races with rp based downsides, and having npc agendas for a backdrop.
Anyways, that's my two cents on the setting. I've mentioned it a lot in passing under other topics, but those aren't good avenues to actually explain what I mean, and I feel like it was mistaken for "people need to know every nuance of forgotten realms lore or else" when that couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm the type of person that sees a guy running around naked with pink hair while yelling "I am Jackamo, king of assassins!" and thinks to myself "That guy is going to be a better rper than me in two years".
And with that I will just say if this inspires you to say something, have at it.