I agree about the Wilderlands. I think modern campaign designers went for the "no wasting" approach to design. They tend to create very tight and restrictive paths for their worlds so that there is no choice but to experience everything they have spent the time, money and effort to create. The same can be seen in computer games, particularly so-called rpgs. Every now and then some creative people come along and buck this trend to give you the most open-ended experience possible. In computer games Oblivion is a great example. If you havn't played it, I recommend it comlpetely.

The Wilderlands setting does the same thing in my view for a campaign setting. It hearkens back to the, maybe more naive, days when designers did not underestimate the power of creating the sense among players that their characters could literally go anywhere and do anything. In my view this sense of character freedom more than compensates for a slightly cheesy world view as evident from the source books and some sketchy mapping.

Torq