FAN n. Informal. An ardent admirer. [Short for FANATIC.]
FANATIC n. A person possessed by an excessive or irrational zeal.
Ponder the definitions above, Jeff, and you might realize why those of us "cultists" on the list consider your assertion of fandom odd and bewildering. While your belief regarding the fannish devotion which drive sales in the gaming industry may suit you, most of us who have actually worked in the industry (on both the retail and publishing sides, in my case) see a different picture. Zealotry has a *significant* impact on overall sales.
WOTC owns and operates its own fan club, Jeff. Perhaps you have heard of the quaint little organization called RPGA? This is an international base of (largely D&D) fanatics who WOTC can *rely* upon, with little fluctuation outside of major economic depression, to purchase every RPG product they publish. The number of current members in the RPGA marks the bottom line for WOTC sales of a given supplement, in general. Certain lines have failed, but as a whole WOTC prospers because of this fanbase.
Compare that to Issaries' base of genuine fanatics: I would venture that there are perhaps three- to four hundred of us, worldwide, if rabid GloranthaCon/Convulsion attendance is any indication. These are the people who will purchase everything Issaries produces, no matter whether they prefer HERO WARS, RUNEQUEST or BUNNIES AND fricking BURROWS as their system of choice. People like Kevin McDonald, Mikko Rintasaari and Tim Ellis. These are the people who bought every pathethic copy of ELDARAD, in the hope it would make a difference. People like David Boatright and Rick Meint and myself. We zealots will even buy the stuff we do not have immediate plans to use. Why? Because the act of supporting the milieu we all know and love makes us feel good.
More than once, Greg has called our community the Glorantha Tribe and lauded its family-like strength and unity, despite all its fractiousness. Indeed, fractiousness is necessary to the freedom which our community allows us: freedom to hold different views ("No one can make do anything."), to defend those views ("Violence is always an option."), and even to politely agree to disagree ("There is always another way."). Each of our respective viewpoints can be likened to one clan among the many which constitute the tribe. Despite the tribal bond, oft those views are in opposition to each other, whether due to shrewd consideration or stubborn traditionalism. That which keeps the community together, when tension should pull it apart, is a sense that being part of something larger and more enduring than ourselves, is better than standing alone.
To make my main and final point, Jeff, I direct you to the Orlanthi model as observed by our fellows among the Seattle Farmers Collective. While the views that you espouse are the foul Orlevings to my Varmandi, I by no means wish you to leave the tribe unless that is what you desire. After all, we all need someone to descend upon for our figurative cattle raids, and the list administrator may take unkindly to further stead-burning. Pax. Now let's all go get drunk and raid those stinking Trre Brothers! ;)
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